Experts please - Which one should I choose?

[Stephan]

I have to ''seal'' 2 ideal cut diamonds before selling them.
In Belgium, most people prefer to buy sealed diamonds.
Both stones are lower colors (K and N).
Which Antwerp institution would you choose and why?
Thank you!

 

[Lorelei]

ETA - did you only want experts to answer this Stephan or those in the trade, I just realized what the title said!

 

[Rockdiamond]

Hi Stephan,
From here in NYC, I''d not feel comfortable with either...but the probably the market is different in Antwerp

I am curious...how will you go about selling them?
Online?

 

[Stephan]

Date: 5/24/2009 1:30:14 PM
Author: Lorelei
ETA - did you only want experts to answer this Stephan or those in the trade, I just realized what the title said!

Hey Lorelei, I consider you as an expert.
As I subscribed to this topic, I saw your first answer, HRD.
If I had to buy a Belgian certified diamond, it would be HRD too.
But not all the Belgians do know that.
And I think I could obtain a better grade (and price) with the 2 others?

 

[Stephan]

Date: 5/24/2009 1:35:50 PM
Author: Rockdiamond
Hi Stephan,

From here in NYC, I''d not feel comfortable with either...but the probably the market is different in Antwerp

I am curious...how will you go about selling them?
Online?

Hi David!
No, I know a place in Antwerp who take your diamonds in consignment.
I will loose a lot of money.
Is there a better place in Antwerp to sell those ideal cut diamonds?
Belgian people are not aware of Tolk etc.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 5/24/2009 1:37:02 PM
Author: QueenMum

Date: 5/24/2009 1:30:14 PM
Author: Lorelei
ETA - did you only want experts to answer this Stephan or those in the trade, I just realized what the title said!

Hey Lorelei, I consider you as an expert.
As I subscribed to this topic, I saw your first answer, HRD.
If I had to buy a Belgian certified diamond, it would be HRD too.
But not all the Belgians do know that.
And I think I could obtain a better grade (and price) with the 2 others?

Oh ok, you are too kind Stephan! I just reread the title and wasn''t sure! Yes HRD would be my choice but if they aren''t widely known in Belgium then do you know which is the most popular lab out of EGL and IGI?

 

[Stephan]

Date: 5/24/2009 1:40:12 PM
Author: Lorelei
Yes HRD would be my choice but if they aren''t widely known in Belgium then do you know which is the most popular lab out of EGL and IGI?

I don''t know which is the most popular, but you''ll see a lot of IGI and HRD diamonds in Antwerp, not that much EGL.
What is important for me is to obtain the best price, as they are both branded diamonds, brands that people in Belgium don''t know.

 

[Rockdiamond]

From what I''ve seen on visits there, the domestic trade is not very active- therefore no gem lab is widely known in Belgium-
.
Although I believe if one is ( not considering GIA) it wold be HRD- which is, I believe, a Belgian company.

Stephan, can you try eBay?
Is there a Craig''s list there?

I''d hate to see you loose more than necessary.....

 

[Stephan]

Date: 5/24/2009 1:35:50 PM
Author: Rockdiamond
From here in NYC, I''d not feel comfortable with either...but the probably the market is different in Antwerp

One of those diamonds was a GIA J color, after EightStar did the recut, it became whiter to my eyes, but it was graded K by GCAL. That was sad for my wallet.

 

[Stephan]

Date: 5/24/2009 1:46:44 PM
Author: Rockdiamond
Stephan, can you try eBay?
Is there a Craig''s list there?

I''d hate to see you loose more than necessary.....

David, you are so kind to try help me out.
I did try eBay but didn''t insist, because nobody would dare to buy something online for this amount of money from a particular.
It''s of course not the same for you as you are a seller with a lot of merchandise and a lot of happy customers.
Now I have to google ''Craig''s list''.

 

[strmrdr]

Why not sell them on consignment thru pearlmans or gog into the US market?

 

[Stephan]

Date: 5/24/2009 1:49:56 PM
Author: strmrdr
Why not sell them on consignment thru pearlmans or gog into the US market?

Hi Karl,
Jonathan answered a lot of mails and was very patient to help me, but shipping diamonds to the US is not an easy thing for me as I am not in the business.

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 5/24/2009 1:55:50 PM
Author: QueenMum

Date: 5/24/2009 1:49:56 PM

Author: strmrdr

Why not sell them on consignment thru pearlmans or gog into the US market?

