Millenium Cut

[Jangla]

I was wandering around the lanes in Brighton at the weekend doing some research into rings as I''m going to propose to my long suffering girl friend in the near future and came across what I thought was the perfect ring. It later turned out it wasn''t certified though so I''m taking the design to someone else.

Anyway, the ring was specified as a 0.43 carat, E colour, VS clarity Millenium Cut. Now, I''ve done some looking around and can''t find a "Millenium Cut" anywhere apart from the JC Millenium which appears to be a round stone - this one was rectangular. When I went into the shop to have a look at the ring, I had asked the assistant if I could see the ring and mentioned that I thought it was a Princess cut but she insisted it was a Millenium.

So what''s going on - is she wrong? Am I wrong? Why can''t I find other examples of rectangular Millenium Cut stones?

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

de beers did a millenium diamond promotion in the year..... daha dah! 2000

so is that what you mean?

it was a real failure - so if a vendor still has a millenium diamond is is worse than a case of comminicable disease (they cant get rid of it) and you can get it for a great price

 

[Jangla]

Well, they wanted £1500 for it and while I don't know a huge amount about diamonds, this seems a little steep for an uncertified 0.43ct stone in 18ct white gold, especially if it's an unpopular cut that's effectively now discontinued.

As I mentioned above, they were claimnig E colour and VS clarity so taking into account possible bias on their part, it was more likely F-G colour or worse and VS2 clarity at best.

Why was the cut such a failure though?

Very, very pretty ring though so I'm nicking the design concept and going to a reputable designer for a quote for something similar but certified

A Princess cut would fit the design perfectly too.

 

[Jangla]

One more thing; if I go ahead and buy a Millennium cut, what are the long term prospects for retaining value if it was considered a failure?

 

[Jangla]

OK, not much interest in ths thread but I''m going to post up what I''ve found out anyway so maybe someone can take something from it.

De Beers did indeed produce a limited edition cut in 2000. It was round, not rectangular.

De Beers themselves think that Goldsmiths are currently producing the millennium cut - I''ve checked the Goldsmiths site and this appears to be the case.

Looks like I have to go back to the drawing board.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

De Beers did a millenium diamond thing.

But you are right -t here is also a branded millenium diamond - JC millenium i think made by a belgian company.

But seems you are past the stone and onto the setting

 

[Lord Summerisle]

Hi there,

thought i''d chim in as a fellow brit

is this the kind of thing you where thinking of: http://www.goldsmiths.co.uk/product.asp?cid=&pid=3649

''Goldsmiths'' the high street shop are only good for one thing - and thats selling ''something'' with 0% finance. all the sales staff i''ve encountered havent a clue about what they are selling, except for the fiance packages available.

They seem to have a lot of weird speciality cuts - i believe they also have a ''union jack'' cut retangular diamond.. like an emerald, but with the pavilion cut to resemble the union jack from above

To me they are one step above H Samuels (formally Ratners Jewellers - Owned by Gerald Ratner, who said at a conferance "People say, "How can you sell this for such a low price?" I say, because it''s total crap."

)

If i can give a little bit of adivce: Firstly have a read through the tutorial on here (knowledge > Advanced Tutorial) to aquaint yourself if the 4Cs (and beyond)

if you want to buy in the UK, it may be worth popping along to Best Diamonds who are in London - they stock Infintity Diamonds who have a very good rep on here.

Also dont discount buying online fromn the US - Wink Jones also carries Infinity, and there are plenty of other excellent sellers who will be happy to help you from Diamond shops like GoodOldGold.com in NY.

All you need to remember when buying a diamond in the US that when importing to the UK you need to add VAT to the price (diamonds currently dont attract any import duty) if you have the diamond set in a ring (get your girlfriend ringfinger sized correctly, the US guys can easily convert the UK ring size to US size (abit like UK and US shoe sizes differ slightly - but you get the right size knowing the conversion) but jewellery attracts a 2.5% import duty + 17.5% VAT. (tho i''m not sure if the 2.5% is only on the price of the setting, or on the whole amount, i would take a guess that Her Maj. Customs and Excise would put the 2.5% on the full price of the jewellery)

I''ve helped a few of my friends in the UK recently to buy diamonds and was doing some comparisons in prices:
in one case i could get a 1.25 F VS2 imported for £3k LESS than a 1ct F VS2 from a local jewellers

from a recent thread on Pistonheads.com
Marcellus said:
I went through this last month and here''s some comparisons I found;

i''ve tried to find comparable stones from the US, prices in $ are with pricescope discount, £ is after tax has been added

> SPecialist high street Diamond Jewellers in Reading 0.9ct F colour VS2 @ £6,900
*Good old Gold: http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/3090/ = $5610 = £3312
> Local jewellers in Marlow 1ct G VS1 @ £7,300
*again GoG (a canadian diamond - so no worries on the ''conflict diamond'' thing) http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/2181/ = $7658 = £4310
> Jewelry Quarter 1.25ct VVS2 E @ £5,500
*Whiteflash: http://www.whiteflash.com/round_ideal_cut/Round-Ideal-Cut-cut-diamond-62997.htm# = $12608 = £7444

all prices from the US sites are with VAT added for an unset diamond.

 

[Jangla]

Great advice guys - thanks!

I've actually been in touch with GoodOldGold and they've been absolutely fantastic. Their web site is a mine of information on it's own but the staff are also extremely helpful and have helped me no end - I'm now much more sure of what I want and what I should be paying for it.

I'm now leaning towards an H&A (although I've just dropped GOG a bunch of questions on the Eithernity and Solsafera cuts as they're gorgeous) and their prices are indeed a hell of a lot better than you could ever hope to get over in the UK, even with VAT added.

Think I'm going to just get the stone, do the "one knee" thing and then she can help choose the perfect setting - at least that way I've got something to present when I propose...I know it's more common these days but it just feels wrong to me to propose without having anything to make her eyes light up!

Plus I'll avoid that whole grey area of the extra 2.5% being added to the cost of getting it over here.

I almost feel sorry for the mugs who go out and pick something up from a jewellers without taking the time to draw on the enormous wealth of info available from guys like you and sites like GOG.....almost

If I hadn't bother reasearching as far afield as I had I would have ended up with around half the value for money I'm likely to get now!

 

[Lord Summerisle]

I know what you mean.

Its like you eyes get opened. And the service! for example: a friend of mine on Pistonheads took in my advice of buying in the US - from a vendor on here, bought on Thursday (last week), it arrived Monday. it was sent to a jeweller recommeded by another pistonheader, who is setting the diamond for him, and it should be back with my friend Thursday or Friday all ready for his Bank Holiday trip away so he can propose.

maybe something to ask GoG if they could add in a set of locking tweezers or diamond tweezers... that way you can hold the diamond eaily while you propose. I dont know if they include that when you buy (i bought my diamond from Whiteflash, and they included a pair of tweezers along with a couple of other things as part of the package)