Is this diamond good value? Is buying without seeing safe?

[sajc]

Hi Eveyone,

Firstly, I''ll say that I''ve never bought a diamond before, under any circumstances. Now I would like to purchase one, and it seems that they''re much cheaper online than in stores, and cheaper again if I buy them from the USA rather than Australia. I think the gap closes somewhat, though, when shipping, tax (10%) and duty (5%) are included (although maybe they''re exempt from duty).

But, although the prices are cheaper, I''m worried about buying a diamond without seeing it. Is it common to buy a diamond by specs and price alone? Would you buy one like this, or only if you''d seen it in person?

I''m contemplating the purchase of one of these diamonds to have set in a custom made ring. Do you think it''s a good deal?

0.49ct G colour, VS2 clarity Round Brilliant cut DCLA certified diamond. Certificate: DCLA-157676
Depth: 63.5%
Table: 60.0%
Symmetry: Good
Polish: Very Good
Girdle: 5.0%
Culet: Very Small
Fluorescence: Nil
Characteristics: Natural
Measurements: 4.97mm x 4.99mm x 3.16m
Price AU$2,600 / US$2,268

or

0.47ct G colour, VS1 clarity Round Brilliant cut DCLA certified diamond. Certificate: DCLA-148415
Depth: 64.2%
Table: 55.9%
Symmetry: Good
Polish: Very Good
Girdle: 3.9%
Culet: Medium
Fluorescence: Slight
Characteristics: Cloud
Measurements: 4.90mm x 4.93mm x 3.16mm
Price: AU$2,500 / US$2,180

Cheers,

SAJC

 

[sera]

My FI bought mine online without either of us seeing it (both of us were skeptical when I first found PS). We came to feel quite confident in buying it because of all the rave reviews on Good Old Gold (as well as other vendors like Whiteflash, ERD, etc). I called up Jonathan from GOG for reassurance. I got my ring and it is everything he promised it would be. I absolutely would go this route again with no worries.

If you have a trusted vendor, they will tell you straight up what you are getting and what you can expect.

ETA: I would not buy a diamond from just anyplace online regardless of what their info/cert says. (You can drop down in clarity a bit to go up in size and remain within budget providing the actual clarity is the stated clarity... I would not trust what Joe Schmoe Jewelers says). I personally wouldn't buy a stone with a culet and IDK I see some things I might not be happy with like what the nature of that cloud is and only "Good" symmetry... I'm sure some experts will chime in on the specs. I would really encourage you to look at GOG or WF. Personally, I think you could do much better.

 

[katebar]

SAJC I''m in queensland too!! I bought my upgrade from GOG and couldn''t be happier.
It was a very substantial purchase but I was very confident after seeing the images and showing them here.
I had the stone set in Australia at Precious metals /Holloway''s to my design.
There is supposed to be awesome bench jeweller down on the Coast here that does amazing work.
I can look up the address for you if you like.
Good luck.
Remember about the duty though. If you buy a set ring you have to pay the duty on the setting AND on the diamond.

 

[BigDiamonds]

I think most of us are pretty comfortable with the idea of purchasing sight-unseen from a respected vendor. In my experience, the stats, pictures, and reports that you see before you purchase are even more informative than anything you can do once you have it. Also, most vendors around here have very good return policies and everything is insured during shipping, so there really isn''t a lot of risk.

As for those stones, I would steer towards one of the PS vendors who can give you more info. To evaluate cut, you need table %, depth %, pavillion angle and crown angle. I would also only really trust certs by GIA or AGS.

I think you can do even better on price (or size

). Check out this stone from GOG, $2253 w/wire discount. There are several H&A stones that match your specs from both WF and GOG. Use the search by cut feature to find more.

