Diamond by ERD (Engagement Ring Direct)

[oceanbeach]

I was searching around premium diamonds on ERD website, and realized that the prices are much more competitive than those of GOG or WF, assuming that ERD’s premium diamond with Ideal Scope grade–excellent is H&A. Why their price can be so competitive?!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Most of those stones are not in-house, just like Blue Nile. They give a sample idealscope image, but it is not for that particular diamond. If you want to choose a diamond by the certificate alone and have no information on how the stone looks to the eye,or how the idealscope looks, or whether it scores well on a brilliancescope, etc., order from a database like this one or Blue Nile, etc. All these stones are available to most vendors. The stones pictured on sites like GOG and WF are in-house stones that they have tested and show pictures, etc. You may pay a few dollars to have more certainty about what you''re getting by ordering from these vendors.

 

[WinkHPD]

Some companies like to list stones that they do not own (and even some that they can not get) at unrealistically low prices, just to kill sales by other companies.

I remember several years ago when I sold a stone to a young man on a Friday that I had in house and THAT I OWNED. He called on Monday and wanted a refund of $200 as he had found the same stone listed on another website for $200 less. I called my supplier and asked him why/ He stated that he did not even sell to the company that had the stone listed and that they simply took the for sale list from Polygon and listed every stone on their website in spite of him repeatedly asking them not to list his stones. I had only recently purchased the stone and it was still listed on Poly.

I called the young man back and asked him some questions, such as did the company claim to have his stone in stock and they told him no, that it was out on call, but that they had others like it (they did not have another perfectly square princess, which this was.) He said that since they were my supplier I could match their price or he would buy it from them when I returned it. I told him that I actually owned this stone and besides when I did not have a stone that it was $400 cheaper. He eventually got them to admitt that they did not own the stone and that it would never come to them. ( I think they actually told him that they sold it to a client somewhere, which was strange since he was holding it in his hand at the moment they told him this...)

I do not know that this is what is happening here, but I do know that if the stone was as nicely cut as one by GOG or WF that it would be priced accordingly. It costs good money to do it correctly, and there are a lot of "well mine are really nice" companies, but is that really where you want to get your diamonds???

Wink

 

[Gypsy]

In defense of ERD... I''ve dealt with Mark... as have others on here. Wink, I think the implications of your post are unfair when applied to ERD. Mark doesn''t keep a large selection in stock... but he will get the diamonds in for you and look at them and provide you with information on it... for ERD I would do a search on here and see what other''s have said about working with him... he has a solid reputation on here and has found very lovely stones for people.

 

[madmarlin]

I agree wholeheartedly with Gypsy. I think the implication is unfair as it appears that Mark is being lumped in with "small guys" who like to pull the bait-and-switch on customers. My experiences with Mark over the last few years have been anything but the sort. When I upgraded my wife''s center stone for our 10th, I didn''t need to buy the stone "sight unseen" based only on a cert. Rather, the stone was sent to a local appraiser where I viewed the stone in detail prior to buying.

Not a fair post.

 

[oceanbeach]

Thank you everyone for your comments!

 

[WinkHPD]

Date: 6/30/2006 2:30:25 PM
Author: Gypsy
In defense of ERD... I've dealt with Mark... as have others on here. Wink, I think the implications of your post are unfair when applied to ERD. Mark doesn't keep a large selection in stock... but he will get the diamonds in for you and look at them and provide you with information on it... for ERD I would do a search on here and see what other's have said about working with him... he has a solid reputation on here and has found very lovely stones for people.

My post was not meant to be an attack on Mark or ERD, I was just stating that many houses list diamonds that they do not own at very low prices, and are often not able to get those stones. I do not know Mark or his company and am not speaking about him directly. I apologise if you felt I was, it was not my intention. I like to save my attacks for the people I know are bad, and there are plenty of them.

Wink

 

[decodelighted]

From what I've heard (not personal exp) .. Mark is at somewhat of an advantage over more distant online merchants because he is physically located in the heart of the diamond district in NYC. MOST stones go through there at one point or another. This is especially beneficial for more hard to find stones, that need to be judged by expert eyes: cushions, asschers, other fancies. Not AS AS important for stones that can be judged more accurately by #s.


ETA: I meant to add that being walking distance from stones saves some in postage, insurence, hassle, time etc ... And if there's a stone he can't get, or is owned by someone else since the listings have been updated --- there's quite a few more, literally, in his neighborhood.