I'm ready for my 2ct! Need a few tips for online purchasing

[cinnamonstick]

Hello, THANK YOU for all your help over the past bit. I have finally made my decision on what to purchase thanks to all of you and your suggestions/input. I have scratched the oval (was not nearly as beautiful in person as the excellent cut round). Round it will be!
I stopped in Mervis today bc I knew they would have some larger diamonds to view (although pricy).

I was shown 3 rounds that fit my "wishes"

1.84, J, VS2, GIA ex, ex, ex $14,000 (this one was slightly yellow vs the other "J")-had faint flor (doesn't bother me but wondered why it didn't look whiter with faint flor)--overall, too small IMO for what I want.

2.02, G, SI2 (eye clean) GIA, $19,800. Ex, Ex, Ex (WOW!!! Nice) in every way but the price. HOLY MOLY excellent cuts SPARKLE!

2.20, J, SI1 (eye clean) GIA, $20,100 ex, ex, ex (OMGGGG!) WOWOWW! HUGEEEE!!!! This was it! J color was fine. This one was "whiter" than the other J they showed me side by side.

*Mervis said they would take my current diamond & give me the GIA value toward a 2ct.-- but said I needed a NEW GIA since mine is from 1998 & doesn't have cut grade on the certificate. I think my cut must only be a "good". It is a 1.1 (spready), VS2, I, GIA. Said if I pay cash, I can save 2% ($400 at most). Said can also ship the 2ct to my mom in DE / pay no tax (about $1,000). But sure prices very inflated. Husband was "ready"......I told him NO WAY--we can find better prices online.

So here I am. I need a last bit of help from anyone who can provide guidance. This is "scary" for me bc I am not very educated other than with the basics.

1) Who are the ONLY online vendors I should deal with period? (Blue Nile, JA, ......) The safest. Worth a few more pennies since I am afraid of the online process. Maybe even employees to ask for when I call that others have used.

2) What do I do from here? Call each vendor suggested or deal with one? Just explain what I am looking for and price range? Explain "eye clean" SI2 or better, I/J color (closer to an I if it is a J shade-"top J shade"), slight fluro is ok, Ex, Ex, Ex, GIA, 2ct ish, then let them do their thing and call me back? How important is viewing the diamonds color picture (forget name, the HOV?-Shows the light refraction I think). I am not sure how to even read them if I do happen to view. This is where I hope an online vendor would help me choose.

3) I can pay cash. Is there more "protection" paying with a credit card? $400/$500 savings is not a ton if I will lose protection somehow using a CC vs wire cash.

4) Are returns as easy as the web pages claim? I would not want to get in a return situation and hope that I can get what I want the first time, price I need, from the start. I loved seeing a few side by side today. WAS so nice when looking at diamonds. That, I guess, is the downside of online.

5) Is there such a thing as an eye clean SI3? (had to ask). Is there even a SI3? LOL

6) Any suggestions out there currently online from trustworthy places? Price range is better if I sell my current diamond. If I can get $5k for my current diamond, I'm comfy with the $15k/$16k range. Assuming I can sell mine somehow. How hard can it be? LOL....

7) Size is important to me and I know there are a few things you can compromise on when pockets are not super deep. Being that I am comfortable with "eye clean" SI1, SI2 that is a plus for my pockets. I/J color also. I know NOT to give on the cut grade. What about polish or symmetry in very good? Does it even make much of a price break? The ones I saw today were all three excellent. WOW were they beautiful! Maybe that answers my question

This came out a little longer than I meant it to be. Hopefully this will be it soon and I can fade away in to diamond heaven . All I can say is the excellent cut grade was OMG vs my current ring. Day and night. GREAT SUGGESTION. No looking back on that one

thank you again

 

[AdaBeta27]

Re: I'm ready for my 2ct! Need a few tips for online purchas

Just thinking aloud here... Wink at High Performance Diamonds and Brian Gavin of Brian Gavin Diamonds may buy your diamond to recut to their standards. They probably won't offer more than wholesale, and their diamonds are premium-priced branded diamonds. But it might be an option to consider. Another option, should you decide to sell or consign your current diamond, is ask Brian Gavin to access it for a potential recut to improve the cut grade. I had a diamond recut, didn't send it to GIA or AGS to be graded, but the recut did improve color, light reflection, and symmetry plus the hearts&arrow-ish pattern is more in keeping with what modern buyers want. Cost at that time was reasonable, like $350/ct or so iirc.

Both B2C Jewels and I. D. Jewelery have been praised here for helping people find very nice diamonds to fit their budgets. You could contact them and see what they can find for you. Now is a good time to look because there is less buyer competition in late summer into fall.

I've bought from Good Old Gold, twice (2nd was an upgrade). I highly recommend them. I only considered in-house diamonds, though. The GOG prices are a bit higher, but they provided extensive data for each in-house diamond and I found all of that worth the bit of extra money.

 

[Diamond_Hawk]

Re: I'm ready for my 2ct! Need a few tips for online purchas

Hello cinnamonstick,

Because I am in the trade it would be bad form (and against the rules) to comment on the majority of your questions which ask for recommendations for quality and trustworthiness of specific online vendors. You can find a huge amount of information regarding specific PriceScope Vendors here in the forum, and can also do a BBB or "review" search for other vendors.

