Buying Diamonds Overseas from Importer?

[timmyc99]

Hi - I'm sorry if this is in the wrong place, I couldn't find anywhere which seemed to fit better. And, as you can see, I am brand spankin' new here.
My question is this: I'm currently shopping for an engagement ring (mind-blowing!). I've looked at all kinds of jewelers, and am close to deciding on a very classic single solitaire.. Looking around online, I've come upon a number of diamond importers. Basically, I looked at the Israeli Ministry of Trade's website, which listed their largest diamond exporters. A number of these firms (which are huge - think 100s of millions of dollars a year) have sites where you can search their inventory, view specs and facsimiles of certs, and purchase directly at prices which seem pretty great, going from the fair amount of comparative shopping I've been doing.

Does anyone have experience dealing with these sorts of companies? (Leo Schecter, MID Hose of Diamonds, etc) Is this something I should be considering, or just saying local/domestic?

Thanks a lot,
Tim

 

[Dancing Fire]

Hi - I'm sorry if this is in the wrong place, I couldn't find anywhere which seemed to fit better. And, as you can see, I am brand spankin' new here.
My question is this: I'm currently shopping for an engagement ring (mind-blowing!). I've looked at all kinds of jewelers, and am close to deciding on a very classic single solitaire.. Looking around online, I've come upon a number of diamond importers. Basically, I looked at the Israeli Ministry of Trade's website, which listed their largest diamond exporters. A number of these firms (which are huge - think 100s of millions of dollars a year) have sites where you can search their inventory, view specs and facsimiles of certs, and purchase directly at prices which seem pretty great, going from the fair amount of comparative shopping I've been doing.

Does anyone have experience dealing with these sorts of companies? (Leo Schecter, MID Hose of Diamonds, etc) Is this something I should be considering, or just saying local/domestic?

Thanks a lot,
Tim

no... diamonds are less expensive here in the U.S.

 

[timmyc99]

Hmm.. when I compare the prices I can find online to what I have been quoted locally, the online prices win, hands-down. Is that because I have to deal with retailers here? Now I'm really confused.

 

[denverappraiser]

There are several things at play:

Online dealers generally don't have much going on in the form of employees, rents, security costs and even inventory. This means they can often work for lower margins than the folks who set up a storefront operation in your neighborhood.

Advertising is expensive. Jewelers who advertise a lot have to get that money from somewhere. Guess where?

Employees are expensive. See comment above about advertising.

It's easy to play games with the grading, but it's even easier to do it online where customers can't see the goods. If the prices you're seeing are out of line with similar competitors (meaning online vs online, storefront vs storefront, 'brand' vs brand, etc), be nervous and try to figure out why.

As a general rule, diamonds are cheapest in the US. This is because the market is big, the legal and banking systems are solid and generally predictable, taxes are low (import taxes on diamonds are zero in the US) and there's a lot of people who understand how to do it effectively. The people who are best served by shopping overseas are when 'overseas' means buying in the US. FWIW, shipping is negligible. It costs a few dozen dollars for a dealer in India to move a stone wort thousands to the US, Japan or whatever market they think will bring them the most money. These are smart people and they most definitely have the connections and wherewithal to do this if they want. It's also worth noting that the direct retail arm of big companies like Leo Schacter are NOT well served by having a price war with their retailers. That's the way to lose dealers. The solution is to either avoid doing it at all or to sell at prices that are high enough that the retailer can undercut it if they want. Don't expect bargains by buying direct.