First Diamond Purchase -- Some Questions

[TheVenus]

Hi!

This is my first post on this forum.... I've been lurking for a few weeks... and I have to say, my goodness you women have the HUGEST diamonds!!!!

My fiancee and I are making our first real diamond purchase, and it is incredibly overwhelming!!

I have done a lot of research here, and at truthaboutdiamonds, and at a bunch of other online places..

We have looked at places from the low end Mall jewelry stores, to a diamond wholesaler in Boston (BRAG), to online places like Blue Nile and James Allen and we finally settled at a family owned jewelry store in the Boston suburbs, that has very good Yelp ratings.

So..

We found:

EGL Certified
.81 carat Round Brilliant
D; SI1
"hearts and arrows" cut

for $3,700. (aggressively haggled down price... they started close to $7,000 which was just nuts.. )

I emailed truth about diamonds, and was answered back and told that EGL is a substandard lab, and to get my deposit back, it wasn't a good value at all, and no EGL diamond has the "H&A" standards..

I viewed the diamond under this special "hearts viewer" scope, and I saw the hearts and arrows... so I'm confused.

Are we getting ripped off? Is this a good deal?

Who knew this would be so stressful.

 

[slg47]

Hi!

This is my first post on this forum.... I've been lurking for a few weeks... and I have to say, my goodness you women have the HUGEST diamonds!!!!

My fiancee and I are making our first real diamond purchase, and it is incredibly overwhelming!!

I have done a lot of research here, and at truthaboutdiamonds, and at a bunch of other online places..

We have looked at places from the low end Mall jewelry stores, to a diamond wholesaler in Boston (BRAG), to online places like Blue Nile and James Allen and we finally settled at a family owned jewelry store in the Boston suburbs, that has very good Yelp ratings.

So..

We found:

EGL Certified
.81 carat Round Brilliant
D; SI1
"hearts and arrows" cut

for $3,700. (aggressively haggled down price... they started close to $7,000 which was just nuts.. )

I emailed truth about diamonds, and was answered back and told that EGL is a substandard lab, and to get my deposit back, it wasn't a good value at all, and no EGL diamond has the "H&A" standards..

I viewed the diamond under this special "hearts viewer" scope, and I saw the hearts and arrows... so I'm confused.

Are we getting ripped off? Is this a good deal?

Who knew this would be so stressful.

EGL is soft on color/clarity grading. It seems like a 'deal' when compared to GIA or AGS, but it is not. I would also be wary of a place which allows you to haggle down the price so much...it seems like they are marking up a lot to make it seem like you got a deal.

whether or not a diamond is cut to H&A standards depends on how you define H&A and not the lab where it was sent to be graded.

I don't think diamond buying has to be stressful but I would NOT go with EGL because it is not a deal for consumers! If you post your budget and what you are looking for we can find you some online options. Or if you prefer to shop locally you can post the GIA or AGS reports of the stones you are looking at if you want feedback.

 

[ChrisES]

As a patron of a family-owned jeweler myself, I don't have any objections to your decision to shop bricks & mortar (though you will likely pay at least a smidge more than online), but I wouldn't advise buying a EGL stone and I would be very worried about how much that store initially marked that stone up.

If you like the store and like colorless diamonds (which cost a hefty premium), I suggest that you go back and ask what they have in a GIA F color, and post the diamond(s) here so we can take a look at them.

 

[distracts]

The problem with hearts and arrows is that it shows that your diamond is symmetrical, not that it has ideal light return. And to get a truly beautiful, sparkly diamond, you want ideal light return. Symmetry is nice, yes, but if you have ideal light return but less symmetry, your diamond will still look better than one with poor light return that was perfectly symmetrical.

