cost vs. quality?

[nextinline]

Hi all,
We want to post this on the Pscope site because we''ve found all of you so incredibly helpful so far!

We''ve narrowed the search down to one ring [yeeha!]and since it''s from a B&M and the ring and diamond come as one unit, we just have to decide cost vs. quality. On the one hand, we have to save for our wedding now so low cost is important. On the other hand, this is the ring that I''ll be wearing for the rest of my life and does $1,500 really make a big difference in the long run? But on the third hand, or a foot perhaps, neither of us are diamond experts - just a couple of laypeople trying to get the best deal possible - are we really going to notice the quality difference?

Here are our two choices [both include the platinum setting and 1/3C of G/VS pave diamonds]:

1) 1/2C princess well cut
GH/SI
$3,900
2) 1/2C princess well cut
EF/VS1
$5,320

As a side note, we''ve commited to going through the B&M even after we''ve been told time and again not to. We did a lot of online research and reading, but when it comes down to it, we like this salesman and we''re ready to pay the markup so that it''s all done for us.

Thanks for any suggestions, comments, or ideas you may have,
-n.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Hi,


I've never regretted getting a nice quality stone. . .mine is a G VS2. If this is the only diamond eng. ring you plan to get (no upgrading), I'd get the best you can afford. Five thousand for a .5 carat is ridiculous though. I know you feel you want to go with a B&M, but wow, to pay THAT much of a markup is ridiculous. As I said, I'm glad I got a nice quality stone, but one thing I regret is that I could have paid 1/2 our price buying online, or gotten a stone 1/3 bigger. This IS money you can save for your wedding expenses.

Michelle

 

[aljdewey]

I guess it depends on how accurate the grading is. You don't mention if either comes with a grading report. I'd suspect they don't come with grading reports from really reputable labs because labs don't grade E/F or G/H.




Having said that......if these truly were E/F vs. G/H, etc......and they ran pretty true....armed with only the information you've provided, I'd select the G/H stone. If it looks white to your eye and you cannot see the inclusions without a loupe, why spend the extra money for something your eye cannot see?




P.S. I agree that's an OUTRAGEOUS amount to pay for a fancy cut 1/2 ct. stone.....especially when I see a .73, G, VVS2, SuperIdeal princess cut stone for only $3291.......


http://www.superbcert.com/products/index.cfm?product_ID=208&Product_Subcategory_ID=5&Product_Category_ID=4&Product_Group_ID=1




and another .84, G, SI1 for $2830..............


http://www.goodoldgold.com/princess_0_84ct_g_si1.htm




But it's your money, and if you believe that it's worth sacrificing a full quarter-carat in size and then paying your salesman an additional $1,000 on top of THAT.....well, he must be a really good salesman.

 

[nextinline]

Umm, just so we don't sound like complete idiots, the ring we want is only sold through certain [and limited] retailers, and they will not sell the setting separately from the diamond. This according to the designer, which we called ourselves.
And we don't want to spend another 2 months running around to find someone who will duplicate the design cheaper.

On the good side, aside from all the nastiness in the news about DeBeers, they use only DeBeers diamonds which I read are of excellent quality...

Lastly, note that the price of each option includes the setting and another 1/3C. of diamonds.

We now have one vote for each choice - anyone else care to opine?

 

[hoorray]

In general, I believe in doing it right the first time, rather than scrimping, and then regretting it. In this case though, I doubt the difference in the two you have selected would be meaningful. I'd suggest mixing them up so you don't know which is which and then seeing if one is substantially different/better to your eyes than the other. If the visual difference is small or non-existent, go with the less expensive and don't worry about it.

Also -- have you tried negotiating with the salesperson? Even B&M's negotiate on large expenditures like this usually.

 

[nextinline]

Thanks LOP -

Yes, we'll be negotiating with the salesman, but that comes last I suppose. Plus, there's a 15% sale next week,

but then you add taxes, and a maintenance program...

In the end, the costs will wind up a little less than I've listed.

 

[lenore80]

I would go with the G/SI1...is it totally eye-clean??

 

[nextinline]

We're going to look at it again tonight, but as I recall yes, it was eyeclean [at least to my novice ability, it was...].

 

[hoorray]

Maintenance program!!??!! Be careful of being sold a bill of goods. I have never found a jeweler who will not clean, inspect and sometimes even do minor repairs on any of my jewelery at no cost -- whether or not I have ever bought anything from them. Don't pay extra for cleaning and inspection program. It's worthless!!!

 

[pqcollectibles]

----------------
On 11/3/2003 1:42:00 PM lop wrote:

Maintenance program!!??!! Be careful of being sold a bill of goods. I have never found a jeweler who will not clean, inspect and sometimes even do minor repairs on any of my jewelery at no cost -- whether or not I have ever bought anything from them. Don't pay extra for cleaning and inspection program. It's worthless!!! ----------------

I agree with Lop!

I bought a ring from my local jeweler that had prong problems. A couple of the prongs were weak and kept bending out of place. The jeweler straightened them a couple of times and finally had a new head put in to resolve the problem. At no cost to me.

Our jeweler has always cleaned, and inspected all my jewelry, and even made minor repairs at no charge. It's called CUSTOMER SERVICE.

Don't be sold a load of bull!

 

[yngdaniel]

I just bought a .79 H SI1 (well-cut and eye clean, I believe) princess in a platinum setting, so you can guess which one I'd suggest. Just for the record, I paid far less for that than these guys are asking for their smaller G/H SI. I do still need to see the stone in person so there's no guarantee that I've gotten a deal.

The price you've quoted for the SI is almost a Tiffany price, even though they don't sell below VS2. I was quoted about $4,000 for a half carat Lucida at my local Tiffany.

If cost is a concern, I think you need to do more comparison shopping online, these prices look pretty high up there to me.

 

[nextinline]

So everyone is saying that $3,900 or $5,300 respectively is too much for the diamond *including* the setting with the additional diamonds as stated above?

 

[aljdewey]

----------------
On 11/3/2003 5:07:06 PM nextinline wrote:





So everyone is saying that $3,900 or $5,300 respectively is too much for the diamond *including* the setting with the additional diamonds as stated above?
----------------

Honestly, no one could answer this question because you haven't specified what setting you are getting. You've remarked it's a designer setting, and those can run pricey depending on who's it is. It depends on how many grams of metal are used, what kind it is (platinum, etc.), what quality the melee stones are, etc. We just don't have enough information to know. Your designer setting could be worth $500 - it could be worth $3000. Hard to say without knowing.

Nextinline, the only thing that really matters is what *you* think. If you are happy with price quoted and you like *that* setting and you don't want to go through the hassle of duplicating it elsewhere, then it sounds like you should just buy at that jewelers.

At the time of your original post, you didn't specify that the setting was a designer setting of limited availability, and I think that's why a few of us commented that the price seemed high. Those prices for the stone alone would be exhorbitant....the price for the diamond and the setting may be reasonable, it may be a smidge high, or it may be a really excellent price.

If you want to purchase there, I'd still go with the G.