Issues finding stone

[zma21]

Hey all,

Currently I've been working with GOG over the phone trying to secure my engagement ring for my girlfriend. I've pretty much decided on this setting: http://www.gabrielengaged.com/style/ER7222W4JJJ
and now am in the hunt for the rock. Everyone on here has told me how many hoops GOG would jump through to get you the 'perfect' stone, but I almost feel that I'm experiencing something different. I really want to buy both my setting and stone from GOG, but they're seriously having issues finding me a nice Pear.

I have about $3600(ish) to spend on the diamond, and I'm looking for the following stats:

-.75 ct up to 1.25 ct (not to particular on weight)
-Color: I up to D
-Clarity: VS1 and up
-And I'm very unexperienced in terms of ratio (I prefer "chubby" to elongated with pears), table, girdle, etc.

GOG has about 5 pears on their site, none of which fit my criteria. They have only found 2 additional diamonds that aren't in house, and I'd be settling if I chose one of them. They express to me over and over again how little interest there is in pears, so they don't carry much and their suppliers don't carry much. As soon as I flip over to pricescope and whiteflash I find about 15 pears in my criteria.

Am I looking at this wrong? I'm trying to be patient, but I'm getting the subtle hint that they are going to be hard-pressed to find a pear that meets my needs. I'm planning on proposing April 9th, for what it's worth.

 

[slg47]

Hey all,

Currently I've been working with GOG over the phone trying to secure my engagement ring for my girlfriend. I've pretty much decided on this setting: http://www.gabrielengaged.com/style/ER7222W4JJJ
and now am in the hunt for the rock. Everyone on here has told me how many hoops GOG would jump through to get you the 'perfect' stone, but I almost feel that I'm experiencing something different. I really want to buy both my setting and stone from GOG, but they're seriously having issues finding me a nice Pear.

I have about $3600(ish) to spend on the diamond, and I'm looking for the following stats:

-.75 ct up to 1.25 ct (not to particular on weight)
-Color: I up to D
-Clarity: VS1 and up
-And I'm very unexperienced in terms of ratio (I prefer "chubby" to elongated with pears), table, girdle, etc.

GOG has about 5 pears on their site, none of which fit my criteria. They have only found 2 additional diamonds that aren't in house, and I'd be settling if I chose one of them. They express to me over and over again how little interest there is in pears, so they don't carry much and their suppliers don't carry much. As soon as I flip over to pricescope and whiteflash I find about 15 pears in my criteria.

Am I looking at this wrong? I'm trying to be patient, but I'm getting the subtle hint that they are going to be hard-pressed to find a pear that meets my needs. I'm planning on proposing April 9th, for what it's worth.

I would definitely call them again and ask them to bring in some candidates for you. also VS2 should be totally eye-clean so that would give you more options.

 

[Amys Bling]

I would just say, "I am really looking to get a pear in my parameters and so far I havent found wht I am looking for in your inventory, I would really like to give you my business for both the setting and diamond, but I dont want to feel like I am settling on the stone just becuase I prefer to work with you"

Would it be possible to link the stones you found and are in interested in from whiteflash's virtual inventory and show them to GOG> If they are virtual inventory they may (please correct me if im wrong) be available for GOG to call in...

 

[zma21]

I would just say, "I am really looking to get a pear in my parameters and so far I havent found wht I am looking for in your inventory, I would really like to give you my business for both the setting and diamond, but I dont want to feel like I am settling on the stone just becuase I prefer to work with you"

Would it be possible to link the stones you found and are in interested in from whiteflash's virtual inventory and show them to GOG> If they are virtual inventory they may (please correct me if im wrong) be available for GOG to call in...

I did exactly this. I told them my direct (but gentle) feelings and linked a couple stones I thought were worth looking deeper into.

They are bringing in a .8 VVS2 G that sounds very interesting as well as a .95 G SI1. I guess I'll know more after they view these two stones. I feel, however, that they won't have much for backup if I don't love one of these two stones.

The SI1 scares me...should it?

 

[Amys Bling]

I would just say, "I am really looking to get a pear in my parameters and so far I havent found wht I am looking for in your inventory, I would really like to give you my business for both the setting and diamond, but I dont want to feel like I am settling on the stone just becuase I prefer to work with you"

Would it be possible to link the stones you found and are in interested in from whiteflash's virtual inventory and show them to GOG> If they are virtual inventory they may (please correct me if im wrong) be available for GOG to call in...

I did exactly this. I told them my direct (but gentle) feelings and linked a couple stones I thought were worth looking deeper into.

They are bringing in a .8 VVS2 G that sounds very interesting as well as a .95 G SI1. I guess I'll know more after they view these two stones. I feel, however, that they won't have much for backup if I don't love one of these two stones.

The SI1 scares me...should it?