Additionally using the parameters you laid out in your post you can use the PriceScope diamond search tool (top of the page) to get an idea of what is 'out there'. There are hundreds of thousands of diamonds across the world included in that search database.

As to your question:

5) Is there such a thing as an eye clean SI3? (had to ask). Is there even a SI3? LOL

GIA does not have an SI3 grade. You may find diamonds that may be called SI3 by particular vendors, but they will not be graded by GIA. While you can find eye-clean diamonds in the SI1 range (and sometimes the SI2 and I ranges) the best bet is to call the vendor and have them look at the gemologist report, or for them to call the diamond in (if it is not in-house) and have it examined. An eye-clean SI diamond is a great find!

Happy Hunting!

 

[cinnamonstick]

Re: I'm ready for my 2ct! Need a few tips for online purchas

Thank you both Adabeta27 and Dimondhawk for the information to start my contact/search. I looked at the PS search for diamonds in my range. I have seen a few diamonds that look like what I searching for, but it is the "choosing of the group" (with out seeing all lined up) that is tricky for me since I am unaware of how to read measurements/AGOS etc. Just blindly going with GIA, ex, ex, ex. I read they all can show different light qualities (term?), even if all graded ex. Hopefully one of the venders can help me out with this part of the diamond selection. Beginning to make contacts now.



Ababeta27 -Thank you for the recut suggestions. It is an option I may consider in the future. Honestly, I hope to just unload it the way it is for ease on my end. I can deal with the selling of my current diamond later

Here goes nothing

 

[pfunk]

Re: I'm ready for my 2ct! Need a few tips for online purchas

Check out this one if you liked the size of the 2.20 diamond. This one will be giant and is even VS2. I would check if it is available ASAP.

https://enchanteddiamonds.com/diamonds/view/R242-ARLYC3

Also, here is another one that looks good to be very well cut.

https://enchanteddiamonds.com/diamonds/view/R208-EWF9Z1

These won't be in house so any questions you have for them they will have to refer to notes from the polisher or get in touch with them for you to have them remotely examine the diamond.

 

[MarionC]

Re: I'm ready for my 2ct! Need a few tips for online purchas

You can list your current diamond on Loupetroop.

Do not be afraid to buy online and pay with bank wire. Many people here, including myself, have made large diamond purchases that way with the PS vendors and it is totally safe. It may take a few extra days to get your money back if you pay cash and decide you don't want to keep the diamond, but there is no risk.

Look at and research diamonds at Whiteflash, Good Old Gold and also check out Jewels By Grace. Have fun looking and enjoy the research!

 

[tyty333]

Re: I'm ready for my 2ct! Need a few tips for online purchas

I would work with trying to sell your current stone. $5k sounds high for a good cut "I", VS2 1.1. Diamonds are not that easy
to sell unless you let them go fairly cheaply. There is a "Get A Quote" button where you can get offers from vendors for your
stone. I think you might do better with working with a vendor that will do something like your local place that will take your
stone in trade. It might make it harder to get a deal on your new stone though and I'm not sure which vendors are willing
to do this. Maybe GOG?

There are several J colored AGS stones on James Allen in the less than $15k range. There are also GIA stones that look pretty nice.

Here is an example...
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/2.20-carat-j-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-587879

*You can use the HCA tool to help narrow down which stones are worth a further look. Look for stones that score under
2 (or very close to 2). Then request and idealscope (hopefully vendor can provide them).

https://www.pricescope.com/tools/hca

You can also stick with AGS000 stones which have already been tested and have Ideal light return.

 

[tyty333]

Re: I'm ready for my 2ct! Need a few tips for online purchas

Check out this one if you liked the size of the 2.20 diamond. This one will be giant and is even VS2. I would check if it is available ASAP.
This stone looks amazing!
https://enchanteddiamonds.com/diamonds/view/R242-ARLYC3

Also, here is another one that looks good to be very well cut.

This looks really good too but the size on that last one!!!
https://enchanteddiamonds.com/diamonds/view/R208-EWF9Z1

These won't be in house so any questions you have for them they will have to refer to notes from the polisher or get in touch with them for you to have them remotely examine the diamond.

 

[denverappraiser]

Re: I'm ready for my 2ct! Need a few tips for online purchas

Your specs cover a giant range and I would suggest narrowing it down a bit. In particular, there's a considerable premium for going over 2.0cts. This can be offset by either going down somewhere else or by bumping the budget. That's your call but your search will be whole lot easier with a bit narrower focus. Even if you have no intention of actually buying from any of them, the search database at the top of the page here can be very helpful. Pick some parameters and do a search. Look at the results and then tweak one of the parameters. That'll give you a good idea what affects what and what various things cost.

The same applies to color. The difference from G to J takes a bit of practice and good vision to see but it's a BIG deal in terms of pricing. Visit a few stores, look at some well cut stones in your size range and see where you'll be happy.

I'm not sure what Mervis means by 'GIA value' but it's good to use solid numbers. GIA doesn't provide prices. They're welcome to bid whatever they want but pin them down on what the bid is and what limitations are on the deal (like you need to spend double the credit or whatever). It's hard to evaluate a deal if you don't fully understand what it is.