Graff piece - Yellow diamond help

[RingLooker]

Hi all,
I'm in the market and have found a piece at Graff that has a 1 carat oval yellow vivid diamond (with just over 1 carat in small white stones covering the ring and halo). The piece appears to be fairly unique as I haven't seen anything like the setting so far in my shopping. With all of that taken into account, I'm wondering if the price is still too high. I was quoted $45K incl. tax and the salesperson knocked off $5K off the bat. If I could have it shipped out of state, then the price comes down from $40 to $36K.

I understand that part of the evaluation of the cost is subjective, but given the specs above, what is a reasonable range to ask for? I would appreciate any help!

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

May I ask which lab certified the stone and what's more--clarity and dimensions? Details, please!

That said, please investigate these vendors for comparible stats:

Icestore
Diamonds by Lauren
Leibish

cheers--Sharon

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I would say that is a very, very high price. I imagine you could have a similar ring custom made for half to two-thirds of that amount.

Victor Canera also makes beautiful hand forged settings and has done several different styles with yellow diamonds.

http://www.victorcanera.com/jewelry/rings

 

[Gypsy]

I would say that is a very, very high price. I imagine you could have a similar ring custom made for half to two-thirds of that amount.

Victor Canera also makes beautiful hand forged settings and has done several different styles with yellow diamonds.

http://www.victorcanera.com/jewelry/rings

Yeah. I gotta say. You are REALLY paying for that Graff name. WOW.

Is it worth it to you?

I mean look at this: http://www.fancydiamonds.net/view_diamonds/5958.htm IF clarity Fancy Intense Yellow One carat oval. For 9k. This one is SI clarity and it is 6.7K! http://www.fancydiamonds.net/view_diamonds/5951.htm

And this has to be one of the most beautiful fancy's I've seen. Fancy Vivid 1.09 with Vs1 clarity for $14,200! http://www.fancydiamonds.net/view_diamonds/5775.htm


I mean I know you said the setting is unique but... are the setting and the Graff name worth in the neighborhood of 22K to you???

I wouldn't pay it. And I'd probably kill my husband for paying it unless we both have trust funds in the MULTI millions.

And I mean that.

 

[Gypsy]

Few more comps:.

No pictures of the real stone but for pricing:

http://icestore.com/search/yellow_diamond_detail.asp?ID=479

http://icestore.com/search/yellow_diamond_detail.asp?ID=629

http://icestore.com/search/yellow_diamond_detail.asp?ID=490

 

[justginger]

Holy overpriced brand name, Batman! If you're a Graff lover, I guess the name is worth the price. If you're not, and simply like the design, you can get something made, as the others said, for half the price and just as good of quality. I bought my 1 ct fancy intense yellow from Leibish a couple of months ago during an awesome sale, discounted from the normal price of something like $8500. Even full price, you're saving tens of thousands on the stone alone.

Flick through www.fancydiamonds.com and see what Leibish has, or www.diamondsbylauren.com to see what David has. Either can make you a stunning ring for a fraction of that price.

 

[RingLooker]

First of all, I want to thank everyone for their quick responses and valuable input! You've certainly given me a lot of materials to consider and compare with.

So I'm not married (no pun intended) to the idea of buying a ring for the brand name. The reason why I'm considering this particular ring is because in my shopping for yellow diamond rings, I haven't seen anything like it. It's a fancy vivid yellow oval, with a halo, that is not in a gold basket - it almost appears suspended in an open basket that sits slightly above the band portion and the basket appears connected to the band with a slight swirl. The yellow color is deep enough that it doesn't need to be enhanced any further. It has diamonds all along the ring as well. My GF doesn't really like halos or diamonds along the band, but she was quite taken with this particular ring.

To respond to some of the questions, it's GIA certified, but I'm not sure exactly what the dimensions are as I didn't take that information down. Is there something I should be looking for in the dimensions? I believe the clarity is VS1, but not completely sure.

I haven't reviewed everyone's suggestions yet, but I did notice one of the yellows linked to by Gypsy had a medium blue fluorescence. To what extent should I be critical of a fluorescent ring when looking at yellow diamonds? And does anyone have an idea of how much off the price I can ask for at Graff without completely turning off the sales staff?

Thanks again, and I'll continue to review everyone's suggestions and come back with additional comments (and probably more questions!).

 

[kenny]

With white diamonds we encourage people to look for good cut which results in the best light performance.
With Fancy Colored Diamonds, FCDs, light performance takes a back seat to color grade.
In fact light performance it often sent to the back of the bus.

FCDs are cut to strengthen the color by forcing the light to bounce back and forth many times through the colored body material.
This makes the light pick up more color before returning out the top.
The top is the only part of the diamond GIA looks at when grading color, and a stronger color grade means a much higher price.
If a cutter cut an FCD for good light performance and ended up with a lower color grade they'd be throwing a lot of money down the drain.

That said I collect FCDs and DO attempt the impossible by looking for FCDs with good light performance.
I bought 20 and returned 8, and I can assure you if you are patient enough you can find a well cut FCD, especially in Yellow.
There are many more yellows to chose from than reds or greens.

That GIA's colored diamond reports do not even bother reporting crown and pavilion angles also speaks volumes, that with FCDs it's all about the color not the cut.
No seller of FCDs offers Idealscope or ASET images.
This makes it near-impossible to shop online for good cut (light performance) of FCDs.
You have to see an FCD in person and compare its light performance to a well cut diamond.
Two FCDs with identical GIA reports can look VERY different in four ways: color intensity, hue, tone (lightness to darkness) and light performance.
Many astronomically-expensve FCDs have dead dull light performance, and most collectors don't care as long as the color is good.
I'm sure FCD sellers are angry at me for bringing up light performance, but I'd like to change the industry.
A well-cut FCD is absolutely magical.

With white diamonds the color difference between every F and every G is TINY and barely perceptible.
But with FCDs the you could line up 100 GIA-graded Fancy Vivid Yellows and they could vary tremendously in color strength AND hue.
Some may have a bit of orange, green, gray, brown, but not enough of those secondary hues to bump them into GIA's "Greenish Yellow" grade.
Green will bump up the price while brown will lower the price.
I'm explaining all this to tell you why it is nearly futile to compare prices when FCD shopping.
Two diamonds with identical GIA specs at the same vendor can vary greatly in price.

If you want that Graff ring don't be afraid of offering any price.
They may just accept it.
All they can do is say, "No"; they're not going to slap you.

BTW based on my experience (20 transactions) I recommend Leibish. www.fancydiamonds.net
They have a huge inventory, good service and policies, and the color of their pics is true to life.