If you were to make a blind diamond purchase...

[reigndeerz]

Hypothetical question, so please don''t bash me up too hard for asking!

I know this is never going to happen here, but IF you were ever to make a diamond purchase, without the availability of an Idealscope/ASET images, purely relying only on the AGS/GIA/other certs provided; all else being equal, which of the following vendors would you trust most to provide you with a stone of the best cut? (Preferably 3 vendors in order of preference please?)

- James Allen
- USA Certed
- NiceIce
- Excel
- GOG
- White Flash
- Solomon Brothers
- High Performance Diamonds
- Blue Nile
- I.D Jewelry
- Brian Gavin Diamonds

Hopefully the results will set me a direction to start sourcing for a diamond, probably the single biggest purchase that I have made in my life thus far... Thankfully, the knowledge that I have the Idealscope and ASET images, together with the expertise of this community makes me feel that little bit more comfortable with parting with a chunk of my money on the internet!

 

[stone-cold11]

HPD, GOG, NiceIce will be my choice.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 11/14/2009 10:34:53 AM
Author:reigndeerz
Hypothetical question, so please don't bash me up too hard for asking!

I know this is never going to happen here, but IF you were ever to make a diamond purchase, without the availability of an Idealscope/ASET images, purely relying only on the AGS/GIA/other certs provided; all else being equal, which of the following vendors would you trust most to provide you with a stone of the best cut? (Preferably 3 vendors in order of preference please?)

- James Allen
- USA Certed
- NiceIce
- Excel
- GOG
- White Flash
- Solomon Brothers
- High Performance Diamonds
- Blue Nile
- I.D Jewelry
- Brian Gavin Diamonds

Hopefully the results will set me a direction to start sourcing for a diamond, probably the single biggest purchase that I have made in my life thus far... Thankfully, the knowledge that I have the Idealscope and ASET images, together with the expertise of this community makes me feel that little bit more comfortable with parting with a chunk of my money on the internet!

Most of the vendors have the ability to do this, it just depends on what you want and who has it.

 

[tyty333]

I would trust GOG, BGD and HPD (in no particular order).

 

[BAM54321]

Excel (based on personal experience), then it would be a toss up between GOG and WF (based on my limited history on this forum). All seem very capable.

 

[Hest88]

The ones I haven''t seen enough to be comfortable with when it comes to diamonds are:
- Solomon Brothers
- Blue Nile
- I.D Jewelry

Other than that, only you can tell who you''d be comfortable with. Even online, and especially in your case with a big, somewhat complex purchase, the personal relationship you build with a vendor can be very important. Any number of vendors might be able to guide you to the right stone, but you might "click" with someone over another. I''d read over the testimonials here more deeply, and figure out which one seems to fit best with what you''re looking for and how you like to approach these things.

 

[outatouch0]

Date: 11/14/2009 10:34:53 AM
Author:reigndeerz
Hypothetical question, so please don''t bash me up too hard for asking!

Hopefully the results will set me a direction to start sourcing for a diamond, probably the single biggest purchase that I have made in my life thus far... Thankfully, the knowledge that I have the Idealscope and ASET images, together with the expertise of this community makes me feel that little bit more comfortable with parting with a chunk of my money on the internet!

Welcome to PS

I don''t expect you will get bashed up for asking questions here - we like questions. What you can expect is constructive criticism, feedback, experience, and opinions.

A) I am not so sure this would be the most helpful route in choosing your diamond vendor. Vendors vary along many lines, factors and niches. Just because a vendor is a good choice for me doesn''t mean they are right for you.

B) If you are looking for an ERing then I have found it advantageous to use the same vendor for the stone as the setting. But that depends on the type of setting you select - some are only found at certain vendors and some are fairly common to many vendors.

C) I would guess the answers to your original question will be based primarily on each persons experience. If you put a poll up as to which vendor did you use you likely will get similar results and here is why:
I have a few more diamonds to purchase for my FI and I have had a great experience with Babara Pulumbo at Union Diamond (see thread in my sig). Because of that relationship - she knows what I like - I would, IF I HAD TO - trust her to select a diamond for me sight unseen. BUT only because of the relationship I have already established.

D) If we follow your hypothetical, any decent vendor is going to need to know what you are looking for in a diamond before they would venture to select one for you so I suggest you start there. Spend some time in the PS knowledge section and go to some stores and see some diamonds in person to get a feel for what you like.

 

[Todd Gray]

Date: 11/14/2009 10:34:53 AM
Author:reigndeerz
I know this is never going to happen here, but IF you were ever to make a diamond purchase, without the availability of an Idealscope/ASET images, purely relying only on the AGS/GIA/other certs provided; all else being equal, which of the following vendors would you trust most to provide you with a stone of the best cut?

If you''re buying a diamond "blind" and I don''t know why you would, because as diamond vendors, we would certainly never do that... And you''re looking to figure out which of the vendors are picky-schmicky, I''d start out by determining which of the vendors on the list actually bother to look at the diamonds that they sell, then run a search for those vendors by name / user name here on the forum and determine which ones seem to address diamond details, proportions, inclusions, etc. in a manner which seems to be detailed - which might serve as an indicator of their level of precision...

Based on this proposal, I just cut the list in half, but this:

Author:outatouch0
D) If we follow your hypothetical, any decent vendor is going to need to know what you are looking for in a diamond before they would venture to select one for you so I suggest you start there. Spend some time in the PS knowledge section and go to some stores and see some diamonds in person to get a feel for what you like.

Is so on the money!