having a loose stone set?

[aliciamt7]

Hi!

I am trying to dig up some information to help by boyfriend when he goes to buy the ring--he wants it to be a surprise but wants my advice on some things! He says that he knows the setting that he want to get me, he just needs to get the diamond, and I told him not to go to retail stores because of the insane markup! But my question is this: If we go and get a diamond from elsewhere (like online from one of these vendors on here) and purchase the setting at a jewelry store here in NJ, how can I be sure that the store will set our diamond that we bring to them and not damage it or try to pull a fast one? We were planning on telling the store that the diamond is from his grandmother''s ring, so there isn''t that automatic "we don''t set other store''s diamonds, etc. etc...". I am just leery about leaving such an expensive purchase of the diamond to the jeweler who has our setting. What are our options and how long does it take for diamonds to be set in a setting?

Thanks in advance!

Alicia

 

[k-man]

I'm in the same position (as I'm sure many others are too) so I'm interested in the response. Also note, my diamond does not have a laser inscription.

 

[Mara]

The chances of the jeweler actually being audacious (and stupid) enough to try to switch your stone are very small. Why? Because you're smart..obviously--you're ALREADY worried about it. So you will be sure that it's your stone and they won't be able to put one over on you. Here are a few ways you can do this.....




1) find out where the inclusion is when you buy the stone, whether its online or offline (though as the original poster noted, online has great deals and very nice stones with little markup)--find it on the GIA/AGS cert and then pinpoint it with your loupe. once you know where your inclusions are, it makes it easier to identify later that YES this is your stone. This will be hard if the stone is a VVS or something and your untrained eye may not be able to find the inclusions. I run into this with my VS1 stone, there is some feathering on a girdle which is SO hard for me to find, and one tiny pinpoint that I still have not been able to find. But if you can find the inclusions, it's only a loupe view away for you to realize that your stone is indeed still your stone.




2) after you have it set, take it to an independent appraiser who viewed your stone while it was loose. We had our stone appraised loose and then had it set at our jeweler and then returned with the entire ring to the appraiser where she finished up her work and gave us the appraisal. part of the second visit was confirming the stone was in fact the original one. This will work well if you have that VVS stone and can't find inclusions yourself. You should have an appraisal anyway--so I would spent the extra $100 to have this done..peace of mind.




My suggestions! Or you can see if your online vendor you buy the stone from (or offline) can get that same setting you are looking at. Alot of times settings you see in stores are just catalog settings that alot of other vendors have access to. My jeweler has alot of books with basic settings and setting components in them and he can order pretty much anything. Maybe that's the case with the person you end up buying with.




Good luck! Bottom line..I wouldn't worry too much about the switching of the stone. According to the experts on here, it's very rare and a jeweler would risk his whole reputation and business by doing something like that--esp if there is a GIA/AGS report that shows the 2nd stone's inclusions do not match up later. Why would they risk it?

 

[aliciamt7]

Thanks Mara! I frequent these boards a lot (in the past year or so) but don't post a lot because I'm mainly doing research and telling my boyfriend the info. He'll be getting this website soon as well so he can find stuff out on his own since he doesn't want me to know details anyway. You are all so informative here! Thanks for the response, I do feel better about it now! Take care!

Alicia

 

[aliciamt7]

Also, one more question I forgot! How long does it normally take to have something set (do I have to leave it for a few days, or is it done fairly quickly?) and are we doing the right thing in telling the jeweler that the stone is his grandmothers even if it is not? Thanks!

Alicia

 

[acanuck]

Hey Alicia,

I agree with Mara, be sure to ask the on-line vendor about settings (it may save you, err B.F., alot of running around).

If you do go local the process of setting it should really only be 20-30 mins so you should be able to set it up with them to do it while you wait. They may need to see the stone to pick out the correct set of prongs in advance of getting the setting but again that should only be a few mins.

I would say to play it straight with them as I'd imagine you'd would want them to do the same with you ? Fact is, you didn't get the stone from them - it's as simple as that. Call around to a few of the local stores and just say I already have a diamond and I'm looking for a setting. You can judge by their response if they're someone you want to deal with. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the friendliness of the jewelers that I spoke with and everything went A OK.

 

[DP]

Hi Alicia,

I had the same situation when I bought a diamond from the US and had to set it in the UK. I agree with Mara - quite simply if you know where your inclusions are then it's easy to make sure that the jeweller hasn't pulled a fast one.

As for setting other people's stones, well to my mind as a simple consumer it's a simple choice for them: you have a diamond. They can drop a hint about also doing diamonds but it's obviously too late beacuse you have it right there and you're obviously happy with it. Now, do they want a few hundred $$ to do business with you, or do they want to watch it walk out of the door to their competitors? To my mind anyone who chooses the latter option deserves to see you walk!

As for setting time, the classic line 'it depends' comes to mind. I had a specific jeweller in mind who had a backlog so it took about 8 weeks (OUCH!!!!!!

) hence even though I got the loose diamond in July I have only just had the ring back (photos I promise if I can figure out how to get the camera to focus!) and the venue I had in mind for 'The Question' was fully booked until October (story to come - errr - hopefully!) It was a custom design though which always takes longer. Off the shelf designs - I'm sure you can get someone to do it in a 10-day to 3 week window.

Just my 2c - best of luck!

 

[lenore80]

I am looking to buy a diamond online, and having it set locally...if you go to a mom & pop (B & M) it wont be a problem, usually. Visit the stores, tell them you are looking for settings, and if they will set a stone that does not come from their store. Forget the "grandma" story, its too much of a hassle to lie about it. If you think you have to lie in order for them to set the diamond, then (IMO) you dont want to go there.

Check out the general vibe of the store, and do you feel comfortable there? The place where I am getting it done is an AGS jeweler, and do not do as many engagement rings as the place down the street. Even though they had a limited selection, 2 sales people sat down with us...and brought out all the books of what they can do (including the books that had individual seperate shanks and prongs,etc).

I would reccomend visiting on a night that isnt too busy (like a monday). Our jeweler told us that he could get stuller settings in 2-3 days and set the diamond for maybe $50. Go with your gut (or heart) instinct!!

 

[derekinla]

I purchased my stone online and purchased the setting locally from a family owned B&M. The jeweler actually gave me "free mounting" and an updated appraisal document for my insurance so he clearly appreciated the business! I don't think you'll encounter too much of a resistance. A sale is a sale even if it's just a setting. By getting the setting locally, I have essentially bought into the "local support" and now have acess to free regular inspections, cleanings, adjustments etc... It's also insured through Chubb so I have total peace of mind. I think the online stone and local setting route is a great way to go for those who want the "best of both worlds". Oh, and my stone is an SI1 (eye clean without the loupe) with laser inscription so the chances of a switcheroo is nil. One more hint: Before parting with your stone to have him/her mount the stone, ask the jeweler for a loupe so he can see you carefully inspecting the stone. That way, the jeweler will know that 1) you know how to use a loupe to identify your stone 2) you are not your average consumer and 3) you will likely use the loupe at the time of pickup so he/she will be extra careful to do a perfect job.