Is there premium for custom cutting a diamond?

[MumsyPoppsy]

Hi I have a quick question and hope someone can help! How much extra would it be reasonable to pay for a diamond to be cut especially for me from the rough? I saw that GOG offer this service at no extra cost I.e. you pay what it'd cost had the diamond already been in their inventory. But I'm wondering, what's reasonable to expect from other vendors? Thanks so much!

 

[Dancing Fire]

Talk to Wink
https://www.pricescope.com/dealer/high_performance_diamonds

or Jon
https://www.pricescope.com/dealer/goodoldgold

 

[superfluous]

Does Whiteflash do this as well?

 

[Texas Leaguer]

Does Whiteflash do this as well?

Technically we do not offer the service of purchasing a specific piece of rough and cutting it to customer specifications.

However, we do have production arrangements with several of the top manufacturers who supply us on a continual basis with diamonds cut to our narrow range of specifications. We often have customers looking for a particular size, color, clarity combination in ideal round or princess that we do not have in stock. In most cases, if the customer is patient, we are able to place a special request with our manufacturer who will sort the appropriate rough and produce a stone to meet the customer's specs.

 

[superfluous]

Does Whiteflash do this as well?

Technically we do not offer the service of purchasing a specific piece of rough and cutting it to customer specifications.

However, we do have production arrangements with several of the top manufacturers who supply us on a continual basis with diamonds cut to our narrow range of specifications. We often have customers looking for a particular size, color, clarity combination in ideal round or princess that we do not have in stock. In most cases, if the customer is patient, we are able to place a special request with our manufacturer who will sort the appropriate rough and produce a stone to meet the customer's specs.

Thanks. Would these come in as one of your in-house stones as an ACA, Expert Selection, or Premium? Or would it come in as a virtual stone?

 

[Texas Leaguer]

Does Whiteflash do this as well?

Technically we do not offer the service of purchasing a specific piece of rough and cutting it to customer specifications.

However, we do have production arrangements with several of the top manufacturers who supply us on a continual basis with diamonds cut to our narrow range of specifications. We often have customers looking for a particular size, color, clarity combination in ideal round or princess that we do not have in stock. In most cases, if the customer is patient, we are able to place a special request with our manufacturer who will sort the appropriate rough and produce a stone to meet the customer's specs.

Thanks. Would these come in as one of your in-house stones as an ACA, Expert Selection, or Premium? Or would it come in as a virtual stone?

It would depend on exactly what you are looking for and how tight your parameters are. If it is available on the open market it could be sourced for you through our virtual service. On the other hand, if you are looking for something meeting all of our A CUT ABOVE specifications, it will come through our production.

 

[ame]

Often there is, because there has to be rough sourced for it. But it varies by cutter. You'd need to discuss with the vendor.

Wink, GOG and BGD all offer custom cuts IIRC. BGD might only do recuts but I THINK they do "advance selection" which is in a way custom cuts. I KNOW Wink does for CBI, CFlutist had one done, and I know GOG will as well, as there have been some custom Octavias done, DancingFire being one of those.

 

[Rockdiamond]

Hi Mumsey,
In general it's quite impractical cutting diamonds to order. Unless there's no way to find a polished stone on the market- such as a branded stone of unusual shape it's far better buying polished.
I love the custom cuts but there can be many surprises that may not suit a consumer. Sometimes the stone does not finish as expected.
For a round diamond it's generally better to buy a polished diamond

 

[cflutist]

Paul crafted a cut to order CBI diamond for me last year.

Per an email that I received from him, No, there is no premium for the cut-to-order-process.

But we have regularly refused certain cut-to-order-requests in the past. Such requests often entail ‘technically’ difficult-to-achieve combinations, like for instance sizes between 1.80 and 1.99. Yes, technically, we can cut such stone to order. But pricing will be such that we feel it being over-priced, a position we feel we cannot defend.

 

[WinkHPD]

Hi Mumsey,
In general it's quite impractical cutting diamonds to order. Unless there's no way to find a polished stone on the market- such as a branded stone of unusual shape it's far better buying polished.
I love the custom cuts but there can be many surprises that may not suit a consumer. Sometimes the stone does not finish as expected.
For a round diamond it's generally better to buy a polished diamond

Rock,

I must respectfully disagree with you. It is not only quite practical, but I have done it several times with great success. I have done a 2.09 ct D-IF that was stunning, the recent 2.21ct cut to order for CFlutist which was also stunning, a few years ago a 3.17 J-SI1 which was, as with all Crafted by Infinity diamonds I have ever seen, stunning.

All of these, and the others that I have been involved with, were diamonds that were not in our inventory and which were desired by our clients.

Your answer is somewhat like telling a Rolex fan that they should buy a nice Seiko so they will not have to wait for the exact model of Rolex that they desire. If they want a Rolex, telling them that it is far better to find another unbranded watch on the market is simply not a good answer in my opinion.

Wink

 

[Rockdiamond]

HI Wink,
Please read my post again.

Unless there's no way to find a polished stone on the market- such as a branded stone of unusual shape it's far better buying polished.

If someone wants a specialty cut- such as a CBI, Whiteflash ACA or one of our Old mine brilliant diamonds that Yoram cuts for color, then the only way to get it is to go to the dealer- and in some cases, cutting from the rough will be necessary.
As a general rule, if a consumer is looking for a "regular" round diamond, trying to buy from the rough is indeed impractical and can end up costing a lot more than polished stones which are currently on the market.

PS- love my Rolex- I'd never suggest a Seiko - or dissuade a consumer looking for any sort of branded diamond.