To judge good light return on a diamond that is not an AGS000 (which by definition is an ideal performer), you should use an ASET or Idealscope, which are simple and fairly inexpensive tools.
http://www.ideal-scope.com/cart_order.asp
http://www.datlas.com/tools.htm
http://www.americangemsociety.org/newhandheldaset.htm
http://www.lexusindia.in/products/gb-aset-scope.aspx

If that diamond is in fact by GIA standards a D SI1, then it is a fair price. However, EGL .8ish D SI1s are going online for about a thousand dollars less than that... so that's not really a fantastic price. You'll pay a bit of a premium for shopping in person, but I don't think a thousand-dollar premium is worth it for a stone that has unreliable grading. (The problem with EGL is that sometimes they will grade a D as a D, often they'll also grade an E as a D, or an F as a D, or even a G as a D... so unless you personally are crazily, unnaturally color sensitive [and viewing the diamonds sideways on a white background, hah!], you have no way of telling if you are actually getting the color diamond you think you're getting, or if you are getting one of another color grade. And the same thing goes for clarity. So you don't want to pay the D premium on an EGL diamond because there's a very good chance you might be getting an E or an F. And the same thing goes for clarity - you may be getting SI1, but maybe SI2. Maybe worse. Maybe better. You could get an AGS000 F SI1 for basically the same price, and have it guaranteed by a reliable lab to be what it actually is, AND be an ideal performer.)

You can use the diamond search tool on this website to find price comparisons:
https://www.pricescope.com/diamond-search-results/
To compare EGL diamonds, you will need to uncheck AGS and GIA and check Other.

 

[Frenchcut]

Hi TheVenus, welcome to PS!

What worries me with your diamond is the SI clarity with an EGL certificate...it could really be a I1 or I2 clarity had it been graded by a more reliable lab and I wouldn't advise anybody to choose a I1/I2 diamond for an engagement that you will spend a lot of time looking at! It could be good enough for a pair of earrings but not for an engagment ring.

Even if you didn't notice any inclusion in the store doesn't mean that you won't see one/several in different lighting conditions...beware!

The way the diamond was overpriced by the jeweller is also a red light for me, 7000$ is outrageous and it sounds like he tried to make you believe you had the deal of your life when it was not...I wouldn't go back there. There are plenty of trustworthy B&M stores with knowledgeable jewelers who deserve your business and won't try to take advantage of you.

Good luck with your search

 

[Dancing Fire]

Hi!


for $3,700. (aggressively haggled down price... they started close to $7,000 which was just nuts.. )

Are we getting ripped off? Is this a good deal?

Who knew this would be so stressful.

there's your red flag...a reputable vendor won't able to offer 45% off and still make a profit.

 

[TheVenus]

Thank you all for your opinions, My apologies for replying late. (Been a busy week!)

I searched on James Allan And the only other .80ish diamonds I can find for "Thousands cheaper" are I1s with huge inclusions..

I could believe it probably isn't D colored, (maybe E or F?) But it was a very clean stone, even for an SI1, under the 10x loupe, as well as the hearts/arrows viewer..

This is why it's stressful

Buying a TV is easy, pixels can be counted... Diamonds are organic, grading aside, I looked for the "prettiest" stone..

Anyway, thank you all again It's a very informative forum here and it was helpful!

 

[Ravinmad]

Thank you all for your opinions, My apologies for replying late. (Been a busy week!)

I searched on James Allan And the only other .80ish diamonds I can find for "Thousands cheaper" are I1s with huge inclusions..

I could believe it probably isn't D colored, (maybe E or F?) But it was a very clean stone, even for an SI1, under the 10x loupe, as well as the hearts/arrows viewer..

This is why it's stressful

Buying a TV is easy, pixels can be counted... Diamonds are organic, grading aside, I looked for the "prettiest" stone..

Anyway, thank you all again It's a very informative forum here and it was helpful!

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/D-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1458706.asp D color, SI1 .71ct for approx 3700 with PS discount.

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/E-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1468591.asp very nice E color, SI1 thats .75ct... I'd get this stone looked at! This will be sub 3700 with PS discount.

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/F-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1444680.asp F color, SI1 thats .77ct....sub 3700 with PS discount

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/F-SI1-Very Good-Cut-Round-Diamond-1455345.asp F color, SI1 thats .80... very close to a 60/60 arrangement. with PS discount its about 3900 bucks.


You can get the Idealscope and aset(i've been told, no experience with the aset request) and a gem evaluation by JA on the 3 top stones of your liking.

All of these have a Cert you can rest your hat on. GIA/AGS are the standard bearers of the 4C's and grading.

 

[Amys Bling]

Hi!


for $3,700. (aggressively haggled down price... they started close to $7,000 which was just nuts.. )

Are we getting ripped off? Is this a good deal?

Who knew this would be so stressful.

there's your red flag...a reputable vendor won't able to offer 45% off and still make a profit.

Yup