Is this a good price and a good diamond?

[JohnGalt]

Hi folks

I am a total newbie when it comes to buying diamonds. I bought my wife the following necklace at 10% Memorial day discount at Zales today:

http://www.zales.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3423831&kpc=1

According to the report, it has following attributes:

Brilliance: excellent, Dispersion: between very good and excellent, Scintillation: excellent
Cut style: 102 facets, Weight: 0.49ct, Clarity: SI-2, Color: I

The diamond looks good and sparkly. Is this a good diamond and did I pay a good price?

JG

 

[yssie]

It''s certainly a different look from a regular RB.


It''s a branded diamond, so "regular" pricing does not apply - were you looking at a 58facet RB then you''d have overpaid, but the only standard of comparison in this case is other diamonds of that brand.



If you like it and it''s sparkly don''t worry about it, just enjoy it!

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 6/1/2010 12:23:35 AM
Author:JohnGalt
Hi folks

I am a total newbie when it comes to buying diamonds. I bought my wife the following necklace at 10% Memorial day discount at Zales today:

http://www.zales.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3423831&kpc=1

According to the report, it has following attributes:

Brilliance: excellent, Dispersion: between very good and excellent, Scintillation: excellent
Cut style: 102 facets, Weight: 0.49ct, Clarity: SI-2, Color: I

The diamond looks good and sparkly. Is this a good diamond and did I pay a good price?

JG

WOW!!

$1800 for a .49ct non GIA stone?? check with Jon at GOG.

 

[m_kluch]

1800 not for the stone. 1800 for the whole thing

 

[JohnGalt]

Call me naive, but what is RB?

Date: 6/1/2010 12:34:19 AM
Author: yssie
It''s certainly a different look from a regular RB.



It''s a branded diamond, so ''regular'' pricing does not apply - were you looking at a 58facet RB then you''d have overpaid, but the only standard of comparison in this case is other diamonds of that brand.




If you like it and it''s sparkly don''t worry about it, just enjoy it!

 

[JohnGalt]

Sorry, but who is Jon at GOG? I ended up paying $1950 after taxes.

Date: 6/1/2010 3:28:14 AM
Author: Dancing Fire
WOW!!

$1800 for a .49ct non GIA stone?? check with Jon at GOG.

 

[missydebby]

Jon is the man in charge at the vendor Good Old Gold. Here's a link to his site.

He also posts here under the name "Rhino". Both he and his company have a stellar reputation here. He goes out of his way to educate consumers, whether they are customers or not.

 

[stone-cold11]

RB = Round Brilliant.

 

[ChunkyCushionLover]

Date: 6/1/2010 12:23:35 AM
Author:JohnGalt
Hi folks

I am a total newbie when it comes to buying diamonds. I bought my wife the following necklace at 10% Memorial day discount at Zales today:

http://www.zales.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3423831&kpc=1

According to the report, it has following attributes:

Brilliance: excellent, Dispersion: between very good and excellent, Scintillation: excellent
Cut style: 102 facets, Weight: 0.49ct, Clarity: SI-2, Color: I

The diamond looks good and sparkly. Is this a good diamond and did I pay a good price?

JG

We can''t judge anything about your diamond because a) we don''t know if it has a grading report and which lab graded it nor their standards for color and clarity(likely lower) b) we don''t know the standards of cut for the brand

In my opinion in small round brilliants (<1ct) I don''t want more facets (the regular RB has 58 facets), more facets = smaller flashes, and a lot of them are too small to be seen by the eye. RBs with a lot of really small flashes will look bright in jewelery store strong spot lighting but may lose performance in more diffused lighting or outisde lighting.

If you are happy with it in low lighting, at night, in indoor incandescent lighting and have compared it side by side with a well cut 58 facet round brilliant (good examples are at jared''s peerless or hearts on fire) than look no further.

If not we can find you larger size alternatives with strict grading for color, clarity and cut.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 6/1/2010 7:43:14 AM
Author: m_kluch
1800 not for the stone. 1800 for the whole thing

you can buy a beautifully cut GIA/AGS .50-.55ct for $1400. the setting and chain aren''t very expensive.

 

[m_kluch]

probably 300 dollars or so.

 

[JohnGalt]

Thank you for the reply. I have not compared facets or anything with any other diamond. I just went to Zales and looked at many necklace pieces, found this one to be among the best. Please let me know where can I buy a better one. Is Jared better?

Please do let me know where can I find a larger size alternative and how should I go about buying it?

