Help please PS AUSSIES

[darkness13]

Hi PS Aussies

Quick question - have any of you ever sent a diamond from Australia over to a jeweler in the US to have it set into a ring and then had the whole piece sent back?

I want Victor Canera in the USA to make an engagement ring up for me and I'm trying to figure out the best way to avoid a hefty tax bill as it re-enters the Australian border. If I purchased the centre stone here and posted it over to the US, I wonder how Australian customs would try and charge me given the whole piece would come back as one ring?

If I didn't buy the diamond in the US, only the setting, would they just tax me on the setting? Would I need to show proof the diamond wasn't purchased in the US? anyone gone through this?

Sigh*

Any advice or others experiences with this type of scenario would be so greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[arkieb1]

Hi, you need to work out how uniform the stone is - so if it is a completely round shape can Victor make the setting without the stone? If it is not a uniform shape then you will need to keep all the paperwork of the purchase. You will need to ship it fully insured via Brinks or Malca Almit which are the only two companies out of Australia that I know of that can do this - FedEx out of Australia will NOT insure jewellery at all.

You will need to have a Aussie valuation done on the stone stating it's colour, clarity and it's insurance value to prove that the stone that comes back in with the ring is the same one that went out.

When the ring comes back to Australia Victor declares the setting was made in the US. So you save 5% on that part. You will then submit the proof you have to customs of you sending the original diamond out of Australia they will check this and then charge you the 10% on the GST only. If you get a difficult customs person they may charge you the whole amount stone and new setting and you will have to then lodge the paperwork after the event to try and claim it all back again, which you are entitled to do.

Places like Malca Almit and Brinks are exceedingly expensive to ship a diamond one way too btw!!! What is the size stone you want again? If it is a larger stone you will possibly be better off buying the whole thing overseas and paying the GST on the whole lot.

 

[darkness13]

wow ok, thank you.

Wanting a 2-3 carat, maybe I need to take a personal trip to the US

When you say perfectly round do you mean the length and width being the exact same measurements? i.e. 8.76mm x 8.76 mm?

 

[arkieb1]

Hi when I say perfect round I mean something like a well cut round brilliant. Old cuts which a lot of people are into are often non symmetrical. A lot of Aussies go on trips to the US to purchase something. For a diamond that size it possibly will be cheaper buying it from the US. And linking up to your other question - buying a fully certified diamond from a trusted vendor that comes with all the paperwork is fine, you should not need to have it appraised before getting it here. Generally it is only if you are super worried that the grading might be out for some reason or you are buying from a non trusted vendor and you are making sure that the description, specs or the paperwork that comes with the stone matches the actual stone.

Which one of Victor's rings do you want a plain style or a halo?

 

[darkness13]

The Emilya

Do you know of any diamond vendors with good reputations for being trustworthy and competitively priced?

 

[arkieb1]

Good choice it's a very blingy and fantastic ring!!!! - I own a now set Emilya.... it's very pretty and a complete sparkle monster.... I think for the stone size you are talking about the US will possibly be cheaper. Contact Victor and ask him what he currently has or can get for you. Brian Gavin, Good Old Gold, James Allen are all other trusted vendors as well.

 

[darkness13]

Good choice it's a very blingy and fantastic ring!!!! - I own a now set Emilya.... it's very pretty and a complete sparkle monster.... I think for the stone size you are talking about the US will possibly be cheaper. Contact Victor and ask him what he currently has or can get for you. Brian Gavin, Good Old Gold, James Allen are all other trusted vendors as well.

Awesome! glad to hear you also have great taste

Have you ever posted any pics on here? Id love to see it and also know the specs of the centre stone if you dont mind sharing - its great to see pictures of how a size ratio looks...

 

[arkieb1]

Good choice it's a very blingy and fantastic ring!!!! - I own a now set Emilya.... it's very pretty and a complete sparkle monster.... I think for the stone size you are talking about the US will possibly be cheaper. Contact Victor and ask him what he currently has or can get for you. Brian Gavin, Good Old Gold, James Allen are all other trusted vendors as well.

Awesome! glad to hear you also have great taste

Have you ever posted any pics on here? Id love to see it and also know the specs of the centre stone if you dont mind sharing - its great to see pictures of how a size ratio looks...

No I haven't posted pics of it as yet, I will get around to it eventually..... If this old listing link still works, send me a message via here, I would be happy to send you some bad pics of it - it is a 2.38 centre in a Emilya halo. Victor is a lovely guy too btw!!!!

http://loupetroop.com/listings/rings-natural-diamond-center/price-slashed-1-dot-10-carat-oec-in-bezel-setting-for-sale-at-jbeg

 

[hippi_pixi]

I was looking for a 2-3 carat stone and we ended up flying to the US to buy it. Bought a 3.5 carat... Oops Started in LA and visited a few diamond dealers there and then a pitstop in Vegas for the boy, ended with a week in New York. It was a fantastic trip and i would do it again for an upgrade . It was an amazing experience and a fantastic holiday diamonds for me and my boy got to do all the touristy stuff. If you are after an old cut diamond you might need to visit east and west coasts. If you are after a mrb there are more than enough dealers in NY. Jonathon from GOG is great for fancy cuts

Be aware if you buy in one state and pick it up there you pay a local tax which in NY is 8.875% but if you buy in NY and ship or pick up in another state you don't pay it. We bought from OWD in NY and Adam posted it to a hotel in LA where we had a 1 night stopover before flying back to Aus. In NY the state borders are quite close so you could also post to an interstate fedex and hire a car to pick it up.

Also some slightly dodgey people might not declare their new purchase when reentering Aus so they wouldn't pay to 10% gst that you would pay if you stayed at home and had it posted to you. This is up to you and your morals. I certainly would post on PS if you decided to do this

If you bought online you'd have to be pretty sure you wont return it as it would hurt to pay postage, gst once, pay return postage and then another set of postage and gst on your second choice

If you decide to travel then do all your research before you go though as you will have to decide on the spot!

 

[arkieb1]

Actually if you return something within a certain timeframe and use the same shipper as the vendor used and have a full papertrail you can send the item (yes a diamond or a ring with a diamond) back to the US and claim the GST back again. I hope that isn't too complicated... you can either swap it when it is there for another similar diamond and when it comes back in under a faulty goods clause they don't charge you a second lot of GST. If you sent it back and then purchased something else from a different vendor if you fill in the paperwork then you can get the original lot of GST back and then you just pay it all again when you buy the new item from a different vendor. So if you get something you hate and want to return it you will basically be out of pocket the shipping costs both ways + customs handling fees (not the GST).

These are your options;

1) Buy a diamond here and get a setting made to fit it in the US and get the setting sent here and set the stone in Australia
2) Buy the diamond and the ring in the US from a trusted vendor who is the same person
3) Buy a diamond from a trusted vendor that is different to the person making the setting, send it to them and get them to make the setting and set the stone then mail it to you
4) Go and look yourself and try and get it made in a rush
5) Order something from here and then fly over and pick it up

 

[Acinom]

For reference: my stone is a 5ctish OEC with the following dimensions: 11.48 x 11.38. For my setting it was 'round' enough according to Victor. I can imagine symmetry is even more important with the Emilya because of the halo.