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letting go of the old and looking for new

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simmplyb

Rough_Rock
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Mar 31, 2010
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I am a newbie here and I need a crash course and a little hand holding. I found PS because of my misfortune. I lost my rings at work (I''m in healthcare and had to remove them.) Long sad
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story short, I lost three diamond rings that were (thankfully) insured. Now I am looking for replacement(s).

I''ve tried to learn as much as I can here in a very short time to figure out how a replacement will help me let go of what I had. I''ve decided to get one stone and one setting with the value I had in the three rings which valued at 23K.

I''m still looking at settings so that is a variable that is still up in the air, but plan to allocate around 3k towards this. I would like to use most of my budget on the diamond.

Is pricing different to a B&M store if it''s an insurance deal? Do insurance carriers work with online diamond stores? The store I''m going to is recommended by my insurance company, but has also been ok''d by my own personal jeweler. I''m leaning towards going to the insurance carrier''s recommended store because they have more settings that interest me. During one visit (just to shop settings), I asked if their diamond prices were competitive with online diamond prices.....answer was yes. Tomorrow I go to see more settings and begin looking at diamonds. My goal is to get a 2.3-2.5 carat round brilliant stone with ''good performance'' and ''spread''. The store sells GIA cert. diamonds. I would like to get an excellent cut, H-I color, VS2-SI1(eye clean) clarity. I''m I being realistic?

Any advice for me? TIA!
 

petrock<3

Brilliant_Rock
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I don''t know about the pricing, just wanted to say good luck. It is sad that you lost your rings, but now you get to go on a little diamond adventure and that can be fun. Keep us posted!
 

Dreamer_D

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
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You will save a lot of money online. Many insurance companies will work with the jeweler of your choice, you will have to ask yours directly if there are any restrictions..
 

Lorelei

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Date: 4/1/2010 1:36:43 AM
Author: dreamer_d
You will save a lot of money online. Many insurance companies will work with the jeweler of your choice, you will have to ask yours directly if there are any restrictions..

Ditto.

So sorry to hear of this simmply, what a rotten thing to happen....
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But we are here to help so lets see what we can do to assist you in getting a brand new stone!

You can use these numbers as a guide to help you find a well cut round, bear in mind proportions falling outside of these ranges can also be great looking diamonds such as those with larger tables ( I would suggest an upper limit of 60 - 61%), the Holloway Cut Advisor will help you there, see which score below 2 then evaluate with images and trusted vendor/ expert advice.

depth - 60 - 62% - although my personal preference is to allow up to 62.4%
table - 54- 57%
crown angle - 34- 35 degrees
pavilion angle - 40.6- 41 degrees
girdle - avoid extremes, look for thin to slightly thick, thin to medium etc
polish and symmetry - very good and above


note - with crown and pavilion angles at the shallower ends ( CA 34- PA 40.6) and steeper ( CA 35- PA 41) check to make sure these angles complement in that particular diamond - eyeballs, Idealscope, trusted vendor input - check as appropriate!

From expert John Pollard.


As the above implies, configurations depend on each other. A little give here can still work with a little take there.


With that said, here''s a "Cliff''s Notes" for staying near Tolkowsky/ideal angles with GIA reports (their numbers are rounded): A crown angle of 34.0, 34.5 or 35.0 is usually safe with a 40.8 pavilion angle. If pavilion angle = 40.6 lean toward a 34.5-35.0 crown. If pavilion angle = 41 lean toward a 34.0-34.5 crown.



GIA "EX" in cut is great at its heart, but it ranges a bit wider than some people prefer, particularly in deep combinations (pavilion > 41 with crown > 35).

 

HVVS

Brilliant_Rock
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Some of the people who''ve posted here about insurance replacements were not happy with the quality of the replacement diamonds being offered by the insurance co.''s jeweler. They were usually offered a lesser diamond than they cold get here at PS. They persevered and eventually, the ins. co. caved in and allowed the purchase from GOG, etc.
 

simmplyb

Rough_Rock
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Mar 31, 2010
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Thank you for your replies!

Will the jeweler have an idealscope to view diamonds with?

I did find lorelei''s guidelines last night and hope to commit them to memory in the next hour!!

I will DEFINATELY find out what restrictions my insurer has on choosing my own jeweler. I am allowed to chose my own jeweler but the quote of what I choose will be reviewed/approved by the carrier''s jeweler.

I hope it''s ok to say the name of the jeweler here....I''d like to hear feedback if anyone knows of them. I live in massachusetts. The jeweler is well known in this corner of the world- DeScenza''s. They say they have no middle man, get their diamonds direct from Belgium, thus can offer 20-40% less pricing. They''ve told me not to be concerned with the retail pricetag on the setting (WG=27k, and PL=45K) that I was interested because it''s an insurance case. This leaves ambiguity for me to negiotiate.

Most importantly, will they give me copies of the GIA cert so I can study the cut here using the cut advisor??

I"m a little nervous!!
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stone-cold11

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
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Most brick store will probably not have idealscope, no harm asking.

Ask and copy down the GIA report number and carat weight and you can get the proportion information out from the GIA reportcheck webpage. They might just let you go online with the PC and you can introduce them to the HCA?

Good luck hunting. :)
 

Lorelei

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Date: 4/1/2010 9:02:28 AM
Author: simmplyb
Thank you for your replies!

Will the jeweler have an idealscope to view diamonds with?

I did find lorelei's guidelines last night and hope to commit them to memory in the next hour!!

I will DEFINATELY find out what restrictions my insurer has on choosing my own jeweler. I am allowed to chose my own jeweler but the quote of what I choose will be reviewed/approved by the carrier's jeweler.

