Diamond Stud Earrings

[OklahomaHusband]

I am an ignorant husband of a (pregnant) woman who wants diamond stud earrings. I was thinking of total carat weight of approximately 2 carats.
Color F-H / Clarity VS1 or VS2
With a very nice cut (I do realize the importance of a nice cut stone). Round diamonds AGS or GIA certified only. I am considering H&A diamonds.
Eventually I will put them in platinum screw back 4 prong basket setting. My approximate budget is $10,000 (but realize that if I want H&A I may have to spend more i.e. $13000 or so??)
The internet is an appealing option because when you are considering a purchase of this kind, NO SALES TAX is very attractive. However, I am a paranoid person by nature. I am not sure that I want to buy stones over the internet and not see what I am purchasing, and I am not sure about the legitimacy of these internet dealers.

My questions concerns are: 1. I am soliciting opinions (not testimonials necessarily) on which internet merchants are credible and legitimate.
2. With stud earrings, do merchants usually give you a discount because you are buying two diamonds instead of one?
3. I am going to NYC next week and can go to 47th Street in Manhattan. Should I just forego the internet option and buy my diamonds there? If so, can anyone recommend legitmate merchants on 47th Street? Thanks in advance.

 

[aljdewey]

Credible & legitimate internet dealers: Good Old Gold, Nice Ice, Whiteflash and Diamond Brokers of Florida come immediately to mind. All have exceptional reputations, and most (all?) of them have traditional store locations, too.

If you are going to be in NY, perhaps you could make the trek out to Good Old Gold in Massapequa. I'm sure it will be well worth your time, and would let you see the diamonds live. If you found something you liked, I'm sure you could have Jonathan put them on hold, then finish order over the net for the tax savings.

Good luck....you positively cannot go wrong with any of the vendors mentioned above.

 

[Abazias]

Many online companies allow the customer to send the diamond to an independent appraiser prior to purchasing the diamonds. If the appraiser is in your vicinity, you may choose to view the diamond firsthand during this time. Upon viewing the diamond and receiving the appraisal results, you may proceed with payment, in which time the company will give permission to release the diamond into your possession. Most of the online companies will work with you on the price but please remember the mark-ups are a lot smaller than the average jewelry store. I do not have any insight on 47street in NY.

PS. Congratulations on the pregnancy!

Is it a boy or girl?


Thanks,
Felicia

 

[Mara]

If I had a budget like yours and some time on my hands, I would build the earrings from scratch. It'll be alot more fun than just going into a store and buying something....esp since alot of times pre-set earrings are not the best cuts. Otherwise the vendors would unset the stones and use them for e-ring stones or similar. Most people do not search out top quality in earrings, and if they do, its usually only a top-notch color and clarity, nothing really to do specifically with cut. The reasoning is that no one gets so up close to your head that they see how great the cut or sparkle is. But I don't know....I have a pre-set pair of earrings and the cut is very good for earrings, but it'd be so much fun to have H&A or similar earrings. Very unusual. Esp since for almost the same price you can build your own set vs. buying a pair via retail!

Ran a very quick Pscope search for similar stones for earrings using the top-notch Excellent Cut Quality search and found the following two. About 30 stones came up in this range..and these are H's SI's when I know you said you wanted VS...but if they are 100% eye clean, you definitely save $$ and no one will know they aren't VS since they are eye clean! Plus then that extra $$ you save on VS vs SI goes into getting you those H&A's. Check these two babies out. Pretty!!

http://www.whiteflash.com/acut/diamond_details.asp?ItemCode=365064
1.01 H SI1 ACA H&A $5440 1.6 HCA--EX

http://www.whiteflash.com/acut/diamond_details.asp?ItemCode=554653
1.01 H SI1 ACA H&A $5440 1.7 HCA--EX

Those two seem perfect for earrings, SO well matched in size, dimensions, even HCA scores!

BTW that is Pricescope pricing so if you call WF...tell them you found it on Pscope to get the discount.

Anyway that seems much more fun to me--the custom bit. Get white gold settings, maybe $200 extra...and then ta-da. Custom made H&A earrings slightly over your $10k budget, ACA is a nice extra to have ('superideal' bragging rights!)....and no one else will have a pair like them. Oooooh I'm jealous already!! Congrats on the baby-to-be.

Good luck!

 

[hoorray]

I personally would stay away from the 47th street jewelers unless you get a reliable reference from someone. There have been several negative comments about experiences here. We shopped there before trying the internet, and found lower quality cuts for more $$. Also, the street level vendors were not nearly as knowledgable as most of the internet vendors I've talked to.

Looks as if Mara found you a couple of great stones.

best wishes !

 

[Mara]

Also for information on 'reputable' internet vendors, run a few archive searches, first on 'testimonial' and separately also search 'thanks' and then lastly 'thank you' in the subject line--tons of posts will come up from people who have purchased and posted, and you will get to read for yourself which vendors are mentioned time and time again on this forum with positive praise.

I too would shy away from NY Diamond District...there has been good and bad posted, but the jist of it for me is that I don't enjoy haggling over a mediocre stone with a jeweler or being told it's an 'ideal' cut stone when it's quite obviously not. Or fighting to get crown and pavilion angles or more information that is not available on a typical GIA cert.

Good luck!

