Buying diamonds from Turkey

[BlingBlingLova]

Hello all! I have a question. I have a friend who just came back from Turkey and she bought all this diamond jewelry for cheap! Diamond necklaces, tennis bracelet, solitaire earrings, etc. She said the Turkish jeweler has his own warehouse and he already has the jewelry made in gold, without the diamonds. In other words, the diamonds are not mounted. Then, he asks you what quality of diamonds you want, color, clarity, etc and he will mount the diamonds according to your specification. He even has D colored diamonds! I can get the number of the jeweler from her and he told her he ships anywhere to the world. I saw one of her necklaces that she got from him and yes, the diamonds are beautiful and sparkly! I am sure diamonds are cheaper in Turkey since the labor is cheaper there too but I am scared to pay that kind of money to a stranger I never met before! What if the diamonds are man made diamonds or fracture filled or even clarity enhanced?! I deal with my own jeweler here in the States where we have laws that protect the consumer but what about overseas? She showed me pictures of his diamond jewelry and I must say, I could never imagine owning a diamond necklace like that here in the States! What are your thoughts?

 

[MamaBear]

When in doubt, don’t.

 

[lovedogs]

There are no magical deals with diamonds. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

I don’t know anything about turkey, so please take my advice with a grain of salt. I do know a reasonable amount about India however, so I can give you my POV on jewelry purchased in India versus the US.

Diamonds of significant size (certified, let’s say >1ct) are usually in the same ballpark of price as diamonds purchased in the US. This is because the only place you can “haggle” is on commission and overhead. I would say having a brick and mortar jeweler “source” you a stone (like a concierge service of sorts) will cost about the same as a stone from an online vendor in the US because of lower overheads. If a 1ct diamond costs X USD in the US from a trusted non-premium retailer, 0.95X-1.05X is what I would consider a reasonable range for outside the US similar specs. Perhaps 0.9X. If someone is offering you that 1ct for 0.5X, there’s a problem somewhere.

Gold cost - as in cost of raw materials - is the same everywhere. 1g of gold will cost the same in India or the US or anywhere in the world.

Labour cost will differ significantly. A significant saving can be had here since especially in pieces with many small stones or intricate metalwork the cost is primarily in the labour.

Melee/pave/smaller uncertified stones is where it gets tricky. I get the sense that they should be in the same ballpark, possibly a tiny bit cheaper in India than the US, but a huge disparity would make me pause. I’ve never bought in the US so I don’t know for sure but when I look up the price of melee parcels for example, I find that they’re fairly similar to the price my jeweler quotes me on a per carat basis for melee given a specific colour and clarity range.

If you really want to do business with this guy I think you need a bit more info. For one, I would have him break down a quote into material and labour cost. It will help you realise if the price he is charging is reasonable. And if it doesn’t pass the sniff test for you - don’t go for it.

Though from a purely gushworthy POV - I completely get it. I’ve seen pieces with 40,50,60cts of diamonds in them at my family jeweler’s in India, and the prices he quotes would be impossible in the US, but they’re as low as they are because of the labour costs.

 

[Dhana]

I agree with this , I reached out to a jeweller in US for a earring setting and the cost of it in 14 k is pricier than I would get it in India for a 22k..

 

[Dancing Fire]

What are your thoughts?

This is a scam! . There are no such a thing as good cheap diamonds.

 

[Bron357]

As others have said, there is no magical source of cheap diamonds. Diamonds are a world wide traded commodity and while prices can vary depending on how many “hands” they have been through ie multiple people taking their commission there are no cheap diamonds.
Yes the diamonds cold be “blood diamonds”, be man made, could be clarity enhanced, could not be of the grade and clarity expected or even not be diamonds.
It can also be very difficult to deal with some international vendors due to monetary restrictions (only accepting Western Union or similar) and availability of insured and safe shipping.
Returns may be impossible, refunds may be impossible.
Certainly the workmanship prices can be significantly cheaper but the actual gold value and diamond prices will be as per current market conditions.
If I were able to travel to Turkey and able to view and inspect the actual goods before payment, yes, I would proceed but sending a large sum of money to a random guy in Turkey - no.

 

[Bojambles]

anecdotes I've heard support what @AllAboardTheBlingTrain says on >1ct being similar to having some savings on melee.

2 people I know bought melee-only pieces (1: tennis bracelet, 2: replica of a humongous diamond studded Tiffany key pendant) directly from Indian jewellers recommended by their local friends.

iirc the tennis bracelet (which was shiny and eye clean) was ~1 to 1.2 tcw and less than US$700. The local friend of this friend was pretty wealthy and often gave that jeweler business.

for the Tiffany key pendant, my friend said that her family friend was a jeweller in India who charged them at cost, again they probably paid ~US$700 but the cost if they had bought it retail was 4x+?

all these are very rough estimates as I wasn't fully paying attention but it makes sense because I've heard that setting melee is basically labour intensive.

For large diamonds OTOH, the same friend with the tennis bracelet got a ~2.7 to 2.8 ct E, VS or VVS (can't rmb) as an e-ring. She said she found out that stones above a certain size are probably stored in a central vault in an important jewelry centre in the world. ie. London (where hers was). There's a serial number attached to it too.

Her husband's jeweler was transparent too, so he gave them the serial number and they asked for a quote for the same stone from a different jeweler and ascertained that the first jeweler's quote was indeed better.