I hope it's ok to say the name of the jeweler here....I'd like to hear feedback if anyone knows of them. I live in massachusetts. The jeweler is well known in this corner of the world- DeScenza's. They say they have no middle man, get their diamonds direct from Belgium, thus can offer 20-40% less pricing. They've told me not to be concerned with the retail pricetag on the setting (WG=27k, and PL=45K) that I was interested because it's an insurance case. This leaves ambiguity for me to negiotiate.

Most importantly, will they give me copies of the GIA cert so I can study the cut here using the cut advisor??

I'm a little nervous!!
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I believe some jewellers might have IS but its unusual, certainly no harm in asking though! And definitely insist on getting the details from the report on each diamond, if they aren't prepared to give you this info then go elsewhere but hopefully they will be able to at least give you the report number and exact carat weight so we can look the info up online.

It will be ok, we will help you through this so you can find a beautiful diamond!
 

simmplyb

Rough_Rock
Joined
Mar 31, 2010
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Ok, I had my first meeting with the jeweler. They have a 5 store inventory to look for a diamond for me. After reviewing my ~10 yr old appraisals I have $21.5k to work with. I was happy to hear that the setting I like can be make in Palladium. The setting is a halo style micropave setting (bezel around the center diamond) with diamond design on the top and sides of half the shank weighing 1.3 ctw. He will budget 2k for this, leaving 19k for one center RB stone.

He says he can look for a GIA diamond between the 2-2.25 carat weight excellent cut, H-I color, SI1 clarity. He did point out optimal table and depth percentages and Crown and Pavillion angles on a sample stone he had that was a 2.08 Carat, I color, SI2 clarity with excellent cut proportions VG/VG symmetry and polish. This particular stone was eye clean but had medium flourescence. He said he could do better for me and yes I can get copies of the GIA cert to review with ''my husband''.

So, my questions:

I''m fond of the idea of Palladium as being right in the middle of WG and PL...any advice on this?

Sounds like I''m being treated fairly, am I?

Should I push to get a 2.25 stone for 19K? (given it be GIA ex cut, H/I color, SI1, no flour, VG/VG polish symmetry, med girdle)

Am I enough informed?

TIA!
 

Sizzle

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jul 4, 2007
Messages
1,304
Date: 4/1/2010 12:23:33 PM
Author: simmplyb
Ok, I had my first meeting with the jeweler. They have a 5 store inventory to look for a diamond for me. After reviewing my ~10 yr old appraisals I have $21.5k to work with. I was happy to hear that the setting I like can be make in Palladium. The setting is a halo style micropave setting (bezel around the center diamond) with diamond design on the top and sides of half the shank weighing 1.3 ctw. He will budget 2k for this, leaving 19k for one center RB stone.

He says he can look for a GIA diamond between the 2-2.25 carat weight excellent cut, H-I color, SI1 clarity. He did point out optimal table and depth percentages and Crown and Pavillion angles on a sample stone he had that was a 2.08 Carat, I color, SI2 clarity with excellent cut proportions VG/VG symmetry and polish. This particular stone was eye clean but had medium flourescence. He said he could do better for me and yes I can get copies of the GIA cert to review with ''my husband''.

So, my questions:

I''m fond of the idea of Palladium as being right in the middle of WG and PL...any advice on this?

Sounds like I''m being treated fairly, am I?

Should I push to get a 2.25 stone for 19K? (given it be GIA ex cut, H/I color, SI1, no flour, VG/VG polish symmetry, med girdle)

Am I enough informed?

TIA!

I think you are thinking in terms of you have as much to spend as your insurance policy is from. That is ONLY true if your policy is a cash out policy. Most policies will replace with "like kind" unless you are willing to kick in some extra money. Just because your policy was for 23K, doesn''t mean you have 23K to spend. Most appraisals are overinflated. I don''t recall you saying anything about the cut grade of your lost stone, but I don''t think you can expect an even exchange for an ideal cut diamond if you only had a "good" cut diamnod. I think you really need to work with your agency and the jewelry store. I''m not sure if I missed it, but did you mention the particular insurance company you had a policy through? Perhaps if we had more information we would be able to help you better. Also I saw people jump in and start giving you information for a round stone. Did I miss if that''s what you have? The numbers mentioned do not apply to fancies... Good Luck with your journey of replacements.
 

kristinmcd

Rough_Rock
Joined
Mar 24, 2010
Messages
13
I was in the same kind of situation. I lost an insured diamond earring in the snow. I had a choice of letting them "match" my first earring or a settlement. I chose to surrender my other earring and they cut me a check that day to replace it on my own.

Good luck!
 

simmplyb

Rough_Rock
Joined
Mar 31, 2010
Messages
40
My insurance carrier (Commerce) will not cut a check to me....they pay the jeweler directly. I''ve had my appraisals reviewed by two jewelers, both said that they are not inflated, though they were 10-ish year old appraisals. (so I lose out on appreciation of my pieces). The estimate to replace by the jeweler totals $21,529. So, yes, the estimate to replace is 2000.00 less my total value of scheduled jewelry since insurance companies only pay replacement costs. I had three rings: a rb solitaire (1.4 c) in a platinum/diamond ering, a multi row diamond and platinum wedding band (1.5 tcw) and a right had radiant cut (1 Ct) halo style ring. I''ve been told I have the freedom to take the total value and put it towards one ring, one stone if I so choose.
 

tyty333

Super_Ideal_Rock
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simmplyb

Rough_Rock
Joined
Mar 31, 2010
Messages
40
Thanks Tyty
The first one is awesome! I''m waiting to see other diamonds that they have in their inventory....I will definitely come back here to get PS forum thoughts on diamond specs.

Thanks for doing search for comparison!
 

PumpkinPie

Ideal_Rock
Joined
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2,841
I"m sorry you lost your rings --good luck finding the replacement of your dreams :)
 
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