I have an SI2 and it's eyeclean do SI1 doesnt scare me. So you have to examine the stone yourself and see if and how eyeclean it is- You may have to go buy the stone from whiteflash or another vendor with more options and then have it sent to GOG for setting.


Have you thought about going with IDJ? They are in NYC and carry Gabriel & Co settins and may have a bigger pear selection.

 

[zma21]

You were not kidding ... IDJ has about 15 pears in my filters.

New York isn't a big deal as I'm ordering from LA.

I'm going to call IDJ tomorrow and see if they're willing to work with me like GOG was. GOG seems to have much more of a "down to earth" presence so far.

Anybody have any personal experience with them?

 

[LibbyLA]

Have you tried Blue Nile, just to see what might be available? It's possible that your jeweler of choice could get one of those stones.

I don't know what ratio you consider the upper limit of "chubby", but with your price $3600, size (.75-1.25 ct.), and color (D-I) (and a depth of 58-62% since that's what I used for ovals), I found 24 pears on BN. (I'm not recommending BN, just using their search because that's what I used for months when I was looking at ovals, then found one I liked on BN and got it at a better price from Brilliance.com).

liz

 

[Gypsy]

Who are you working with? If you aren't getting results, in my experience, you need to escalate with GOG to Jon directly.

I really recommend calling them, asking for Jon and saying... look I've been disappointed so far in the service I'm getting, what is the issue?

 

[Amys Bling]

Who are you working with? If you aren't getting results, in my experience, you need to escalate with GOG to Jon directly.

I really recommend calling them, asking for Jon and saying... look I've been disappointed so far in the service I'm getting, what is the issue?

I would do this- and if they can't help you anymore I'd move on..

 

[zma21]

I guess I should have prefaced my original post by saying that they have indeed been very helpful thus far.

I am just losing confidence that they are going to be able to find a diamond that I fall in love with. This doesn't appear to be their fault, either. They stated if I was seeking a stone other than a pear they would have hundreds to choose from. Unfortunately this isn't the case. If the owner could help me with that issue more than one of his team members, then well that unfortunately says something for the employees of the company. I'll see how these diamonds are that they are getting in for me. I'm just wondering if I'm being too picky here.

I am getting very much of a "If you don't like these there's nothing I can do for you" feeling from the emails. Can such emotions be derived from emails?

 

[Gypsy]

I guess I should have prefaced my original post by saying that they have indeed been very helpful thus far.

I am just losing confidence that they are going to be able to find a diamond that I fall in love with. This doesn't appear to be their fault, either. They stated if I was seeking a stone other than a pear they would have hundreds to choose from. Unfortunately this isn't the case. If the owner could help me with that issue more than one of his team members, then well that unfortunately says something for the employees of the company. I'll see how these diamonds are that they are getting in for me. I'm just wondering if I'm being too picky here.

I am getting very much of a "If you don't like these there's nothing I can do for you" feeling from the emails. Can such emotions be derived from emails?

Believe me, I TOTALLY agree that it says something about the company if this is the case. And have ACTUALLY said that to Jon, verbatim, when he asked me why, if I was frustrated with his team's pear hunt for me (I was looking for a pear too), I didn't just escalated to him. Like you, my response was: "Why should I have had to?"

What are the options they HAVE found for you? Let's see if we think you are being too picky or not.

 

[ihy138]

I guess I should have prefaced my original post by saying that they have indeed been very helpful thus far.

I am just losing confidence that they are going to be able to find a diamond that I fall in love with. This doesn't appear to be their fault, either. They stated if I was seeking a stone other than a pear they would have hundreds to choose from. Unfortunately this isn't the case. If the owner could help me with that issue more than one of his team members, then well that unfortunately says something for the employees of the company. I'll see how these diamonds are that they are getting in for me. I'm just wondering if I'm being too picky here.

I am getting very much of a "If you don't like these there's nothing I can do for you" feeling from the emails. Can such emotions be derived from emails?

I'm sure many others can echo this experience, but finding THE stone is often a game of patience and waiting (and unfortunately getting a few lemons in the mix, sometimes). I would say see what GOG has to offer you in these two pears. If you don't like the stones, tell them you're considering going to another company. Either they can help you or they can't, and they'll be honest about it.

 

[zma21]

What are the options they HAVE found for you? Let's see if we think you are being too picky or not.

Well, with my criteria listed in the original post, they have only found 1 pear that fits my goals.

It's a

0.8 ct
G color
VVS2 cut
$3200

There have been four or five other pears brought up, but none fall all that close to what I want. Usually the cut is like SI2 in the pears that they show me, and I feel that $3500 can buy a better pear in the size, cut, and clarity that I want. But then again I may be totally wrong.

I paid $30 to have that .8 G shipped to GOG today. Is it normal to pay for such practices? I assumed it was.

