Is this a good price for a diamond?

[LoriH]

Hi, I''ve been looking at a 1.4ct, round brilliant, D color, VVS2 GIA certified diamond with an ideal cut and ideal polish and symmetry. The properties are thin medium, no flouresance, table: 57, depth 60.7, measurements: 7.25x7.28x4.41mm.

The price they''re quoting me is $14,200 at a bricks and mortar store. Is this a reasonable price for the quality? I know a lower quality diamond would probably suffice, but for sake of this discussion, I''m most interested in how good a deal this is. Thanks!

-Lori

 

[aljdewey]

Try doing a search by cut quality on PS and put in your parameters....that should give you a fairly solid idea of the reasonability of the price.

 

[phoenixgirl]

I just used these two stones in another post as an example. Look at the price difference between these two stones with the same color, clarity, and GIA certs, even though the cheaper one is bigger:

http://www.goodoldgold.com/br110hsi1ags2.htm

http://www.goodoldgold.com/1_00ct_h_vs2__h%26a.htm

There is absolutely no way to tell what is a fair price for the stone without knowing what kind of cut it has.

On pricescope, stones with the same color and clarity are going for between $8428 and $9460 PER CARAT. Your stone is going for $10142 per carat. Bricks and mortar stores do tend to be more expensive, but is the cut what's making it more expensive or is it just an unnecessary mark-up? I don't know.

Ask the seller for a sarin analysis on the stone. That will provide you with the pavilion and crown angles. Depth and table percentages alone don't tell you much.

 

[LoriH]

Thanks for such a fast response. I'll ask tomorrow for the Sarin report - but what ranges should I look for in order to figure out if it's an unnecessary markup or a great cut? (Sorry if I'm asking questions elsewhere on pricescope. I'm new to the boards). Thanks!

-Lori

 

[phoenixgirl]

You can't necessarily tell from a range because it's how the angles interact with one another. But what you can do is use the "Cut Advisor" here on Price Scope to get an idea of how your stone reflects light (or fails to). You can also order an Ideal Scope from this site to get an idea of the symmetry and light return.

As I recall, the stones I was looking at did not have excellent polish and symmetry or as ideal table and depth percentages as your stone (maybe explaining the price difference), so it is very possible that the stone is a good deal for the security and "see before you buy" of a B & M store. It's certainly not an outrageous price. I'd just like to make sure that my D VVS2 stone is going to sparkle after paying all that $ for it.

You can always ask the store if they carry any stones like the Hearts on Fire. These are cut to have perfect symmetry and generally have excellent light return. If you put the two side by side, and yours looks just as nice or almost as nice, then the cut is probably good. After all, if you like the way it looks, that's what counts.

 

[Giangi]

As a grneral guideline, I would suggest:
crown: 33.8'-34.7'
pavilion: 40.6'-40.9'

 

[LoriH]

So, I went back to the jeweler today, but they dropped the price to $12,800 as their final offer. I asked about the Sarin report, and they didn't have one. Just the GIA certification credentials listed above. Without seeing the Sarin report, is this a fair value for the stone?

-Lori

 

[glitterata]

If you're spending that much money, don't you want to be sure it sparkles? If it's not a good cut, you shouldn't buy it, no matter how good a deal it is. Insist on a Sarin report, or at the very least, get yourself an ideal scope (click on the link at the top of the page) and see for yourself if the cut is good enough for you.

If they can't give you the information you need, consider finding another jeweler who will.

 

[pqcollectibles]

If you are in or near a larger metropolitan area, there is probably a Sarin or OGI tester locally. All the Vendor has to do is send the diamond to be analyzed. If the Vendor has to ship it to a lab, total cost will only run about $23-$35 for insured, registered mail.

The information you have given sounds good, but diamond Certs have been switched before. Humans are involved and mistakes happen. One poster discovered the error on his purchase during the appraisal process. In his case, he wound up with a better make than the diamond he purchased. But what happened to the person that got their correct Cert and "his" wrong stone?

We can't begin to advise you on the make of the diamond without further information. The crown and pavillion angles are indicators of the Cut quality and have direct bearing on pricing.

Ask the seller to get you the info you need to make an educated decision. Personally, I would not plunk down that kind of cash without knowing as much as I possibly could. I'd also insist on a complete evaluation of the loose diamond by an Idependent, Verfied appraiser who has the proper testing equipment to fully evaluate the diamond. If the diamond doesn't stand up to scutiny of an appraiser then the seller would have to take it back for a full refund.

If you decide to buy without knowing all the facts that is your choice, of course. But would you buy a pair of shoes based on what you see without knowing the size, whether or not you can wear them?

Just my $0.02 worth.

 

[fire&ice]

Personally, I would get a second opinion. Have the sale contigint upon an independent appraisal outside of the jewelry store.

 

[highendgems]

i would get a second opnions, but if it is a GIA cert and the cut is listed as ideal, chances are it is accurate. $11-13K is reasonable for this particular stone.

 

[icelady]

Hi Lori,

How does the diamond look to you? Were you able to compare it to other diamonds?

I have to say that I just did a search and the price, especially the new price ($12,800) seems quite reasonable for a D, VVS 1.40 particularly at a brick and morter!

Will they let you make the sale contingent on an independant appraisal? If not, I would keep searching!

Good luck!!

 

[aljdewey]

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On 1/4/2004 8:24:04 PM highendgems wrote:





i would get a second opnions, but if it is a GIA cert and the cut is listed as ideal, chances are it is accurate. $11-13K is reasonable for this particular stone.


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Highend........what are you talking about here? GIA doesn't grade cut, so they wouldn't be the ones to "list" it as ideal. That's done by the vendor.......and the vendor calling it ideal doesn't imply that GIA ranked the cut in any way, shape or form.

You've made a few comments now seem to be laced with misinformation. It might be helpful to take a quick read through the tutorials here....it sounds as though someone's been steering you wrong in a few areas (fluorescence hurts H color, GIA cert means cut is ideal, etc.) and that's likely to have an adverse affect on your wallet.

 

[slyons29]

Just my two cents but if they say they don't have a Sarin, they worried about what the Sarin will say. Another poster indicated that it is really easy for a gemologist or a jeweler to send a stone for a Sarin report. I would not hand over what (for me anyway) would be 2 months salary on a stone I wasn't solid about. I'm sure you've done the research but please check out The Diamond Guy at:

http://www.diamondcuttersintl.com/diamond_education/ask/shownew.asp

Send him the stones specs from the GIA and he'll give you the range that stone should be in and should hopefully be able to tell whether it is a class I, II or II.

One more thing

-- if you went back to the store and they dropped the price by $2k WITHOUT providing the Sarin, I would be hugely suspicious of what the crown and pavilion angles will show.

Sorry to confuse you more! That is a great hunk of money and should be spent wisely.

Best of luck!

 

[diamondsman]

I would say that the price of 12,800 is quite a bargain. for such a stone.
I would also recommend going up in size and dropping to a vs1 in quality,even going to an e color, this way you get a bigger bang for your buck,without really sacrificing too much.D and E colors are very close,and vs1 is also a a very high clarity without paying the price of a VVS or IF.
Cause truthfully once you mount it no one can tell the difference,Unless the loupe it. and what are the chances of that??

just my 2 cents,

 

[Giangi]

I agree with diamondsman... But if this stone is actually an ideal cut (AGS0) or even an AGS1, it seems to be VERY fairly priced. I would suggest taking it to an appraiser to get all the angles and percentages.