E-ring advice please

[age000]

Hello,

I''ve been lurking for a while trying to get as much information as possible before I make my decision (and I''ve come to respect the posters on this forum, hence my registering). I know my FI to be (I hope

) would like a white gold setting and a round diamond. I''ve found 3 stones that look good to me, but I was hoping for some advice from some of the experts out there.

They are
1. http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1112006.asp

2. http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1069050.asp

3. http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/G-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-924921.asp



I haven''t checked if they are eye clean yet which is the first question I would ask before going forward. My budget is up to $7000 CAD (add about 15% tax to any final number). I''ve found two settings at James Allen I''d be happy with, but I don''t have my heart set on them.

Thanks for all the help so far with all the informative posts, I hope I''ve learned well.

 

[lala0306]

Not an expert by any means, but you may not have to pay tax if you have the stone shipped, Also, is 7k your total budget (stone and setting)? Check out Good Old Gold..

 

[age000]

Well, from looking at BlueNile, there will be about 15% tax on any imports (customs and duties). Whether or not I''ll get dinged from other distributors, I don''t know. Any experience out there?

$7K is total budget for stone plus setting plus tax and shipping.

As you can see from my choices, I was thinking SI1 (eye clean) and G or H colour with ideal cut.

The setting I was leaning towards is "Thin Seed" setting (ironically enough someone else just posted a question about that). Here is a link:
http://www.jamesallen.com/products/item_334-1392_build.asp?module=setting

Any other advice or ideas?

 

[Lorelei]

Hi age!

I can''t get the second diamond''s link to work?

 

[Cleo]

Hello and welcome to PS!

You have chosen three very lovely and well-cut diamonds there - so congratulations!!

All three of them perform very well on the Holloway Cut Advisor, scoring 0.8, 1.6 and 1.2 respectively, with each diamond getting Ex/Ex/Ex/Vg for Light Return/Fire/Scintillation/Spread.

Assuming that all three are eyeclean to your own standards, I would probably prefer the second diamond to the first, out of the two H SI1 stones - as the second is an H&A diamond.

Other than that it depends if you prefer a G-colour non-H&A diamond or an H-colour H&A diamond.

They are both lovely stones though!

I live in the UK and had to pay 17.5% import duty on my diamond when I bought from the USA. It''s charged by Customs, not the vendor, so there''s no way to avoid it, as it is a legal requirement.

x x x

 

[Lorelei]

Ok, finally got the second link to work, that looks to be a very nice diamond, and it is a H&A if that is what you value, check that SI clarity diamonds are eyeclean to your standards though, by asking the vendor to look at your choices for you.

 

[age000]

Thanks for the advice so far, I guess educating yourself does help.

For those of you that have dealt with James Allen, do they have the stones in stock most of the time to judge eye clean or not?

Also, given the H&A has a cut advisor rating of 1.6 vs. 0.8 for the non-H&A, does that make any difference? I know anything lower than 2.0 should be a good stone, but does it make any difference to go as low as possible or would that be getting to the point your eye cant'' tell anymore? I''m leaning toward the H&A stone right now.

To: Cleo, that''s what I thought about import duty, it covers sales tax here in Ontario and no way around it. Just the way it is I guess.

Thanks for all your help so far.

 

[Cleo]

You''re welcome: you''ve done a great job picking those diamonds.

Why not pick up the phone and call James Allen to ask them? It''s always a good idea to reserve a diamond you particularly like, as there can be a lot of lurkers on these forums, and it would be a shame to lose a diamond that you have gone to so much trouble to find.

Regarding the HCA scores: you can''t use them to choose a diamond - just to reject them.

The HCA won''t help you choose between a diamond scoring 0.8 or 1.6... they are both great scores and one is not necessarily better than the other (based on the scores alone). Lower isn''t necessarily better either.

PS-ers tend to aim for an HCA score of less than two. Beyond that, you can speak to the vendor to ask their opinion, request Idealscope images, Sarin reports etc to help you make your final choice.