Hi Karl,

Jonathan answered a lot of mails and was very patient to help me, but shipping diamonds to the US is not an easy thing for me as I am not in the business.

set them in silver settings so its jewelery and not lose diamonds and fedex em out.
What is the brand of the other one?


Or see if Wink is interested and can have Paul ship them.

 

[Stephan]

Date: 5/24/2009 1:57:19 PM
Author: strmrdr
set them in silver settings so its jewelery and not lose diamonds and fedex em out.

Jewelry = VAT + duty

What is the brand of the other one?

The brand is Crafted by Infinity

Or see if Wink is interested and can have Paul ship them.

This is an option I was thinking of too, but I know Paul is very clean in the business and that he avoids direct sales to customers to respect the Belgian law. Also, I''m afraid that Wink''s asking price will be high and that I will have to wait for months. I understand if he doesn''t sell my 1.26 N-VVS1 for 2K less than the similar diamonds he is selling, such things can destroy a brand.

Keep posting Karl, Lorelei and David, everybody has interesting things to say!
Thank you all!

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 5/24/2009 2:07:19 PM
Author: QueenMum

Date: 5/24/2009 1:57:19 PM

Author: strmrdr

set them in silver settings so its jewelery and not lose diamonds and fedex em out.

Jewelry = VAT + duty

For export?

Do you have a buy back policy on the infinity?
Also Paul''s Belgium infinity partner store may be interested also.

 

[strmrdr]

Mr Rob van Beurden
Company DiamondHouse
Address Vestingstraat 59
Antwerpen (n/a) 2018
Belgium

Telephone + 32 3 2269393
Fax + 32 3 2269620
Website http://www.diamondhouse.be/

 

[Stephan]

Date: 5/24/2009 2:11:05 PM
Author: strmrdr

Date: 5/24/2009 2:07:19 PM
Author: QueenMum
Jewelry = VAT + duty

For export?

Do you have a buy back policy on the infinity?
Also Paul''s Belgium infinity partner store may be interested also.

If I export rings to Jonathan or Wink, I think they will have to pay VAT.
If I have the diamonds unset, only someone in the business can send them (FedEx Belgium doesn''t allow me to send loose precious gems).
There is no VAT on loose diamonds between diamond dealers, but well on jewelry, correct me if I''m wrong.
Thank you Karl!
Again, I''m afraid of Paul''s partners selling this diamond for the normal asking price as N color doesn''t sell fast.
I want the people who buy my diamonds make a bargain and I want to sell fast.

And you Karl, if you sell the diamonds in Belgium, what certificate would you choose?
I thought of IGI for the EightStar, because I feel the ''K'' is not fair.
IGI would probably give it a ''I''.
EGL Antwerp perhaps even better, but I don''t know if they are ''sellable''.
But IGI is very common and accepted in Antwerp (even if I prefer the stricter HRD).

 

[strmrdr]

no clue which would sell faster but honestly give Rob a call and see if he will make a cash offer.

 

[Stephan]

Date: 5/24/2009 2:27:57 PM
Author: strmrdr
no clue which would sell faster but honestly give Rob a call and see if he will make a cash offer.

I''m so stupid that I didn''t think of cash offer but only consignment.
Thank you Karl, I''ll do that tomorrow!

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 5/24/2009 2:33:53 PM
Author: QueenMum

Date: 5/24/2009 2:27:57 PM

Author: strmrdr

no clue which would sell faster but honestly give Rob a call and see if he will make a cash offer.

I''m so stupid that I didn''t think of cash offer but only consignment.

Thank you Karl, I''ll do that tomorrow!

I''m pretty sure Wink could sell the infinity once it gets back into the network.
Figuring out how to get it back into the network is the hard part.
The 8* would also likely move in the US market much better than Belgium but getting it here is the hard part.

 

[Stephan]

Date: 5/24/2009 2:37:49 PM
Author: strmrdr
The 8* would also likely move in the US market much better than Belgium but getting it here is the hard part.

Not so difficult, but the swine flue frightens me.

 

[John P]

Date: 5/24/2009 2:07:19 PM
Author: QueenMum

Or see if Wink is interested and can have Paul ship them.

This is an option I was thinking of too, but I know Paul is very clean in the business and that he avoids direct sales to customers to respect the Belgian law.

