Find your diamond
Find your jewelry
shape
carat
color
clarity

Did I do well?

N

Nicholas Terry

Rough_Rock
Joined
Aug 21, 2017
Messages
11
Hi folks,

I bought a diamond and proposed, got a resounding yes ;). However in all my research I realise I sort of like the process of buying diamonds and find it facinating. I was quite proud of myself, because I was able to negotiate well with a brick and mortar store and really get what I felt was a good price. I was wondering what you guys thought?

Now I know people don't really like brick and mortar for a number of good reasons, however, having an experienced jeweller to work with was great, and I didn't mind paying a small premium (relatively) to support local business. Plus, my parents had shopped there too.

Essentially, I made a spread sheet and compared diamonds online to my jeweller (Roland). Then, I ranked all of the various properties of the diamond. Initially he showed me an F diamond with a 3.5 HCA score, medium yellow florecence, very good symmetry, etc. Etc. Then I negotiated and got the following diamond. Take a look at the stats... what would you pay?


1.01 Carat Diamond
F Color
VS2 clarity (totally eye clean)
Ex, Ex, Ex, GIA

HCA Score was .8 or 1.2 can't remember.
Since this was, in my opinion a perfect diamond, I trusted his knowledge to make the final choice. Was wondering what you guys think. I was hoping you would guess the price of the diamond (in Canadian or american) before reading what I paid for it below....












I paid thirteen thousand two hundred for the one I bought and he wanted fourteen thousand five hundred for the original one he showed me. (Canadian)Screenshot_20170821-221314.png Screenshot_20170821-221407.png
 
Is the amount you listed for the entire ring or just the diamond?
 
The ring only, including tax! Thanks!
 
Sorry, the diamond only ******
 
Without knowing what was involved with the setting, it's hard to say. Based on the details you posted, it's a nice looking diamond.

Question is, are *you* happy with the outcome? It appears that the positive response you received from your fiancée indicates she is. So congratulations!
 
This is a slippery slope. You're very happy with your purchase. Are you sure you want to open this can of worms? I can pretty much guarantee there are diamonds out there with the same specs for less. Why agonize over what you could have saved?
 
It looks like a lovely stone. I'm glad you didn't go for the one with yellow fluorescence. The stone you chose was roughly $10k usd. Including tax

Are you happy with the stone? The process? Do they have an upgrade policy (nobody ever needs these …until they do :shhh:)

How did you set it? Pics? Hand shots?

Congratulations on your engagement :clap:
 
Hmmm

I guess I have the wrong impression here. If I was that concerned about it I would have looked more carefully.

I gave my jeweller a very specific set of parameters; notably the measurements the float around these forums. Thus, anytime a stone came up it was gone quite quickly and I had to act fairly fast.

I'm more just expressing an interest in what peoples own opinions are about it. Plus, I think I'll be buying more diamonds in the future, such as on the wedding band and one day for earings.

I sort of liked looking at diamonds and finding optimal prices, cut and quality. I'm also confident that although I paid a premium for the stone, I didn't pay a tiffany premium on it or anything crazy.

I digress. Maybe I did pay an outlandish premium o_O:Up_to_something2:o_O and maybe you are right I don't want to know. :whistle::lol::lol::lol:
 
To answer that question you got to show us the girl, not the diamond! :-)

That diamond is beautiful. Much nicer than the diamond I intend to buy. 13.2 CAD = 10.5 USD, so looks pretty reasonable.
 
The stone is absolutely beautiful. And I am happy!! Perhaps I am better served showing it....

I believe I was a smart man, and simply purchased a really cheap silver setting, and then put a deposit for a ring with my jeweller so she can get it custom made. I'm not the one who has to wear it every day after all...

Looks like she is going with the classic tiffany style 6 prong classic setting. I guess she really liked the cheap setting... Maybe she will feel the same about wedding bands :roll I personally thought some diamond crusting would look good, but she's the boss. And I think she might be right that it would detract from such a beautiful stone.

And for what it's worth, I checked Brian Gavin and a couple other places, and their diamonds of similar quality are all of similar price; about 10k. However, once I paid taxes on it it comes out to be almost more expensive than my ring. Maybe I was in with a jeweller today (a different one from the one I purchased it from) and he made a couple of remarks that made me a little.... uncertain. But I think I did fine!

20170812_204230.jpg Screenshot_20170822-001521.png
 
Nicholas Terry said:
Maybe I was in with a jeweller today (a different one from the one I purchased it from) and he made a couple of remarks that made me a little.... uncertain. But I think I did fine!
Click to expand...
Don't forget it is in his interest to disparage other jewellers' wares and promote his own...
 
Looks like you found a beautiful stone. You did far better than the majority of people who dont come here first for help.
Whiteflash and Brian Gavin stones are Super Ideal branded stones. They are H&A with Ideal light return, symmetry and polish. They come
with Idealscope image, H&A image, Aset image, and nice up close pictures and videos. Everything needed to prove that they are top
performers.

Whiteflash in general is less expensive than BG.
 

Attachments

  • upload_2017-8-22_9-0-24.png
    upload_2017-8-22_9-0-24.png
    341.3 KB · Views: 23
tyty333 said:
Whiteflash in general is less expensive than BG.
Click to expand...

Does anyone know why this is the case? Does BG have the same upgrade policy as WF?
 
ceg said:
Does anyone know why this is the case? Does BG have the same upgrade policy as WF?
Click to expand...

No, with BG you have to update 2 specs (size/color, size/clarity, etc). With Whiteflash you have no requirements to update anything. Just spend
the same amount.