 

[NewYorker]

Go to 37 W. 47th street, booth #1 (first on your right) and talk to Anthony. If you have cash you'll get a better deal. Tell him your requirements (excluding $) and see what he offers, then counter offer 25% lower. You don't have to argue or haggle, just counter offer.
Even if you don't end up buying from the Diamond District, I think you should go and see what you can get for your money. You may be happily surprised.

 

[aljdewey]

I'd say Mara found you two GORGEOUS, well-matched stones that would equal or exceed anything you could find on the shelf.

I'd go that route, definitely.

As far as the NY thing....if you are that curious or have time to kill, go for it and see what it's about. I'd prefer to deal with one of the vendors mentioned previously because they have proven reputations....impeccable. And to me, that's worth a great deal.

 

[Summer]

Hi, I'd check out the diamond district since you'll be in the city even if it's just to shop and compare. Then if you do decide to order over the web, you'll have some idea of what to expect. I've been there in the past and have enjoyed looking around.

I have E/F color, VS1 clarity, round diamond stud earrings that are 1 1/2 carats in platinum, Russian cut that came from the diamond district. I constantly receive compliments on them and I absolutely love them and am so glad I went for the better quality. I wish I could tell you what store they came from in the district. I did alot of research on the web and kept seeing diamond earrings already made and of a lesser quality than I wanted. I also went to many local jewelers stores where I was able to compare side by side the color, clarity, etc. and my eye could discern the differences in the stones. Many of the stores recommend a lesser quality for earrings, which seems to be industry standard, but for me personally I disagree.

I actually had a man, referred by a friend, who used to work in the Diamond District for many years do the shopping for me. I also didn't pay any sales tax. Many places will wave the tax if you can pay cash.

I'm not aware of any discount for buying two diamonds.

Good luck shopping! Congratulations on the upcoming arrival!!

Wanted to edit this to say that my diamonds were loose stones, carefully chosen, just like you would for a ring. They have them already set too but the quality probably won't be what you're looking for.

 

[sneakyp]

i just went through this process and ended up buying from good old gold. i purchased 1.4 total carat H&A H color SI clarity. iwent with hearts and arrows because i was buying direct off the internet and figured this would help eliminate many poor stones. i too wanted vs1 or vs2 but when i saw the SI stones i picked, they are eye clean and set as studs, the clarity became a lesser issue. only you and your wife will know they are SI and not VS1. jonathan at GOG called the stones in from what i picked off the search engine (check the HCA) and put them up on his website to view them up close and personal. i think you could meet your budget 10 to 13k depending on the clarity with H or G color with hearts and arrows. my wife loves her earrings and i was pleased with good old gold. unfortunately his site lists that he is on vacation through 8/4/03. if your interested, go to his site and click on the educational diamonds if you want to view the set i purchased. i did have them sent out for independent appraisal prior to purchase with Rockdoc which was easily set up and i would recomend independent appraisal for peace of mind with your purchase. good luck!

 

[mdx]

Hi
If you are looking for exceptional quality and prices that compare well with Internet vendors then 47th area is the place, you will need to do a bit of homework (check out the tutorial on this site) Arm yourself with an Ideal Scope and go shopping. Go up into the diamond area buildings avoiding street level stores. When you reckon you have the right deal have it checked out by an independent appraiser. Most of the top dealers carrying ideal cuts that are prepared to deal with the public will have no problem sending your stones off to an appraiser of your choice.

Enjoy the experience
Wayne
Melbourne Diamond Exchange Ltd

 

[OklahomaHusband]

Thank you all for the replies. Since I am paranoid (and not too knowledgable) I think 47th Street is not for me. Maybe if it is convenient to get over there I will but if not I will pass on it.

Since you asked, we don't know if it is a boy or a girl (and probably won't find out) but do know it is TWINS!!!. Two twin earrings for my wife's hard work in producing these babies. (This will be a surprise...I don't think she is expecting these earrings at all)

Thanks for the advice again on the reliable established internet vendors. Now I know where to do my searching and purchasing.


One last question, don't SI1 stones sometimes have visible inclusion (depending on the stone and the type and nature of the inclusions)? With an SI1 stone, isn't it more important that I actually see the stones (or at least images of them)?

-John

 

[aljdewey]

----------------
On 8/2/2003 8:43:15 AM OklahomaHusband wrote:

One last question, don't SI1 stones sometimes have visible inclusion (depending on the stone and the type and nature of the inclusions)? With an SI1 stone, isn't it more important that I actually see the stones (or at least images of them)?

-John
----------------

With the vendors I gave you, all you have to do is ask them if they are eye-clean....they'll tell you straight.

Also, as someone else mentioned, most of them will ship to an appraiser first so you can see them. Ask them each about that, and you can actually see the diamonds before purchase if that's important to you.

Good luck.....sounds like a lovely plan.

 

[Mara]

I second Al's note...most of the online vendors you'd want to work with will give you their honest, unbiased opinion on the stones, as well as confirming if they are eye-clean. Some even have enlarged pictures of the inclusions at 10x, 40x, etc so you can see for yourself what they look like under mag. Then you realize just how small inclusions can be in person. I would look for a clean plot too, or even one inclusion that may look big on the plot but is small in person or placed against a facet where the sparkle and/or line of facet hides it.

SI1 is the best way to get the most for your money and still stay in a comfortable grade...I wouldn't go way out of your budget to get VS2 if you can get eye clean SI1's graded by a lab like GIA or AGS who are more strict.

Good luck!