% discount below Rap Sheet.

diamondjane · Feb 1, 2003

I looked at 3 diamonds today, which were priced from 22% below Rap to 30% below Rap. The sales person wouldn''t tell me why. Can anybody tell me if it''s because of cut?

Thanks.

niceice · Feb 1, 2003

Ah yes, the 4th C - Cut has nothing to do with "shape" at all... It has to do with proportions and the discount off of Rap is usually a direct correlation to the actual proportions of the diamond! Very poorly cut diamonds, such as AGS-9 and AGS-10 can be seen trading on a dealer level at 60% off of Rap! While zero ideal cuts are often trading on a dealer level at or just below Rap depending on the volume of the seller / buyer. If I had to guess, I'd say that the diamonds you are looking at have a proportions rating of three or four assuming they are rounds... Fancy shapes are a different scale.

By the way, anybody who buys a diamond without knowing the full proportions information, regardless of whether the diamond is "ideal cut" or not needs to have their head examined. Would you buy a car without popping the hood and verifying that it was a four, six or eight cylinder? Get that proportions information! Demand a Sarin or an OGI analysis, those machines are prevelant in our industry today! Speaking of which, we had to laugh the other day when a client called to discuss an "ideal cut" diamond offered to him by another on-line dealer... He had asked for proportions information and the seller told him that it wasn't available. We called the cutter for him and the proportions information was on file, it turned out to be a 2 cut (very good not ideal) because of the pavilion depth. Guess the only thing "ideal" about that stone was that it was "ideal" for the seller to sell it!

Mara · Feb 1, 2003

I'm not a vendor..maybe some of the other ones could answer as well..but I don't think it is unusual for diamonds to be priced under Rapp pricing, but the steeper the price discount, the more you should be wary. For example, our stone is an AGS7 (shallow table, regular pavilion, very brilliant, good spread), and I believe the price we got it at was something like 20-25% off Rapp. Another stone from same jeweler we looked at which was considered Ideal cut...very beautiful, more 'accepted' table and depth %s, great crown and pav angles, got a 0.9 TIC on HCA (which our stone got 1.5 BIC) was priced for us at around 15% off Rapp. We also were looking online at similarly priced stones and similarly priced weights and specs (color, clarity) and this jeweler matched the internet pricing for us. So it is doable, and I think online the savings can be even higher. Some of the deals that people end up with (posted here..surf around recent articles) are amazing!

But definitely do not take a vendor's word for anything, I would get every detail you can and then also get an independent appraisal on whatever stone you choose in order to be sure that everything is in order and was as it was told. But don't be afraid to bargain, as % off Rapp is not unusual at all. I have seen some deals on this forum on what seem to be GREAT looking stones with great Bscope readings, great Sarin results, 'Ideal' cuts etc and they are around 10-20% off depending on what sort of negotiation was done. But get specs! Good luck!