Buying in Antwerp

[facorsig]

I'll be in Europe in a few weeks for holiday. I am in the market for a loose diamond ("ideal cut", D, IF, 1ct). If I were to go to Antwerp, would I gain substantial price reduction over comparable stone bought in US. Seems to me, if 80% of the stones are cut in Antwerp, then this would be an advantage to buying direct. I see a few internet pages for "wholesalers", but have no idea who these folks are. On the other hand, I have no idea who anyone is in this business!The certs and grading systems for stones in Antwerp I've caught in search engines are "different". Being an absolute novice, I'm terrified of a major loss.Any experiences or thoughts would be helpful. I'm not in a rush, but if I found the right deal, that would be a great piece to the holiday.Fred

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Tourist buyer beware!
You will not get near the 'source'.
Do your homework here first, have a holiday with a price to beat if price is your want.
Value can be many things though, and rarely do people who want the best deal buy a diamond that has fallen to less than 1/2 its value from 21 years ago (1ct D IF) on the basis of price.
My advice is if you have 10x more money than nouse then buy D IF.
garry

 

[pricescope]

Hi Fred,I agree with Garry. Do the homework first and compare the prices.Take a look at this thread: www.pricescope.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000145.html

 

[lawmax]

Buy in the US, Fred. You will find a better deal and will likely have the benefit of better consumer protection laws. There are many good buys on diamonds here and many reputable dealers.

 

[facorsig]

Three interesting developments here...first I received a reply from one of the Antwerp traders...the diamond district is closed for August!...that makes one piece easier!...the second is the price he quoted was 30% higher than what's on the website...moves price to par with US...removes some incentive to buy there...I guess the point I'd like to take up is the reply about the clarity/color combo I was interested in...I have been working from some charts which give a fixed relationship between D/IF as a reference standard and other grades...this would suggest that if D/IF drops 50%, everything else would move similar...has the price of D/IF moved disproportionate to other color/clarity...jeweler lead me to believe stones are appreciating 10%/year...I would think highest quality stones would appreciate (or depreciate) fastest...from an investment standpoint, what size/weight/grade/cuts are appreciating fastest?Needless to say, this info changes the rules a bit!Thanks!
Fred

 

[pricescope]

Oh yeah, that's true! Europeans all have vacations in August. It's a dead season in Europe

I'm not sure about 10% appreciation though.Just a few days ago I compared today's internet prices and 1 year old. I didn't see much difference in price for I and lower colors. It looks like white goods (G and better) got about 5% more expensive. However, price increase for the white goods more likely related to the shortage of the white rough on today's market rather than appreciation of the diamonds.It's quite difficult to predict appreciation of the diamonds because the price will depend on the general market situation that is slowing down and how changes in De Beers will affect the industry.Plus, low cost gem quality synthetic diamonds can affect the prices for the natural diamonds in the future...

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

10% pa is absolute rubbish.
In the commodity boom in 1980 people bought 'investment diamonds' - D IF - that cost 2x what they sell for today - $36k was the Rap asking price.
10% my foot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[pricescope]

Would be nice to get a written guarantee from the jeweler that he will buy the diamond back from you for 10%/year higher price. I wouldn't care than about any other investment.