 

[honey22]

Hi, how about these - they are Ice on Fire which is the Diamond Exchange''s brand of Ideal Cut Diamonds - AGS 000 - ie Ideal cut, certified by AGS, really nice numbers (much better than the ones you were looking at), Hearts and Arrows and around the $2500 mark. You can email them to request IS images, and to confirm they score 0 for light performance too.

http://www.diamondexchange.com.au/catalog/diamond_info.php?&catnum=1006288

http://www.diamondexchange.com.au/catalog/diamond_info.php?&catnum=1006287


http://www.diamondexchange.com.au/catalog/diamond_info.php?&catnum=1012956


I am in Melbourne too and would definately look at their website - they have many others of the same colour, clarity combo and all around the same price. That way you don''t have to pay import tax or duty. Totally up to you. I will be purchasing there as soon as I get the go ahead from SO

 

[sajc]

Date: 12/26/2007 11:02:09 PM
Author: BigDiamonds
As for those stones, I would steer towards one of the PS vendors who can give you more info. To evaluate cut, you need table %, depth %, pavillion angle and crown angle. I would also only really trust certs by GIA or AGS.

I think DCLA is a good lab, from what I've read.

I think you can do even better on price (or size

). Check out this stone from GOG, $2253 w/wire discount. There are several H&A stones that match your specs from both WF and GOG. Use the search by cut feature to find more.

Well the thing is, I don't actually want a larger stone than about 0.5ct. I guess I'm in the rare situation where my intended doesn't actually want anything big! But yeah, it does seem that there's better options elsewhere - I already knew that, but wasnt sure about looking overseas. Actually, the diamond exchange seems to have pretty good prices compared to the US when you factor in postage, taxes etc.

I'll take a bit more of a look around. I was concerned about buying a diamond from O/S but it seems that plenty of people do it... it's just a bit hard to get used to the idea, given the price and that this is the first diamond I've ever bought, and up until a months or so ago I didnt know anything about them at all.

Thanks for the info!

Scott.

 

[Lorelei]

Sera, actually a medium culet is fine

, see this thread for more info - http://diamonds.pricescope.com/culet.asp

Regarding the diamonds posted, personally I wouldn''t buy them as they are too deep, the first has a larger table than I prefer, also polish and symmetry could be improved. We don''t have the all important crown and pavillion angles, but the depths and other things are enough to make me not want to look at these any further. Sajc, I think you can do better.

 

[Deelight]

Date: 12/27/2007 3:55:25 AM
Author: sajc

Date: 12/26/2007 11:02:09 PM

Author: BigDiamonds

As for those stones, I would steer towards one of the PS vendors who can give you more info. To evaluate cut, you need table %, depth %, pavillion angle and crown angle. I would also only really trust certs by GIA or AGS.

I think DCLA is a good lab, from what I''ve read.

I think you can do even better on price (or size

). Check out this stone from GOG, $2253 w/wire discount. There are several H&A stones that match your specs from both WF and GOG. Use the search by cut feature to find more.

Well the thing is, I don''t actually want a larger stone than about 0.5ct. I guess I''m in the rare situation where my intended doesn''t actually want anything big! But yeah, it does seem that there''s better options elsewhere - I already knew that, but wasnt sure about looking overseas. Actually, the diamond exchange seems to have pretty good prices compared to the US when you factor in postage, taxes etc.


I''ll take a bit more of a look around. I was concerned about buying a diamond from O/S but it seems that plenty of people do it... it''s just a bit hard to get used to the idea, given the price and that this is the first diamond I''ve ever bought, and up until a months or so ago I didnt know anything about them at all.


Thanks for the info!


Scott.

From my understanding DCLA is not an internationally recognized lab and for that reason I was told to steer clear someone maybe able to correct that point though. Personally I would stick with AGS or GIA

 

[Lorelei]

From my understanding DCLA is not an internationally recognized lab and for that reason I was told to steer clear someone maybe able to correct that point though. Personally I would stick with AGS or GIA

As far as I am aware, DCLA is a reputable Australian lab, although I do not know much about them, there seems to be lots of info in the archives.

 

[sajc]

Yeah, I''m certainly no expert, but they seem OK from what I''ve read. Apparently they''re recognised by the IDC and WFDB etc etc.

 

[sera]

Date: 12/27/2007 4:51:57 AM
Author: Lorelei
Sera, actually a medium culet is fine

, see this thread for more info - http://diamonds.pricescope.com/culet.asp

I didn''t know that size wouldn''t be visible. I just really dislike the look of it.. if it''s too small to be seen then I wouldn''t care. Thanks for the info.