 

[Gypsy]

What are the options they HAVE found for you? Let's see if we think you are being too picky or not.

Well, with my criteria listed in the original post, they have only found 1 pear that fits my goals.

It's a

0.8 ct
G color
VVS2 cut
$3200

There have been four or five other pears brought up, but none fall all that close to what I want. Usually the cut is like SI2 in the pears that they show me, and I feel that $3500 can buy a better pear in the size, cut, and clarity that I want. But then again I may be totally wrong.

I paid $30 to have that .8 G shipped to GOG today. Is it normal to pay for such practices? I assumed it was.

Okay. So you wanted better clarity than SI2? Is it a mindclean issue for you? As long as you can't see it with your naked eyes, TO ME, it's fine. But I know others are not the same way. Were the SI stones eyeclean? I've owned many an eyeclean SI stone. Nothing wrong with it unless it just doesn't work for you OR it's got a visible inclusion OR it's got an unsafe inclusion that could lead to problems. But with higher clarity, like VVS, you DO realize you are paying a very high price for something you can't see with your unaided eye right? If I was hunting for a fancy, and VVS was the only eyeclean option available, then I'd be okay paying for it. But if there were other options, why am I going to pay for something I can't see?

Regarding whether or not it's wrong. I think you aren't wrong, but could use a little more education about fancy cuts. Pears are fancy cuts (so is anything other than a standard round brilliant). With fancy's you really need to focus on what the stone LOOKS LIKE and how it performs over the stats. So if the vendor KNOWS that a stone they are suggesting is beautiful, and has great performance, and you reject it out of hand, then they are going to be frustrated. Because they are suggesting beautiful stones to you, you are PAYING for the expertise (and you are with GOG, they aren't the cheapest around. But the reason is that it isn't self service like JA or Bluenile, for example) and ignoring it. So, I can see how that might be frustrating to the vendor.

Yes, vendors do charge shipping on getting stones in for customers if they getting them in only for you, and will likely have to have to return the stone.

If you are working with Charles (that's who I worked with), I was unimpressed. I'd call Jon and just move on from Charles. If you are working with someone else, get them on the phone and have a 10 minute conversation about expectations and about why you are frustrated and why they might be and find out WHY you guys aren't communicating well.

 

[zma21]

Gypsy,

Would you suffice it to say that my priorities aren't in order? I of course have no experience in the realm of precious stones, and thought that the statistics were a relatively concrete grading basis. The more I look into this, though, the more that doesn't seem true. I guess that just because a diamond falls just outside my limits doesn't mean it's not a beautiful stone, right?

Since I'm feeling more and more unprepared regarding my diamond purchase, do ya'll mind if I post each and every stone on this thread and get your opinions? I feel like I've been kind of foolish to dismiss a stone that was VS2 just because it wasn't VVS2. More reading and searching, of course.

 

[mandasand]

I know you said size doesn't matter as long as it falls between the .75 to 1.25 range. Your budget seems fair and I would suggest going down in clarity to get a bigger size, which will look very nice in the solitaire setting you picked. I would bet the G SI1 .95 is nice. Can you get that one too? It would be good to compare the two.

 

[slg47]

Gypsy,

Would you suffice it to say that my priorities aren't in order? I of course have no experience in the realm of precious stones, and thought that the statistics were a relatively concrete grading basis. The more I look into this, though, the more that doesn't seem true. I guess that just because a diamond falls just outside my limits doesn't mean it's not a beautiful stone, right?

Since I'm feeling more and more unprepared regarding my diamond purchase, do ya'll mind if I post each and every stone on this thread and get your opinions? I feel like I've been kind of foolish to dismiss a stone that was VS2 just because it wasn't VVS2. More reading and searching, of course.

I would absolutely include VS2 stones in your search.

 

[I like ice]

As for education, have you watched any of Jon's (diamondinfoman) videos on YouTube? I have found them very helpful as many are comparing similar stones so you can see the difference (or lack thereof) in color, etc. I think they are of particular help with fancy cuts such as pears that can't be judged only by numbers. He has a number of pears on video.

 

[Amys Bling]

To me- as long as a stone is eyeclean it's a winner. Many want high clarity others just want eyeclean and to not pay extra for something they can't see...

 

[zma21]

To me- as long as a stone is eyeclean it's a winner. Many want high clarity others just want eyeclean and to not pay extra for something they can't see...

I really do have trouble translating my exact feelings into words on this discussion board.

Eye-cleanliness is an absolute must. I would be much more willing to sacrifice size than I would color or clarity, however. Perhaps that's a rookie mistake and I should find a middle ground. I really want just the opposite of a clunky, yellow diamond.

 

[Rhino]

Hey ZMA!