I'm sure occasionally you may find a BG stone at a similar price but from my long term comparison, Whiteflash seems to have better pricing.
(I'm sure someone will start pointing out comparisons to prove me wrong now :cheeky:). Some people favor one company over the other...like I said,
my go to for Super Ideals is Whiteflash.
 
Yeah this is definitely why.

Because it was brick and mortar, there was no upgrade policy. However a good point to consider is why do BG and Whiteflash have upgrade policies? Well, I imagine it's because they can resell their diamonds. I'm not a believer in curses or whatever but I think some people might not like to wear a diamond that was previously worn.

Additionally, I know that my fiancee is never going to be interested in an upgrade policy. Even if we do upgrade her ring one day, it will definitely be a new one and she will pass the old one along. She can't get rid of things like that.

So compared to the Brian Gavin diamond I saved money, and in comparison to the Whiteflash I played a modest premium. Based on my HCA score I do believe my diamond has a near or ideal cut, but is there really a way to yell if you have a GIA stone?
 
So aside from the GIA grading and the HCA score then what to do?
 
You could unset it and get a idealscope or ASET image.

But honestly, don't worry about it. It's a great stone. Your g/f probably isn't thinking to herself: I wonder how this compares to an AGS0 or if this stone has a hearts and arrows pattern.
 
Nicholas Terry said:
So aside from the GIA grading and the HCA score then what to do?
Click to expand...

You need idealscope and ASET images.
WF and Brian Gavin's diamonds are more expensive because they are well cut, inspected, and guaranteed with idealscope and ASET images. (plus excellent customer service, craftmanship, upgrade policy, etc..)

A stone like yours with ideal proportions can be found around 7.5k.
https://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD09128089?click_id=430163000


https://www.adiamor.com/Diamonds/F-VS2-Affinity-Cut-Round-Diamond/D40551282
Your stone was offered by other vendors. I guess it was about 7.5k. That's 10000CAD. Add tax, it is about 11300CAD.
You paid about extra 2000 CAD by going with a B&A store.
Even in Toronto and Vancouver, there are diamond vendors who can match this price easily. If you go to a jeweller, they put a 10~20% mark up.

BTW, there is no guarantee that your stone is actually new. An old stone can be sent to GIA for a new grade report. It is common, and there is no way to track this.
 
Last edited:
Hmmmm,

All great points. Like I said. I was no fool to think that I wasn't paying a premium; I was fully aware. My estimations came out to be about $1200. However, for what it's worth the ASET images were essentially perfect on my stone. Also, this still doesn't quite explain a $2000 difference between the BG stones and the "adamior" stones, seeing as both come from their best grading scores.

Either way, the stone shines like crazy and i couldn't be happier, and having a jeweller who was helping me out the whole time was also nice.
 
Yeah. I guess that what it comes down to; which purchasing experience you want. My parents are business owners and known in our small town, and we always try to support local. This place is a small shop and they gave me a cash only price, which I knew was still more than what I can get online. Like I said, they'd worked with my family and they were good and to me it was worth it.

And finally, the most important thing was that it looks nice, and maybe I could have gotten an extra .1 carats if I'd bought the same quality online, but I supported the local store and that comes as no surprise.
 
Nicholas Terry said:
Yeah. I guess that what it comes down to; which purchasing experience you want. My parents are business owners and known in our small town, and we always try to support local. This place is a small shop and they gave me a cash only price, which I knew was still more than what I can get online. Like I said, they'd worked with my family and they were good and to me it was worth it.

And finally, the most important thing was that it looks nice, and maybe I could have gotten an extra .1 carats if I'd bought the same quality online, but I supported the local store and that comes as no surprise.
Click to expand...
sorry.. deleted my post accidently.

As long as you know of other options you had and you are still satisfied, that's all that matters.
Your jeweller found a good stone according to your specifications. This is rare. Most of them don't bother and insist GIA XXX is good enough.
 
There are relatively few examples on the forum of where going to a family friend has produced better results than shopping online, but you have got a great stone :)

$2000 is not a small amount of money, but if it bought you experience, peace of mind and the ability to support local business that you might work with again in the future, one can view that as money usefully spent. :)
 
Yes you are right.

I'm still not going with the $2000 figure, it simply seems like a little too much speculation for me. I should have known to look online for the same stone but didn't, and now that I'll never know the price I will assume the best of it :whistle:. The fact that I saved money over a Brian Gavin diamond and came somewhere close to whiteflash's price makes me quite happy. How much money i could have saved by going with something like bluenile or adiamor i will never know. The ASET images looked spectacular, and that's what matters.

It still baffles me that vendors who do not sell diamonds with ASET images will still have very high discrepancies in prices with diamonds that seem to have identical specifications.
 
Beautiful stone! If you and most importantly your fiancé love it that's all that really matters but I totally understand wanting some reassurance.
IMO 2k isn't terrible. When I tried working with a local jeweler they were asking over 5k more for a smaller carat, lesser quality diamond (than I was looking at).
 
I agree. I think $2k for buying something in person and supporting a local store isn't unreasonable. If everyone buys online, retail will eventually go under (and in many ways it already is). (And I say that as one of the worst. I go see something in person and then find it cheaper online so you can blame me when retail all blows up). I will truly be sad if that happens.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
GET 3 FREE HCA RESULTS JOIN THE FORUM. ASK FOR HELP
Jewelry Blog
PriceScope-Concierge-Ad
Find prime cuts.
Top