It is true that Paul is the cleanest of the clean but that will not prevent him from providing salient advice to you in this situation Stephan. He is on holiday with his family right now but I''m sure he will be glad I put the suggestion forward here - please get his insight. I imagine Rob in Antwerp will also be a valuable resource, as Karl said, but please don''t hesitate to explore all options. Go through me if you like: [email protected]

 

[John P]

Date: 5/24/2009 2:45:22 PM
Author: QueenMum

Date: 5/24/2009 2:37:49 PM
Author: strmrdr
The 8* would also likely move in the US market much better than Belgium but getting it here is the hard part.

Not so difficult, but the swine flue frightens me.

Hey you''re not the only one. I flew through Tokyo not long ago and we were quarantine''d on the ground for 90 minutes - almost missed my connection (the plane was held because we were evil, swine-carrying Texans I am sure...yee haw).

 

[Paul-Antwerp]

Hey Stephan,

I will be in Vegas until the 4th of June. Call me after that. We will fix this for you.

The Infinity will be no problem, and we will look into the best solution for your Eighstar.

Live long,

 

[Stephan]

Date: 5/24/2009 4:09:15 PM
Author: Paul-Antwerp
Hey Stephan,

I will be in Vegas until the 4th of June. Call me after that. We will fix this for you.

The Infinity will be no problem, and we will look into the best solution for your Eighstar.

Live long,

Hi John!
Hi Paul!

It is a big pleasure for me to read you both and to see there are better solutions that what I was resigned to do.
The 1.26ct is a little beauty.
Actually my boss wanted to buy it, but the week after her car had to be replaced and she left the project.
Why was I ready to loose a lot of money? Because people don''t seem to want those colors in H&A diamonds (look at the so gorgeous 1.24 M-VVS1 that still is on the market, it''s really a shame people don''t consider lower colors).
Wink''s 2.73ct N-color also looks incredible (and what a bargain)!
Look at GOG''s gorgeous 1.74ct O-IF that doesn''t sell either.
I just can''t understand.
I still am a low color lover, and my next purchase will also be below M.

John, thank you again for giving me some hope!

Paul, don''t gamble too much in Vegas!
4th of June is my Birthday, it sounds like a good sign!
Have a nice vacation, see you in June!

I''m very excited!

 

[strmrdr]

Bravo John and Paul.

Stephan there is a saying in the diamond world, it is all about who you know.
Best of luck!!!

 

[WinkHPD]

Thank you Storm for letting me know about this thread. I see that both John and Paul have already told Queen Mum that we can take care of the Infinity for him, and we can also help him with a solution for the EightStar.

Stephan, you hand I have done business before, you know I will always work hard to earn your repeat business. As Paul said, we will be back in the office after the Vegas show, so we will look forward to hearing from you then.

Wink

P.S. As to your comments about the lower colored H&A stones not selling. This was perhaps once true, but no longer. I sell many of them, as can be seen by many threads here on Pricescope. It is true that some individual stones survive on the market longer than others, but people are now realizing what a treasure they are and many of the dealers here are selling them much more frequently now.

 

[Stephan]

Date: 5/24/2009 8:30:41 PM
Author: strmrdr
Bravo John and Paul.

Stephan there is a saying in the diamond world, it is all about who you know.
Best of luck!!!

Thank you very much, Karl!!!

 

[Stephan]

Date: 5/25/2009 12:48:09 PM
Author: Wink
Thank you Storm for letting me know about this thread. I see that both John and Paul have already told Queen Mum that we can take care of the Infinity for him, and we can also help him with a solution for the EightStar.

Stephan, you hand I have done business before, you know I will always work hard to earn your repeat business. As Paul said, we will be back in the office after the Vegas show, so we will look forward to hearing from you then.

Wink

P.S. As to your comments about the lower colored H&A stones not selling. This was perhaps once true, but no longer. I sell many of them, as can be seen by many threads here on Pricescope. It is true that some individual stones survive on the market longer than others, but people are now realizing what a treasure they are and many of the dealers here are selling them much more frequently now.

Hi Wink!

I remember how fast you did sell one of my diamonds years ago.
The transaction was flawless.
I also remember our other transactions, and every time I was pleased.
Thank you Wink, we keep in touch.

P.S. About the lower colored diamonds, I think people will buy them even more if they renounce to hide the color by setting them in yellow gold.
N and lower colors look so precious when set in white metal (think vintage/antique look).