The reason why Sarah is coming up with fewer options than what you are seeing in other virtual inventories is because I instruct her (and the rest of my staff) that when we are acquiring diamonds on the capital of our clients (and our time spending with them as well) we use very restraining criteria with regards to our table/depth measurements as well as length to width ratios. Pear shapes can take on a variety of appearances and our goal is to find for you what will constitute the most beautiful combination of all the factors relating to cut plus whatever other criteria you outline.

Only after we've exhausted what we know to be the best overall combos will we resort to table/depths outside of my personal recommended range. We have access to most virtual diamonds you see published online but if we're going to spend the capital and time acquiring them to call in, we are first going to concentrate on those diamonds whose specs appear to be safest based on our research.

Hope that helps.

Kind regards,
Jonathan

 

[Amys Bling]

After seeing Jon's post, and knowing people's satisfaction with them as a company- one has to assume that they are only going to pull great stones for you. Fancies are not easy to judge by numbers alone- images and ASET are needed to determine performance.

 

[SweetAsscher]

I don't mean this in a bad way at all so please don't take it as such, but maybe you should just let GOG do their job and at least take a look at the stones they are pulling for you? As Gypsy pointed out, you are paying a premium for their expertise.
Good luck and hopefully you find the perfect pear soon!

 

[Gypsy]

Yes, I would re-evaluate your priorities.

Looks like you are working with Sarah, not Charles and Jon is aware that there is some tension. Good news all around. NOW that we've got that issue flushed out, let's concentrate on the other.

Yes, I think your clarity requirements are a bit over zealous.

First, is your lady (or are you) the compulsive jewelry louping type? Because if seeing inclusions under magnification is going to bother you, make you see things that aren't really there, and generally drive you crazy, then that's something we need to talk about. BUT, there are (thankfully) very few people like that, so I'm going to assume you aren't like that. Most people that come to PS might see their diamond under magnification a few times in their lives, record mentally the "birthmarks" that it has so they know their stone well enough to identify it if they send it for repairs or anything that comes up, and are happy as long as they can't see anything with their naked eye.

What I would do. Call Sarah and clear the air. This is a problem caused by her not explaining the restaints Jon placed on her, and you not having your priorities where they need to be. Tell Sarah you are concerned about inclusions, and want to absolutely stick to eyeclean at any distance and at any angle and want no feathers breaking the surface or any other unsafe inclusions. As long as you stick to that, you should be fine.

Jon and his team won't stick you with any dead, yellow, included monstrosities. And neither would we.

What my priorities would be:

Eyeclean clarity.
BRIGHT well performing stone with great light return and minimal bowtie.
Color H-I or better.
Spread
Shape (narrow, or fat, or Goldilocks just right)
Carat

We have NO issue helping you by giving you our opinion of any stone you are considering. So yes, please post the diamonds under consideration and feel free to avail yourself of the forum's thoughts. Please understand that with fancy cuts there are no standards for cut, so numbers are going to be minimally helpful, but ASET images and videos AND Sarah's impressions are going to be key. And what one poster may have a personal preference for, with relation to color or clarity is their PERSONAL OPINION. So if you are evaluating our comments make sure to keep that in mind.

Best to you. I'm confident that once you clear the air with Sarah things will move forward with GOG and they'll find you a nice stone.

 

[chel180]

Very good advice Gypsy.

 

[zma21]

UPDATE

So GOG received both pears, (the .8 and the .95) and did a video comparison today. Look for yourself here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0uIKhU5yvc&feature=youtu.be

I'm definitely going to look it over a couple more times, as it's making me feel like I'm a fool.

The narrator states how heavily he favors the .95 over the .8, but I'm not seeing it as clearly as he is. To me the .8 looks whiter (only a bit) and similar, but less light performance. I was notified that the .95 (SI1) IS in fact eye clean and the inclusions blend in with the facets. I'm going to find out exactly what getting lost in the facets means, and probably request a magnified photo of the inclusions just to see how they look.


.8/G/VVS2 is $3,180
.95/G/SI1 is $3,526

I love the proportions, size, and shape of both. Tell me what you guys think! Should I keep looking, or do you think one of these two is worth looking deeper into?

 

[chel180]

The .9 is much nicer to me. brighter, whiter and a more organic/elegant shape.

 

[plummiecat]

I don't know a thing about pears, but the SI1 looks much whiter and brighter to me. And the size difference is significant.

 

[zma21]

I agree the size is somewhat noticible. I was told that the inclusion is off to the tip and in need of a loupe to spot. The body is perfectly clean and clear.

I'm going to sleep on it for a couple days and continue to review the video and any additional pictures that may come. Do you think the .95 is a good price? It seems above average price, but for all of the help GOG has been it seems more than justified.

Anyone and everyone the views the diamonds please leave some feedback!

 

[Gypsy]

So... I trust my own eyes and I REALLY trust Jon's. I would get an ASET of the SI stone. I think from the video though, and from what Jon sees in person, that it's the better of the two.