Help for inexperience diamond buyer(earrings, dirtcheapdiamonds.com)

[ThatGuy]

Hello. I searched around for info on these forums, and found some useful threads, but I''d like to ask a more specific question, and hopefully you folks will be able to help me out some.

I had a jeweler pretty much just rip dirtcheapdiamonds.com, saying their diamonds looked like "frozen spit" and that he''s seen their diamonds side by side with his and they''re not comparable to his. This jeweler is from ShaneCo, by the way, I''m in Minneapolis, but I think they''re nation-wide?
This is even though the color of the diamonds I''m looking at(haven''t litterally seen the stones, of course, but DCD''s return policy means it''s no risk) is better(G/H vs H or H/I), but the clarity might be one step below(I1 at dirtcheapdiamonds, jeweler said his are "probably" S12....not sure if probably means it could be I1...?).

The DCD earrings are found here, the Value line 3/4 ct. tw. for $649:

http://www.dirtcheapdiamonds.com/diamond-studs.cfm

Since these are diamonds earrings, not a ring or anything like that,it was pretty much unanimous from everyone I talked to that color/clarity isn''t as big of a deal as it would be for a ring.

So, to recap:

dirtcheapdiamonds.com...3/4 ct total weight, G/H color and I1 clarity: $650
jeweler...0.79 ct total weight, H color, SI2 clarity: $850

What''s weird is, ShaneCo''s 1/2 ct total weight ones are maybe more comparable to DCD....same color/clarity as the 1/2 ct for $525(compared to DCD''s G/H Color, SI2 Clarity earrings for $559)

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

 

[ThatGuy]

Sorry, one other thing....again, I don''t know much about this stuff, I apologize if this should be on a newbies forum somewhere...

But are DCD''s stones GIA certified? Someone I know said I should find out if they are. I couldn''t find anything conclusive on their website. I suppose I can just call them and ask them on Monday, but I thought maybe people here would know.

Thanks.

 

[RockDoc]

One sure way to find out the facts is to tell Dirt to send them to an appraiser who can better and more independently consult with you on the actual appearance of the stones.

The other alternative is to 1) order them and take them to your jeweler to compare them. If you don''t like them then return them and get a refund. 2) or.... tell Dirt to have the stones sent to GIA or AGS and offer to pay for this if the stones are graded as he specified.

If they have gradings reports that of course is better, but you might peruse his inventory ( and other sellers) for ones that have reports. This may cost a little more but in the long run, worth it.

Also does the jeweler you saw have grading reports for his diamonds?

Rockdoc

 

[valeria101]

That any one random jewler just happened to compare batches of DCD diamonds with his sounds really far fetched.

How do their diamonds look like ?

My expectations are not high for uncertified "G-H" I1

 

[partgypsy]

I ordered a pair of the DCD value line (I1) earrings and returned them. It''s true color/clarity do not matter as much for earrings, but to a point. When you get into the I range it does affect the sparkle and liveliness of the stone. It''s worth it to go up into the SI range. I do know that DCD prices are competitive, so I would be curious to see your jeweler''s "probably" SI2 earrings compared to DCD labelled SI2 or SI1 diamonds.

 

[princesslover]

Hi!

Did your jeweller say ANY/ ALL of the diamonds from DCD were like "frozen spit"?!
In that case, I can most definitely tell you that he is a LIAR...

I got a beautiful princess cut e-ring there, and every time I walk into a jeweller here in Toronto, Canada, to look at other things, they all tell me my princess must be an "ideal" cut (even though there is no such thing for princess cuts..)!
I even had a jeweller tell me he would buy it from me for the price I paid - he could sell it in his store with a good profit!!

So, I think it''s rather the fact that we''re talking about an I rather than a SI - with that many inclusions, it''s bound to be a bit muddled - regardless of where you buy it from.
But I know that at DCD you can upgrade the clarity,and regardsless they have the best prices I have come across personally...

And by the way, my stone is GIA certified. But some of their stones are certified by other labs. And, not to worry, since DCD has a 100% money back guarantee! Including shipping...
So you really have nothing to lose...

Good luck!

 

[ThatGuy]

Thanks for the responses everyone, you've been very helpful.

The jeweler just said he's seen "their diamonds", and definitely thought the quality was not up to par. Today he talked to another jeweler at the store about them, and when he mentioned DCD, they both kind of smiled uncomfortably. It was almost comical.

But, what I've decided to do is, I put the local jewelers 1/2 ct tw(H color, SI2) on lay-away, just made a downpayment, fully refundable, and I'm ordering the DCD 3/4 ct tw tomorrow. When I get DCD's stones, I'm going to compare them side by side. If I decide the smaller stones look that much better, I'll get them from the local jeweler. If I like hte bigger stones better, I'll keep them.

