MMD: Growing Industry?

[nclrgirl]

This is a question for D.Nea diamonds, gemesis, etc. I was wondering if your industry is growning rapidly.

The reason that I ask is that my fiance and I were originally looking for a blue MMD. We got a quote on a 0.73 ct princess at the beginning of the year, but it was too small to fit in my setting. We opted for a natural diamond for my e-ring, but I''m still keeping an eye out for a blue MMD for a RHR. I noticed that the same princess cut stone has increased in price significantly (~$1800). I was wondering if that is due to high demand.

I''m also wondering if any of you have customer feedback on your websites?

Thank you so much for your time! It is greatly appreciated! Amazing thing you guys are doing.

 

[EEFranklin]

Date: 7/5/2008 2:56:29 AM
Author:nclrgirl
This is a question for D.Nea diamonds, gemesis, etc. I was wondering if your industry is growning rapidly.

I suppose that depends on what you mean by growing. There are not any new manufacturers (that I am aware of) entering the market. Our facility is always adding new machines, so capacity is certainly growing. The size and quality of the goods is always getting larger/better. The growth is linear though, not exponential.

The reason that I ask is that my fiance and I were originally looking for a blue MMD. We got a quote on a 0.73 ct princess at the beginning of the year, but it was too small to fit in my setting. We opted for a natural diamond for my e-ring, but I''m still keeping an eye out for a blue MMD for a RHR. I noticed that the same princess cut stone has increased in price significantly (~$1800). I was wondering if that is due to high demand.

We did have a price increase earlier this year. It was our first increase in many years and is a combination of increased costs for materials, increased demand and a weaker US dollar (our diamonds are grown and cut in Europe).

For blues, they generally grow in a shape better suited for round shapes. The same rough will cut a larger round than it will a princess, so our latest prices better reflect this as well.

I''m also wondering if any of you have customer feedback on your websites?

Thank you so much for your time! It is greatly appreciated! Amazing thing you guys are doing.

We do receive feedback as we are working with customers, though would always like to hear more:
http://d.neadiamonds.com
You can post here, email me directly at eric [at] d.neadiamonds.com or call toll-free 877.LAB.DIAMOND (877.522.3426). I would love to hear any questions/comments/concerns/criticisms anyone may have.

We don''t like to list testimonials or feedback on the site, if that is what you meant, because there is no verification for visitors that they are legit, though we do have some very nice feedback. If someone posts feedback to a consumer forum, like PS, I feel there is more credibility to it. Do you feel testimonials on a commercial site are beneficial to you as a potential buyer?

 

[nclrgirl]

Eric, Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to my post! With it being a "new" (to me) product, I''m interested in other customers'' feedback to be more of an informed consumer. I''d like to hear from customers about the quality of the product, the customer service, etc. That being said, I completely understand that you would not want to allow open posting of comments on your webpage, with the concern being that some may not be legitimate.

I also had other questions. For instance, can your colored diamonds be heated to the same temperatures as natural diamonds with no impact on the color? Do consumers have trouble finding jewelers to set these stones, because other jewelers are not familiar with them? Who cuts your diamonds? Are they graded for cut (I haven''t seen this on the webpage)?

Again, thank you again for replying so quickly. I''m very glad that you and other MMD companies can now post on pricescope. I''m excited to learn more about your industry and your products!

 

[Clark McEwen]

Date: 7/5/2008 2:56:29 AM
Author:nclrgirl
This is a question for D.Nea diamonds, gemesis, etc. I was wondering if your industry is growning rapidly.


The reason that I ask is that my fiance and I were originally looking for a blue MMD. We got a quote on a 0.73 ct princess at the beginning of the year, but it was too small to fit in my setting. We opted for a natural diamond for my e-ring, but I''m still keeping an eye out for a blue MMD for a RHR. I noticed that the same princess cut stone has increased in price significantly (~$1800). I was wondering if that is due to high demand.


I''m also wondering if any of you have customer feedback on your websites?


Thank you so much for your time! It is greatly appreciated! Amazing thing you guys are doing.

Hi Nclgirl,

I will also take a stab at answering your questions.

From our (Gemesis) prospective the industry is growing very rapidly...we are adding to our capacity at a rate of one new growth chamber every 2 days.

Just as with mined diamonds our distribution model is to sell rough diamonds to companies all over the world, these companies polish the diamonds and set them into jewelry which in turn is sold to retailers internationally...jewelry featuring Gemesis diamonds is currently available at 100''s of retailers throughout the US...this number is also quickly growing.

I can only speak for our diamonds...the color is stable and yes they are graded for cut.