^all this is secondhand so don't quote me on it lol

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

anecdotes I've heard support what @AllAboardTheBlingTrain says on >1ct being similar to having some savings on melee.

2 people I know bought melee-only pieces (1: tennis bracelet, 2: replica of a humongous diamond studded Tiffany key pendant) directly from Indian jewellers recommended by their local friends.

iirc the tennis bracelet (which was shiny and eye clean) was ~1 to 1.2 tcw and less than US$700. The local friend of this friend was pretty wealthy and often gave that jeweler business.

for the Tiffany key pendant, my friend said that her family friend was a jeweller in India who charged them at cost, again they probably paid ~US$700 but the cost if they had bought it retail was 4x+?

all these are very rough estimates as I wasn't fully paying attention but it makes sense because I've heard that setting melee is basically labour intensive.

For large diamonds OTOH, the same friend with the tennis bracelet got a ~2.7 to 2.8 ct E, VS or VVS (can't rmb) as an e-ring. She said she found out that stones above a certain size are probably stored in a central vault in an important jewelry centre in the world. ie. London (where hers was). There's a serial number attached to it too.

Her husband's jeweler was transparent too, so he gave them the serial number and they asked for a quote for the same stone from a different jeweler and ascertained that the first jeweler's quote was indeed better.

^all this is secondhand so don't quote me on it lol

I just read this and it made me realise that there’s a mistake in my earlier comment I forgot to account for the fact that price will sharply increase with an increase in size of melee, d’oh!

Bojambles is correct that there are significant savings possible in melee. I looked up the melee cost on K Rosengart when I made that comment, but I forgot that 1mm parcel will obviously be cheaper on a per carat basis than a 3mm parcel. 1ctw 18k gold TB for $700 is like a totally fine price here (I would say you could get it cheaper even maybe).

I find it hard to believe that the cost of the key pendant would’ve been 4x if purchased in India at retail. I mean, not impossible, but jewelry usually doesn’t have that kind of insane labour markup built in here. My jeweler charges something like 20-25% over the cost of materials (metal and melee, not solitaires) for a larger, more expensive piece. For smaller pieces like solitaire ring settings up to 50% of the price can be labour (so 50% gold and 50% labour). That the piece would cost $2800 in the US vs $700 in India I would totally believe. Unless ofc the family friend is a well known “designer”/“big name” jeweler.

To give an idea of small stone pricing, a year ago my friend had asked my jeweler for a quote for a 10ctw tennis bracelet IJ VS quality. IIRC he quoted approx $11k inclusive of taxes. This is a totally normal price, not suspiciously low at all.

Sorry for any confusion I might have inadvertently caused!

For larger stones though, especially certified ones, there are not any major savings. Most people who are buying bigger stones (I hope) are insisting on getting them certified. There’s no faking a GIA/HRD/IGI cert and laser inscription.

 

[dk168]

For fun jewellery, yes; for statement jewellery, hell no as it would be too risky for my liking.

DK

 

[Austina]

Actually I know of 3 people who’ve bought diamond jewellery in Turkey. My friend’s daughter had her ER made there, brought it back and had it valued and it was the real deal. My friend bought an eternity ring, not sure if she’s ever had it appraised, but paid a good price for it. My friend’s daughter’s MIL ( ) had a new wedding set made, again got it home, got it appraised for insurance purposes, and it all checked out.

Would I do it? No, I wouldn’t, it wouldn’t be an acceptable risk for me.

 

[Bojambles]

I find it hard to believe that the cost of the key pendant would’ve been 4x if purchased in India at retail

yeah not India retail. I have no idea what India retail would be but both friends are from the Singapore / Malaysia region, not India. They just got their jewelry from India

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

yeah not India retail. I have no idea what India retail would be but both friends are from the Singapore / Malaysia region, not India. They just got their jewelry from India

Oh, 4x of that price for Singapore retail I completely believe. Singapore jewelry prices are nuts. I have a friend who flew to India to buy an engagement ring + wedding gift for his fiancée because it was cheaper to do so compared to buying it in Singapore itself. I’m sure there must be “deals” in Singapore but I don’t know of anyone who has found them

 

[Jacquiemalta]

Hello all! I have a question. I have a friend who just came back from Turkey and she bought all this diamond jewelry for cheap! Diamond necklaces, tennis bracelet, solitaire earrings, etc. She said the Turkish jeweler has his own warehouse and he already has the jewelry made in gold, without the diamonds. In other words, the diamonds are not mounted. Then, he asks you what quality of diamonds you want, color, clarity, etc and he will mount the diamonds according to your specification. He even has D colored diamonds! I can get the number of the jeweler from her and he told her he ships anywhere to the world. I saw one of her necklaces that she got from him and yes, the diamonds are beautiful and sparkly! I am sure diamonds are cheaper in Turkey since the labor is cheaper there too but I am scared to pay that kind of money to a stranger I never met before! What if the diamonds are man made diamonds or fracture filled or even clarity enhanced?! I deal with my own jeweler here in the States where we have laws that protect the consumer but what about overseas? She showed me pictures of his diamond jewelry and I must say, I could never imagine owning a diamond necklace like that here in the States! What are your thoughts?

See if your friend will have hers assessed independently and see what is said. Have to agree that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Having said that, many people will automatically slate something if it's cheaper than they had to pay for the same thing; that's just jealousy.