Hi Everyone,
I thought this would be much easier... I'm hoping to propose in less than a month. After lurking for months on PS doing lots of reading and posting a few questions here and there, I was ready to make my choice. I thought I had the right diamond picked out at BN. However, realizing that I still know next to nothing about diamonds, I wanted an independent verification of the diamond before it was set. I did the research, picked out an appraiser, and asked BN if they could ship the diamond to him first, then set it after I was satisfied with the appraisal.
I was told that it was against company policy to ship directly to an appraiser. I'd have to purchase the stone, get it appraised, then return it to BN to be set. Well, here's the problem: I'm in the US Navy and stationed in Japan. It takes about 10 days on average for mail from the States to reach me. Also, last time I checked, there are no "PS recommended" appraisers in the Far East. If you add up the shipping time for a diamond to get to me, get back to the States to be appraised, get back to me, get back to BN to be set, then back to me... now I'm proposing around Christmas if I'm lucky. That's not an option. So it seems I have my back up against the wall and am stuck with either blindly trusting BN and the GIA or starting from scratch with a vendor who doesn't have such rigid policies against second opinions.
Realistically, I'm sure the diamond would be just fine and I'd be happy with it even if it weren't exactly as advertised. But I'm just a little perturbed that the "company policy" can't be stretched slightly to help someone in my unique circumstance. What would you folks do? Buy the BN diamond? Start over with a company that would be willing to have my diamond appraised first? Something else I haven't thought of?
Starting over is a bit of a monumental task for me since I'm on a ship at the moment with little time to spare and an internet connection that takes forever and a day to load one page. If anyone voted "start over" and wants to help, I'm looking for an F or better IF in the 0.9-ct range and my budget is $8000 max including the setting (simple platinum 6-prong similar to the BN "classic"). Anyone have a good recommendation?
Thanks!
-J
I thought this would be much easier... I'm hoping to propose in less than a month. After lurking for months on PS doing lots of reading and posting a few questions here and there, I was ready to make my choice. I thought I had the right diamond picked out at BN. However, realizing that I still know next to nothing about diamonds, I wanted an independent verification of the diamond before it was set. I did the research, picked out an appraiser, and asked BN if they could ship the diamond to him first, then set it after I was satisfied with the appraisal.
I was told that it was against company policy to ship directly to an appraiser. I'd have to purchase the stone, get it appraised, then return it to BN to be set. Well, here's the problem: I'm in the US Navy and stationed in Japan. It takes about 10 days on average for mail from the States to reach me. Also, last time I checked, there are no "PS recommended" appraisers in the Far East. If you add up the shipping time for a diamond to get to me, get back to the States to be appraised, get back to me, get back to BN to be set, then back to me... now I'm proposing around Christmas if I'm lucky. That's not an option. So it seems I have my back up against the wall and am stuck with either blindly trusting BN and the GIA or starting from scratch with a vendor who doesn't have such rigid policies against second opinions.
Realistically, I'm sure the diamond would be just fine and I'd be happy with it even if it weren't exactly as advertised. But I'm just a little perturbed that the "company policy" can't be stretched slightly to help someone in my unique circumstance. What would you folks do? Buy the BN diamond? Start over with a company that would be willing to have my diamond appraised first? Something else I haven't thought of?
Starting over is a bit of a monumental task for me since I'm on a ship at the moment with little time to spare and an internet connection that takes forever and a day to load one page. If anyone voted "start over" and wants to help, I'm looking for an F or better IF in the 0.9-ct range and my budget is $8000 max including the setting (simple platinum 6-prong similar to the BN "classic"). Anyone have a good recommendation?
Thanks!
-J