Help with a fancy yellow

[danielNJ]

Hey all, I have been lurking for while now, your forums are so helpful. Now I need the experts to chme in. My bride to be has picked a Fancy Yellow Stone and I need to know if the deal is respectable. I have researched a ton and realize that pricing on the Colors is a tough one. Here is the GIA:

Cut Cornered Square Modified Brilliant
8.01 x 8.01 x 4.94mm (Yes a perfect square!)
2.76 ct
Natural Fancy Yellow, Even
Si1 (One feather)
d=61.7%
Table= 72%
Girdle Ex Thin to Ex Thick
Culet= none
polish=good
Sym=good
Flur= none


My Take one the stone:

Beautiful color Yellow, no brown,very even color. Under the loop, only one feather visable, looks better than most VS stones I have seen, no blacks. Feather is off to the outer edge and tiny. The dealer, of course thought that Si1 was way underated. By the loop, I agree. Looked at many higher priced Yellows next to it, and it stood up beautifully. Looked perfect indoors and out.


Now the price, just above 12k a carat, about 35,000 for stone! I can''t find a stone with those specs that is that HIGH priced on the net, most are 23,000 to 28,000.

Do you think its priced to high? Or is it just subject to opinion?

One of the dealers biggest sales pushes, was how it was a perfect, close to perfect square.

Your opinions and expert advice would be awesome.

I have bought from this dealer before, 2 high end stones, and he has been great with me. But the price just seems HIGH to me.

Thanks, Daniel

 

[neatfreak]

Yellows are really expensive, much more so than their white counterparts. And even small gradations in color can make a big impact on price. I certainly don''t think it''s outside the realm of reasonableness if it''s a bright true color.

BUT that being said, why don''t you get it independently appraised before purchase by someone who knows a lot about colored diamonds? That would really tell you more than we can.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

Hope this link pans out--put in some parameters in the Icestore Database and got this page:

http://www.icestore.com/search/yellow_diamond.asp?catagory=Fancy&mincarat=2&maxcarat=3&shape=Radiant&color=Fancy+Yellow&minclarity=IF&maxclarity=VS2&pageID=0&searchIcestore=true&searchval=&image.x=41&image.y=21

cheers--Sharon

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 5/11/2008 10:32:14 AM
Author: neatfreak
Yellows are really expensive, much more so than their white counterparts. And even small gradations in color can make a big impact on price. I certainly don't think it's outside the realm of reasonableness if it's a bright true color.

BUT that being said, why don't you get it independently appraised before purchase by someone who knows a lot about colored diamonds? That would really tell you more than we can.

I quite agree, you need an expert appraiser to examine the diamond, so I would arrange for that. Here is a tool you can use to find an appraiser in your area. It seems that so many things can influence the price of fancy coloured diamonds, and the quality / saturation of the colour can greatly affect the price. If it was a diamond I was buying, I personally would not want to proceed without an expert appraisal on the diamond.

https://www.pricescope.com/appr_list.aspx

 

[simplysplendid]

Daniel, your quote is far far too expensive. I have a fancy light yellow oval graded by GIA, 2.75ct and it costs me between USD14-15K for the entire stone. I understand that GIA grades fancy yellow from Fancy Light Yellow, Fancy Yellow, Fancy Intense Yellow and Fancy Vivid Yellow. Given that your Fancy Yellow is just one grade higher from the fancy light yellow, I think the quote you've got is far too high. Just being a pe'rfect square does not justify the price. The quote you've got is more reasonable for a Fancy Vivid Yellow.

You might want to try diamondsbylauren.com or niceice.com to get some quotes to get a feel of the prices. Good luck!

 

[dkodner]

Daniel,

from the description provided, it''s sounds like a beautiful stone, and there can be a HUGE variance of quality within the Fancy Yellow range. In almost all categories of yellow, you will find some on the bluffy side, and some that are very sweet stones. If this is a Fancy Yellow that borders on Intense, it will carry a much higher price than a Fancy Yellow that is really closer to a Light Yellow. There will certainly be a large jump in price from a Fancy Light to a Fancy. Pricing is very hard to compare, as each diamond is so unique, even within the same "range" of color. The pricing sounds like it is on the higher end of retail, but this stone may very well warrant the price. Only you can really tell since you have seen it, and I am guessing you have looked at other fancy yellows. (IF you have not, that is a must.) The problem I have with what you have said, is the jeweler pushing the idea that it is a perfect square, and thus better. If this were a princess cut, that would be great, but this is a Radiant cut, which I realize is cut very often as square, but originally designed to be rectangular, and for a reason. The squareness of the diamond you describe is helping the stone show more saturated color in the face-up, which is fine, but I don''t think you want to pay a premium to have a perfectly square Radiant cut. If you love the diamond, pull the trigger, if it is just okay, than keep looking. But, the number one thing to remember is that not all coloured diamonds are equal, especially yellow. Do NOT buy a diamond like this online. You have to see it IN PERSON, and ideally have other stones right next to it so you can get a good comparison. Best of luck and Congratulations.

D

 

[Dee*Jay]

Boy... just based on my own yellow diamond shopping experience lately this seems overpriced to me by about $10K give or take...

(That being said there are SO many variances in yellows, but seriously, this feels like quite a bit to much $ to me.)

 

[danielNJ]

Hey, Thanks. I looked at Ice online before I posted, and yeah the prices are cheaper, but are they even colored? Its just too hard to judge a colored online. Thanks for your input.....

 

[danielNJ]

Hey Dee j, are you shopping online, or store front? Thanks Dan

 

[Dee*Jay]

Date: 5/11/2008 8:56:51 PM
Author: danielNJ
Hey Dee j, are you shopping online, or store front? Thanks Dan

Both.

 

[kcoursolle]

It''s definitely overpriced, but if you loved it that might be okay for you. I would check out some more stones before you make a decision and definitely involve an appraiser in the process. I''d talk to icestore and diamonds by lauren before making a decision and see what they have for you.

 

[elmo]

Don''t take this as a specific comment on pricing just some general advice. If the market prices something in a range based on how the GIA grades it, I would tend to avoid buying at the very top of the range, even if it''s a great stone, without first trying to find something I like as much priced similarly at the next "quality level" e.g. GIA fancy intense in this case. With some colors it''s a seller''s market and this doesn''t apply as much but I thought that nice yellows were fairly available.

 

[webz]

Hi Daniel,

Yes, all of our diamonds have Even color distribution and all are accompanied by a GIA grading report.
If you have questions and would like some very straight forward answers just let me know.

For example the "perfect" squareness of the diamond has absolutely no bearing on either quality or price.

Good Luck.