Ideal Diamond Advise, help appreciated

[sade]

Hi

The last diamond i was considering actually sold. Big disappointment.

I have been offered this one which on the hcs scores a 1.1.

I have 2 questions.

1. Last one had a girdle thickness of 1.1% to 3 which i was concerned about, this one ranges from 0.8 to 3.7. Is that too thin for safety and is the girdle range too wide? setting is tiffany.

2. Overall opinion of this diamond?

round brilliant

1.51 ct
F colour
VS1
total depth 60.70
table 56.5
crown angle 34.3%
pavillion angle 40.8%
faceted girdle 0.8% to 3.7%
pavilion depth 43.1
fluorescence : negligible
pointed culet
ags
AUD $22,000 inc gst, USD $21,000

Ellen, thanks for your help on the last one. for some reason i couldn''t successfully lodge a reply on that post to thank you.

thank you!

 

[strmrdr]

numbers look good, a PS search will tell you if the price is good.

Do you have an IS image?

 

[Ellen]

Drat! I''m sorry the other one got away. But as strm said, the numbers on the stone look good, should be a nice diamond. I''d say go for it!

And you''re very welcome.

 

[Splinter]

Sorry to hear you lost the other stone, but this one does look good. Man, I''m a sucker for a VS1.

 

[sade]

Thanks for all your help especially Ellen who has posted replies twice.

Well, this deal turned sour as well. After i lost the first one the dealer offered me this canada mark ideal 000 stone (very similar to last one except 1.51 vs 1.5. At first I was told price would be the same but an hour or so later i was told it would be 15% more because it was a "fresh stone". No deal. I''ve spent much time looking at this fascinating subject but can''t find any information that says a recently made stone should cost any more than one made 6 months earlier. As far as i know it comes down to how good a stone it is. Seems like a scam, maybe they never had the first one, got me hooked on all the hype of canada mark stones, ideal 000, H&A and then tried selling me a similar at a higher price. In addition both stones had to be sourced from overseas and i had to pay in full for them before they would deliver which was about 2 weeks later. While i believe this dealers prices are competitive, (they are a large international) i''ll be going elsewhere and likely to settle for a lesser stone. When one spends this sort of cash the buying experience has to be a pleasurable one particularly for such an emotional purchase. They''ve lost a customer for life and probably a whole lot more i would have referred them to. Anyone feel free to reply. I''m in Melbourne, australia. by the way do canadamark stones sell for a premium over similar spec stones. This also had the hearts and arrows.


best regards and thanks, sade

 

[Splinter]

Paying 15% more because it's a "fresh stone"? Never heard of that before. They're diamonds, not fruit or flowers! Sounds to me like they're trying to pull a fast one. And I wouldn't put too much stock in a specific "brand" of diamond, diamonds are diamonds, it's not like one brand is any different. It all comes down to the 4 C's in the end.

I think it's best that you find yourself a more reputable and customer friendly place.

 

[DiamondExpert]

RAP has just increased many prices again, so you may have been caught up in that...it is speculated that more increases are on the horizon

 

[Ellen]

Date: 5/23/2008 1:36:21 PM
Author: DiamondExpert
RAP has just increased many prices again, so you may have been caught up in that...it is speculated that more increases are on the horizon

Well, that could have been it, but why wouldn't he just say, Sorry, prices just went up? instead of calling it a fresh stone.

Sade, I don't like the sound of that, it makes my BS meter go off, but, I could be wrong. Still, I think looking elsewhere may be prudent. I can't tell from your post if you were, or would consider buying from over here. If so, I could direct you to some very reputable vendors. If for some reason that's not an option, you also have a great jeweler over there, who posts on this board. His name is Gary Holloway, and he would be great to work with also. Here's his link. And I'm really sorry this isn't going better for you.

http://www.hollowaydiamonds.com.au/

 

[sade]

Thank you to all of you for your input.

The dealer''s reasoning for calling it a "fresh stone" was based on the fact the ags report was issued in feb 2008 as compared to late 2007 for the first stone they offered me. I was also told that the price was higher as it hadn''t been released in the market as yet. While it may be the case that rap has increased prices as far as i''m concerned a deal is a deal.

I manage a large reputable import company established by my father over 60 years ago. When i am talking with a customer about a purchase be it valued at $1.00 or $40000 i want to be certain of that value so later it avoids issues like the one i am facing now. To have these scammers tell me they weren''t sure of the price (on a $20,000 product) is a joke.

10 years ago in Australia we got caught up in the asian economic crisis. The australian dollar fell to 50% to that of the usd. We had many orders for school products that were quoted at a much higher aud. As things worsened in such a short time, we found ourselves supplying products in the many $1,000''s at virtually no profit and in a few cases at a loss. We stood by our word! I would rather keep a customer now as i know they''ll be back later. For this diamond dealer to let me walk away indicates they have no concern for future business with me or referred business and also that they don''t really need the business. Their last offer to me was to discount the diamond by $500 to $23,000. However this is far from the $20000 I was originally quoted and was a further insult after all the time i had spent.

Let''s just wait and see what happens in the next 6 months as the oil price escalates even further and the usa plunges into recession. Maybe the Martin rap will have to adjust his prices a little!

Anyone that''s my rant. A friend has referred me to a reputable jeweller he has known for a long time. Hopefully this new journey will be much nicer!

All those in the usa, enjoy your long weekend holiday.

best regards, sade

 

[DiamondExpert]

sade - Of course, one would expect to be held to a price quote, and no one should expect to have prices change "en transaction".

As for the RAP pricing, you can indeed expect further price changes, however, it does not appear they will be decreasing, but increasing. Since, diamond transactions are done in USD''s, any further devaluation, which looks likely to occur, will only drive prices higher.