Date: 6/1/2010 12:23:44 PM
Author: ChunkyCushionLover
We can''t judge anything about your diamond because a) we don''t know if it has a grading report and which lab graded it nor their standards for color and clarity(likely lower) b) we don''t know the standards of cut for the brand


In my opinion in small round brilliants (<1ct) I don''t want more facets (the regular RB has 58 facets), more facets = smaller flashes, and a lot of them are too small to be seen by the eye. RBs with a lot of really small flashes will look bright in jewelery store strong spot lighting but may lose performance in more diffused lighting or outisde lighting.


If you are happy with it in low lighting, at night, in indoor incandescent lighting and have compared it side by side with a well cut 58 facet round brilliant (good examples are at jared''s peerless or hearts on fire) than look no further.


If not we can find you larger size alternatives with strict grading for color, clarity and cut.

 

[JohnGalt]

Did I pay more than 6 times the value of this diamond?

Date: 6/2/2010 7:42:55 AM
Author: m_kluch
probably 300 dollars or so.

 

[JohnGalt]

I am obviously not in sync with the humor and the terminology prevalent here.

So please educate me folks: what is a mind clean stone vs an eye clean one?

it is always harder to find a "mind clean" stone than a eye clean stone.

 

[zerj]

Date: 6/2/2010 10:11:39 AM
Author: JohnGalt
Did I pay more than 6 times the value of this diamond?

Date: 6/2/2010 7:42:55 AM

Author: m_kluch

probably 300 dollars or so.

Heh, don't panic I think the $300 dollars or so was estimating the value of the setting. So the posters above were attempting to guess what it would cost to put something like this together. So it might be worth it to look at one of the reputable vendors that people mention here (goodoldgold.com has already been mentioned as well as whiteflash.com) and either keep your budget the same and see what you could get with a $1700 diamond (probably 0.6 ct) , or check out the cost of a really nice 0.5 ct diamond (sounds like somebody was estimating $1400 above). These sites allow you to search their loose diamond inventory with pictures of everything. I'd be cognizant of the dimensions as well, I'm not sure if that branded cut would change the size of a diamond. So there may be a bigger than expected size difference in 0.5 vs 0.6 ct. It looks like the diamond is GIA certified so you should have a report on the diamond (or you could look it up if you have the serial number)

As for eye clean vs mind clean, I think that is Dancing Fire's signature so wasn't directly aimed at you. However what it refers to is the existance of flaws in a diamond. The clarity attribute of a diamond is broken down from a scale of IF (flawless) -> VS (very small inclusions never visible to the naked eye) to SI (Slightly included may be visible) to I (included). If you look at the diamond you just bought you may be able to see some flaws in the diamond. You certainly should see these with a magnifying glass. The term "Eye Clean" refers to a diamond where the flaws aren't noticable. TBH your probably the only person who would be that close to your wifes chest to tell . "Mind Clean" would just be the obsessive compulsive irritation of knowing the flaws were there and you could see them if you looked really hard.

 

[stone-cold11]

Date: 6/2/2010 10:40:04 AM
Author: zerj
''Mind Clean'' would just be the obsessive compulsive irritation of knowing the flaws were there and you could see them if you looked really hard.

Flaws is always there if you look hard enough. Even so call FL stones because these are only graded to 10X mag. Move to 50X or higher anything can show. Move to atomic scale, definitely you will see cracks, voids, etc. Nothing is flawless.

 

[ChunkyCushionLover]

Date: 6/2/2010 10:10:12 AM
Author: JohnGalt
Thank you for the reply. I have not compared facets or anything with any other diamond. I just went to Zales and looked at many necklace pieces, found this one to be among the best. Please let me know where can I buy a better one. Is Jared better?

Please do let me know where can I find a larger size alternative and how should I go about buying it?

Date: 6/1/2010 12:23:44 PM
Author: ChunkyCushionLover
We can''t judge anything about your diamond because a) we don''t know if it has a grading report and which lab graded it nor their standards for color and clarity(likely lower) b) we don''t know the standards of cut for the brand


In my opinion in small round brilliants (<1ct) I don''t want more facets (the regular RB has 58 facets), more facets = smaller flashes, and a lot of them are too small to be seen by the eye. RBs with a lot of really small flashes will look bright in jewelery store strong spot lighting but may lose performance in more diffused lighting or outisde lighting.


If you are happy with it in low lighting, at night, in indoor incandescent lighting and have compared it side by side with a well cut 58 facet round brilliant (good examples are at jared''s peerless or hearts on fire) than look no further.


If not we can find you larger size alternatives with strict grading for color, clarity and cut.

This would be a choice I would consider near your preferences.

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamond/diamond-detail/?product_id=AGS-104044735003

with this http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/home/ring-details/?product_id=5481
or this http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/home/ring-details/?product_id=5420
or this http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/home/ring-details/?product_id=5352

 

[shiny29]

I would vote to start from scratch. BGD is wonderful. I am expecting to receive a pendant from BGD soon. Good luck with your purchase Atlas!