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Does it cost more to have a jeweler find your diamond?

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Bruserker

Rough_Rock
Joined
Oct 25, 2013
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I am looking for a cushion cut diamond in the size of 5.50mmx5.50mm or bigger. In a modern cushion 8 main if possible. Do I save more if I look for the stone myself using various website like bluenile, whiteflash, james allen and gog. Or will it be the same price as if I just ask gog to look for it for me?
 
Bruserker|1383887935|3552604 said:
I am looking for a cushion cut diamond in the size of 5.50mmx5.50mm or bigger. In a modern cushion 8 main if possible. Do I save more if I look for the stone myself using various website like bluenile, whiteflash, james allen and gog. Or will it be the same price as if I just ask gog to look for it for me?
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It depends. WF, JA, and GOG are jewelers and they would be happy to source a stone for you for free (I don't know about BN as I've never spoken with them). If you went to a local jeweler, they would still probably bring in some choices, but you will pay a premium regardless.
 
What's you budget?
 
The stores you listed are pretty aggressive in terms of pricing but they have no particular lock on that idea. Jewelers set their own prices. Mostly the folks who have the cheapest business models, meaning the lowest costs in terms of showrooms, inventory, staffing, advertising etc.can offer the best prices but this isn't the case every time. Then again, there can be value in those things too so it's up to you to decide if they're worth their price. It doesn't hurt to ask.
 
It also depends on what you're looking for in the cushion. If you're really picky about the way it looks and want a stone with top notch light performance and all the right angles you might be better off having GOG search for one. I know they also do thorough research on the stones they call in and will share that with you. But if you're comfortable with your knowledge on cushions you can pick one yourself!
 
I'm not a very trusting person.
I'd worry that the price quoted in private may not be as good as the price the same vendor would post for the same diamond on the Internet.

This is absolutely NO reflection on GOG whatsoever.
I love them and have done a lot of business with them and hope to in the future.

I feel this way about all diamonds from all vendors so I'd never 'commission a vendor to do a diamond search, or have a diamond cut for me.
YMMV.
 
I think this is a great question and subject in general.
The internet, in general will be the cheapest place to buy a diamond.
Having said that, I think it's easy to overlook what each type of seller offers.
This is particularly true in the case of brick and mortar stores.
The difference in overhead between an online seller and a brick and mortar store can be huge.
This means the physical store will often ask a higher price for a similar stone.
But the opportunity to walk into that store and look at the product costs a lot. Yet this aspect has a lot of value, and may prove to be a good trade-off for some consumers.
The general trend is indeed working against the local jewelry store- and this can be seen in the numbers of local jewelry stores that have closed over the past ten years.
Obviously, a an internet seller, we have taken advantage of this.
But speaking as someone who used to make a living selling diamonds to jewelry stores, it's bittersweet for me. There's a lot of good honest sellers that have gone under.
The "Red Book" is a trade publication which lists all the jeweler stores in the US.
The book used to weigh about five pounds....now it's not even published anymore- the info is online- but if it was it would be half the size, or smaller.
 
Budget is around 5000-8000 for the center stone. Quoted around 4k for setting and mount
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKSNUSx0wWE

She doesn't like vintage cushion/old mine cushions. I am considering a modern 8 main cushion or a smaller Brellia cushion similar to the one posted on good old gold. Due to the pricing on a Brellia I feel I can get a larger stone going with a more generic cushion with high optics for a similar pricing. But how can I tell how the diamond looks like just by the GIA picture?

8_main_point_cushion_8.jpg
 
You need ASETS and an images.

You can work with Engagement Rings Direct. Mark has a great eye for cushions and very good pricing.

Ask him to call a couple in for you, get and ASET, then send you pictures.

That's what i would do.

And no, it won't cost more than doing the search yourself.
 
"But how can I tell what the diamond looks like from the GIA report?"


Short version: you can't. That's part of the service Rockdiamond is talking about. You can come closer by purchasing from one of the vendors named, who will (for a price) look over the stone and give you their opinion on it... but there isn't a good way to comprehensively evaluate a stone, especially in a cut other than MRB, sight unseen. It will always, always, always cost you more to go through a vendor, but that extra cost is the price of their evaluation and any other services they might be providing. It's the tradeoff for you looking at thousands of stones and spending a few years getting to know people in the community who can help you source a stone of similar quality for a similar price.
 
Sounds good, I will post a picture when I find my stone. Thank you again!
 
I think getting educated and finding your own diamond not only saves money but results in a better diamond … you acting alone can have no potential conflict of interest.
 
By all means, if a person is more comfortable picking their own diamond, then that's the way to go. But it's important to remember that no matter where you buy your diamond, the company selling it has an interest in getting you to buy.
To truly act alone, one would need to mine their own diamond, and polish it themselves.
 
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