I think the H&A stone would be a lovely diamond for your engagement ring.

x x x

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 3/31/2008 9:14:14 AM
Author: age000
Thanks for the advice so far, I guess educating yourself does help.

For those of you that have dealt with James Allen, do they have the stones in stock most of the time to judge eye clean or not?

Also, given the H&A has a cut advisor rating of 1.6 vs. 0.8 for the non-H&A, does that make any difference? I know anything lower than 2.0 should be a good stone, but does it make any difference to go as low as possible or would that be getting to the point your eye cant' tell anymore? I'm leaning toward the H&A stone right now.

To: Cleo, that's what I thought about import duty, it covers sales tax here in Ontario and no way around it. Just the way it is I guess.

Thanks for all your help so far.

No, you cannot use the HCA for selecting diamonds, it is an elimination tool and should be used as such. Varying scores under 2 do not mean one diamond is better than another, just that the diamonds are worth further evaluation, and this you do with Idealscope images, vendor expertise and advice etc. Also for the sake of completeness, sometimes diamonds which score over 2 can still be worth further consideration in some instances, especially once you have seen a lot of diamonds online, and you are familiar with the HCA and some number combos. Then often once you are experienced, you will know which combos are likely to be a good choice without using the HCA.

The diamonds you have picked look to be in house diamonds, so all you need to do is contact JA for more info and advice.

 

[tobwald]

I am the one who posted about the thin-seed setting, so I must say I am excited at the prospect of you purchasing it so I can see photos! I am from the states, but am living in Canada for my graduate school work. I was trying to figure out how much the additional costs of shipping and duty would be from james allen as well, so all the info had on that is greatly appreciated. My parents still live in the states, and I wonder if it would be less expensive to have it (if we do go for it!) sent to them first, and then have them send it up themselves from there...or maybe bring it up? Not sure how much the bf will like that as it kind of diminishes any surprise element.
Anyways! good luck, and PLEASE post photos if you go with that setting!

 

[Dreamer_D]

I am Canadian too and just looked into the whole tax stuff etc. and it varies by province. Where do you live? In Ontario, it is 5% GST and that is all (!!) no duty or PST. In some other provinces you pay different amounts, but there is no duty on importing jewelry anymore.

Does JA have an upgrade policy? This may be something you want in the future and I think their policy is that the upgrade must be 50% more or something... WF and GOG have more liberal policies. Something to consider. Also, WF has really nice setting, IMO.

DD

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 3/31/2008 10:52:05 AM
Author: dreamer_dachsie
I am Canadian too and just looked into the whole tax stuff etc. and it varies by province. Where do you live? In Ontario, it is 5% GST and that is all (!!) no duty or PST. In some other provinces you pay different amounts, but there is no duty on importing jewelry anymore.

Does JA have an upgrade policy? This may be something you want in the future and I think their policy is that the upgrade must be 50% more or something... WF and GOG have more liberal policies. Something to consider. Also, WF has really nice setting, IMO.

DD

Details here.

http://www.jamesallen.com/about-us/upgrade-policies.asp

 

[tobwald]

I am in ontario, so that is wonderful news! also, I know that PS people are always mentioning a PS discount at whiteflash, is the same true of James Allen? I had a hard time finding that information.

 

[age000]

Well, I''m certainly glad I found Pricescope and got your advice. I went ahead with second stone (1.03 H&A, H colour) after talking to James Allen.

I also decided to go with the "Thin Seed" setting but without the side diamonds (my GF has mentioned in the past she doesn''t want other stones distracting from her main one

.

There is no free shipping to Canada, it''s $75 + 3% of purchase price. I''ll find out what the taxes are in a couple weeks (anything from M. Geller won''t be ready for 2 weeks). Oh, I mentioned Pricescope and got the discount right away, so no problems there.

Once it arrives, I''ll make sure to post pics.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[Cleo]

Yayyyyy!!!! Congratulations!

Sounds as if James Allen were really helpful.

You made a great choice, and that setting is beautiful. I am sure your future fiancee is going to LOVE it!

I can''t wait to see photos of your finished ring.

x x x