HoF not rated with labs?

[mjs9876543210]

I''m wrapping up my search for a pair of diamond studs for an anniversary present, and decided I wanted one last look at a pair of HoF stones. There''s a *highly* reputable jeweler in my area (100+ years in San Francisco), though it was a satellite store. The salesperson was very helpful, but also told me something to the effect that "Hearts of Fire stones don''t have have lab certificates and are not graded for color or clarity."

In re-reading some of the HoF discussions on this board, there are clearly references to color and clarity, though I''m not sure I''ve seen references to lab reports.

Is it true that HoF does not provide color/clarity ratings for their stones, and that they do not provide lab reports?

BTW the pair I was looking at was 1.53 tcw for $11,000. The stones did look great, but I''m a rookie and probably couldn''t tell the difference between good and great.

Thanks for your help.

 

[jstarfireb]

I can''t answer your question because I know nothing about HOF, but I can say this: you''re definitely overpaying for those stones! 1.5ctw should cost you more like $6000-7000. You''re paying almost double of the lower end! I''d start looking online...Whiteflash, Good Old Gold, and James Allen are great places to start. WF actually has a "matching diamonds" feature, so you can easily find 2 stones similar on the 4 Cs.

 

[asscherisme]

I agree, you are definately overpaying for those stones. For studs that size, I would insist on buying only GIA or AGS certified and would not pay over $7,000 including platinum settings. You can probably get amazing stones for less. To pay that much for that size and they are not even certified? Walk away....

 

[Sundial]

That is not true in my experience. I have a three stone ring with Hearts on Fire diamonds. The sidestones were already set in a semi-mount, but we were told the color and clarity of the diamonds. My center stone came with an AGS certificate with all of the standard information on the diamond. HOF are beautiful stones, but truthfully you can find ones that are just as nice from some of the online vendors for much less money.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Oh, my! My studs are about 1.51 ctw. and are hearts and arrows stones (branded A Cut Above) from WhiteFlash. They are H VS2 and the total for the diamonds was just over $6000 and add a couple hundred for the settings. I also looked at HoF, and I can promise you 100% that the WF stones are equivalent and come with AGS0 (ideal) certification. I sincerely hope you don''t overpay that drastically when you can get equal quality diamonds for almost half. (In addition, I think that is a total error on the part of that salesperson, and I would never spend $11,000 on uncertified stones!!!)

I''ll look and give you some examples of pairs of stones.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Examples (and they get in new stones around every 6 weeks):

1.46 ctw, H SI1, $5672 (minus 5% for wire/pricescope discount)

http://www.whiteflash.com/diamonds/Compare_Diamonds.aspx?idnos=283244,283247

1.52 ctw, G SI1, $6384 (-5%)

http://www.whiteflash.com/diamonds/Compare_Diamonds.aspx?idnos=283274,283275

1.56 ctw, G SI1, $6552 (-5%)

http://www.whiteflash.com/diamonds/Compare_Diamonds.aspx?idnos=232045,283282

1.59 ctw, G SI1, $6636 (-5%)

http://www.whiteflash.com/diamonds/Compare_Diamonds.aspx?idnos=283250,283278

1.52 ctw, F SI1, $6863 (-5%)

http://www.whiteflash.com/diamonds/Compare_Diamonds.aspx?idnos=283264,231169

Obviously they have a great supply of SI1 stones at the moment, but they''ll get more VS2 stones in eventually. But many people here prefer SI1 stones for studs assuming they are eyeclean. If you want to spend $11,000-12,000, you can probably get a 2.0 ctw pair of H SI1''s. They only have H VS2''s at the 1 ct. size at the moment.