Cheers,
Clark

 

[EEFranklin]

Date: 7/7/2008 12:35:59 PM
Author: nclrgirl

Eric, Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to my post! With it being a ''new'' (to me) product, I''m interested in other customers'' feedback to be more of an informed consumer. I''d like to hear from customers about the quality of the product, the customer service, etc. That being said, I completely understand that you would not want to allow open posting of comments on your webpage, with the concern being that some may not be legitimate.

nclrgirl,

In my opinion, the best way to judge the quality is to see the product yourself (though our pictures can be quite pretty). If you wanted to see the diamonds, I''d be happy to make arrangements for you to see them in-person. They are quite beautiful.

For customer feedback, I could possibly get you in contact with some of our customers, though for their privacy, I won''t post any of their information here and would have to check with them first.

I also had other questions. For instance, can your colored diamonds be heated to the same temperatures as natural diamonds with no impact on the color? Do consumers have trouble finding jewelers to set these stones, because other jewelers are not familiar with them? Who cuts your diamonds? Are they graded for cut (I haven''t seen this on the webpage)?

With all of the yellows, blues and whites, the color is permanent and can be heated and handled just like any other diamond. I have spoken with a few concerned jewelers because they weren''t fully aware of what it is. Once they understand it is a real diamond, they have no trouble at all.

Our diamonds are cut in Antwerp, Belgium and certified currently by EGL, GIA and IGI. The majority listed on D.NEA''s site are EGL, though we will be phasing in more GIA as we get better colors, cuts and weights. Cut is not currently graded, but we will show it as soon as the reports list it. There is more detail about cut over here, specifically Alexei''s post 6/15/2008 1:41:25 PM.

Again, thank you again for replying so quickly. I''m very glad that you and other MMD companies can now post on pricescope. I''m excited to learn more about your industry and your products!

We are happy to find an audience eager to learn about them! Please ask away, and we will all do our best.

 

[nclrgirl]

Clark,

Thank you very much for your time. I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions.

Clark and Eric,

It says wonders about your customer service that men in such high positions as the two of you take the time to answer consumer questions on a public forum like this! I cannot express enough how impressed I am. This good experience will definitely weigh in my decision process for future purchases, and I hope that others on the forum appreciate your responsiveness as well.

And one last thank you to the admins at Pricescope for allowing the consumers to post questions about lab-created diamonds.

 

[EEFranklin]

Date: 7/7/2008 6:15:03 PM
Author: EEFranklin

Cut is not currently graded, but we will show it as soon as the reports list it.

A quick follow-up to myself...though the reports don''t have cut graded listed (EX, VG, etc), the grading reports do have enough information to judge the cut grade: percentages, girdle thickness, culet size, finish, etc.

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 7/7/2008 11:59:59 AM
Author: EEFranklin

Do you feel testimonials on a commercial site are beneficial to you as a potential buyer?

Thought I would answer this to help give you feedback.
As a website designer/programmer, I know for a fact that such testimonials are often made up/fake.
I always assume that such testimonials are made up and if they aren't they certainly are cherry picked.
So no they have no use to me as a potential buyer and if they are to perfect it can turn me off about the company and make me go elsewhere.
Testimonials on a site like PS is worth far far far far far far more.
In my opinion your feelings about them being useless are spot on.

 

[EEFranklin]

Date: 7/8/2008 11:19:52 AM
Author: strmrdr
As a website designer/programmer, I know for a fact that such testimonials are often made up/fake.

I always assume that such testimonials are made up and if they aren''t they certainly are cherry picked.

So no they have no use to me as a potential buyer and if they are to perfect it can turn me off about the company and make me go elsewhere.

Testimonials on a site like PS is worth far far far far far far more.

In my opinion your feelings about them being useless are spot on.

I couldn''t agree more about the testimonials on a company site commonly being fake or cherry picked.

In general, what do you think would be a good way for potential customers, like nclrgirl, to find out about quality of the product, customer service, etc.?

Consumers, what makes you feel comfortable enough to make a high-dollar purchase, especially over the Internet?

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 7/8/2008 2:35:05 PM
Author: EEFranklin


I couldn't agree more about the testimonials on a company site commonly being fake or cherry picked.


In general, what do you think would be a good way for potential customers, like nclrgirl, to find out about quality of the product, customer service, etc.?


Consumers, what makes you feel comfortable enough to make a high-dollar purchase, especially over the Internet?

Here is what I do:
First I research the product, so a ton of information about it on the website that comes up on the search engines is always a good sign.
Then I search for supporting evidence once I found one source of information.

The next step is find/check out vendors:
I search for consumer reviews on forums for the vendors I found and check the BBB.
Once hopefully 2 or 3 good vendors are found then I look at price.

Being a good source of information about a product gives a vendor a huge advantage when it comes to me finding them and buying from them.

 

[EEFranklin]

Strmrdr, thanks for your input.