The other thing was, they had a 1/2 ct tw pair of earrings there for $450, so they were a step below in either color or clairty, and I had them side by side. I couldn't tell a thing, to be honest. After staring at them for a long time, I could notice it a little bit, but I'm not sure how anyone looking at them in someone's ears could possibly tell the difference.

But I guess I'll find out when I get them side by side.

Thanks agian.

One other thing....I can also take advantage of an upgrade program from the local jeweler if I get those. I but the 1/2 ct ones, and all I need to do is spend $1 more and I'll get 100% of the price of those stones, if I want to get the 3/4 ct tw ones in a year or something. So that will be a factor as well.

 

[hoorray]

Date: 4/24/2005 9:46:26 PM
Author: ThatGuy
Thanks for the responses everyone, you''ve been very helpful.

The jeweler just said he''s seen ''their diamonds'', and definitely thought the quality was not up to par. Today he talked to another jeweler at the store about them, and when he mentioned DCD, they both kind of smiled uncomfortably. It was almost comical.

This is a pretty sweeping statement. I''ve purchased form DCD with great success -- success that was validated by top appraisers, so it''s not just my opinion. However, I can''t vouch for these particular stones. What I can say, is that you have taken a good approach. Many B&M vendors are very upset with the internet veodors because it is causing a radical change in their business. I have a local jeweler who I like a lot, and have done buaisness with several times. He is currently very angry with the Internet and what it is doing to his small business, to the point that his anger is makingit hard to do business with him. Not all are like this, but the industry is going through change, which many people do not embrace.

Look at all the stones in various lights. Earrings can be lower color and clarity, but the sparkle factor still makes a huge difference. These stones will be framing her face, and the more they flash with life, the better they will look.

good luck!

 

[windowshopper]

that a business person would speak this way about another business is really pathetic and quite frankly somewhat hard to believe...........shane & co must be incredibly unprofessional if what you say is true. i recently purchased a 3 plus carat GIA certified stone from DIRT CHEAP DIAMONDS and it is an unbelievably fabulous stone that i had independantly appraised prior to purchase. Additionally, i had it on when shopping for an eternity band in the shop of one of the top top jewelers in big dollar diamond and high end estate jewelry in the country and the proprietorl commented on it and finally asked to see it and said it was an incredibly fine diamond.....

is every diamond that DCD or any other vendor sells top quality? probably not............but does that mean the dealer who sells KIA's is dishonest and sleazy b/c he sells cheap cars and the dealer of BMW's is necessarily honest and forthright. There are diamonds sold by Tiffanys that have good paper--but they are not necessarily the most brilliant and beautiful diamonds..................

My comments do not guarantee anything about DCD BUT the comments you attribute to Shane and co tell me that they are behaving in such a way b/c they are struggling to compete with high quality internet vendors like DCD. There have been a number of negative threads about Shane & co so you may want to investigate them as well.

 

[Mara]

that is just ridiculous....the SHANE COMPANY is telling you that DCD's stones are frozen spit? 'smiled uncomfortably' when DCD was mentioned? to be blunt, probably because Shane is thinking of all the sales they have lost to DCD and other online companies like them.

first off, i would never spend a dime at the Shane Co on their diamonds (i shopped there while looking and they only had the bare bones info on their stones AND they were hugely overpriced), and would gladly spend some money at DCD especially on their signature stones or similar. i was this close to buying our e-ring diamond from DCD and we went offline instead since it felt 'safer' to my fiance, and got something that was not up to cut par for the same money...how i wished i had gone with that DCD stone. now i only purchase my diamonds online with trusted vendors that give me numbers, images etc that tell me what the stone will be like in person. so far i have not been wrong.

Jim from DCD frequents this forum and they sell some great stones--they may sell some iffy ones as well if you surf around their site they do have 'poor' cuts but they do have various levels of cut. Can the Shane Co say the same? Would they even admit that some of their diamonds are poorly cut?

i'm sure it depends on what you are buying, how much you want to spend, you get what you pay for basically. good luck with whatever you decide, but do not take one vendor's bad words against another vendor without having an unbiased expert opinion as RockDoc noted. also i would not think kindly of a vendor who slammed another vendor...have some respect for your competition.

 

[Lord Summerisle]

Hmm i have heard that phase ''frozen spit'' some where before.... here maybe

Seems ''frozen spit'' is there catch all comment on other ppls stones.

 

[windowshopper]

Date: 4/25/2005 4:21:17 AM
Author: Lord Summerisle
Hmm i have heard that phase ''frozen spit'' some where before.... here maybe

Seems ''frozen spit'' is there catch all comment on other ppls stones.

hmmmmmmmmmm nice job lord S

 

[Kaleigh]

There was a thread a while back about Shane & Co. amd people didn''t have very good things to say about them. They are probably loosing many sales to DCD and other internet vendors. Sounds like sour grapes to me!!