My new diamond: whatcha think?
- Thread starter strmrdr
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Mara
Super_Ideal_Rock
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WF used to sell their melee stones loose, I wonder what changed?
Appreciative of Expertise bought about 7 from WF less than 6 months ago and when I was looking into my wedding ring, I checked into both options of just getting the melee stones (.02c's) WF and having it done locally or having WF do the entire piece.
Appreciative of Expertise bought about 7 from WF less than 6 months ago and when I was looking into my wedding ring, I checked into both options of just getting the melee stones (.02c's) WF and having it done locally or having WF do the entire piece.
strmrdr
Super_Ideal_Rock
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Whiteflash's default policy as far as I know is to not sell them lose they have made some exceptions but im not comfortable asking for exections from the PS vendors then recomending their diamonds.
To me that is a conflict of interest and would make me feel like im being bought.
I also paid a lot less than what whiteflash has stated there price is on them in the past on comparable goods.
I didnt check with them on exact current pricing on the .15 from whiteflash but the .03 and .05 aca's are %20-%50 more than what some others are charging for top end h&a pattern ideal cut melee.
To me that is a conflict of interest and would make me feel like im being bought.
I also paid a lot less than what whiteflash has stated there price is on them in the past on comparable goods.
I didnt check with them on exact current pricing on the .15 from whiteflash but the .03 and .05 aca's are %20-%50 more than what some others are charging for top end h&a pattern ideal cut melee.
noobie
Brilliant_Rock
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Yes strmrdr, WF does not sell them loose.In fact I didn’t get a response when I asked for loose, only when I asked about having them made into a ring (the last Jubilee ring I made)
WRT pricing at WF, I agree with your view of both pricing levels for melee and differential pricing treatment for other things.I asked for some custom work that others had posted and never let them know I was a PS regular.My quote came back 2.2 to 3.5 times what they had quoted others!
Had they been around the same level, the business was theirs.Out of courtesy to them I kept quiet, buy you know what, why the double standard for WF?People should know about all experiences.Anyways, Debi Wexler from WF came on here last month touting customer service and asked for feedback.
I sent a polite balanced e-mail to her and never even received the courtesy of an acknowledgement.Which leads me to another point, which is off topic, but are PS vendors given a double standard when they fall short of expectations?
Back on topic, loose full cut ideal melee is easily obtained from GOG and DCD in any size and quantity in addition to Wink.Gary Dutton is very prompt and helpful but doesn’t generally have small quantities in various sizes.I was looking for 0.05 to 0.025s in 18 stones, which both DCD and GOG could supply.
Nice ring.... and huge fingers!
aljdewey
Ideal_Rock
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- Nov 25, 2002
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On 8/16, noobie wrote: WRT pricing at WF, I agree with your view of both pricing levels for melee and differential pricing treatment for other things. I asked for some custom work that others had posted and never let them know I was a PS regular. My quote came back 2.2 to 3.5 times what they had quoted others! Had they been around the same level, the business was theirs.
Out of courtesy to them I kept quiet, but you know what, why the double standard for WF? People should know about all experiences. Anyways, Debi Wexler from WF came on here last month touting customer service and asked for feedback. I sent a polite balanced e-mail to her and never even received the courtesy of an acknowledgement. Which leads me to another point, which is off topic, but are PS vendors given a double standard when they fall short of expectations?
A few comments to add to these thoughts.
1. I fully agree with you, Noob, that people should know all experiences. I think it's fair to post one's experiences about any vendor, and that means sharing favorable experiences as well as disappointing ones. Vendors aren't perfect, nor should we expect them to be....but we all learn from what cost us opportunities.
I've worked with several of the vendors here, and communication does vary depending on when you catch them and on how full their plate is. I took exception to what I felt was lack of responsive communication with one of those vendors in a frank, non-inflammatory discussion. Problem solved. It's much easier for vendors to meet your expectations when you outline what they are.
2. The diamond business, I figure, isn't much different from others. Those folks who are vocal get noticed. This is a fact of life. In a perfect world, everyone would get treated equally regardless of their chosen method of communication. But it's not a perfect world, and the truth is that the best way of communicating with most of these folks is still the good, old-fashioned telephone.
Yes, I know these folks all operate over the internet, but it's easier to separate the tire-kickers from the real shoppers on the phone than it is on email. There's also less "spam" on the phone to pore through than there is email. (Imagine if you had to listen to 29 voice messages on your home answering machine before you could get to the 30th message---a call from your sister, maybe.) If you choose use email alone, you may not get the kind of response time you want. It's not that difficult to use the phone, and I know---I physically phoned every single vendor when we were shopping for my e-ring last year. It was faster to tell them what I wanted than to draft an email, to be honest.
3. I'll say it again....the diamond business isn't much different than others. I've seen local jewelers give their regular customers breaks on pricing that Joe off the street doesn't get. I've seen them give free repair work that non-customers pay for. Vegas hotels give comps to their high-rollers. Airlines give frequent flyer miles to those they KNOW fly with them often. It's not outlandish to me that any vendor here might work the numbers harder for a PS customer or a repeat customer.
4. I can't fairly comment on the perceived price discrepancy between what you were quoted for custom work and what others may have been because there are a whole host of variables. The price of a custom job depends on the metals used, the amount of metals used, the stones, etc, etc. etc. Unless it's an apples-to-apples comparison, it's not really meaningful.
The timeline on when those people got their rings made may also have a GREAT deal to do with price differential. Before choosing WF to make my setting, I spoke to a custom designer last November and got a price quote for my ring....by the time I finalized my choice in March, his price was 25% more for the same ring with NO sides. The price of the metals had gone up, especially the platinum.
I also spoke to another designer who made a custom piece for another woman here. Her price was nearly half what mine was....but her ring was made 14 months prior to mine, and it didn't involve as much metal weight as mine did.
After I posted pics of my custom ring from WF, a few folks asked me what it cost. I didn't divulge cost information for two reasons: one, because that's a personal question to me...I don't give details like that even to my family. And two, because I don't want to mislead someone....either too high or too low....when their project may actually vary greatly from mine. Not all custom jobs are the same.
Anyway, just a few random thoughts.
Out of courtesy to them I kept quiet, but you know what, why the double standard for WF? People should know about all experiences. Anyways, Debi Wexler from WF came on here last month touting customer service and asked for feedback. I sent a polite balanced e-mail to her and never even received the courtesy of an acknowledgement. Which leads me to another point, which is off topic, but are PS vendors given a double standard when they fall short of expectations?
A few comments to add to these thoughts.
1. I fully agree with you, Noob, that people should know all experiences. I think it's fair to post one's experiences about any vendor, and that means sharing favorable experiences as well as disappointing ones. Vendors aren't perfect, nor should we expect them to be....but we all learn from what cost us opportunities.
I've worked with several of the vendors here, and communication does vary depending on when you catch them and on how full their plate is. I took exception to what I felt was lack of responsive communication with one of those vendors in a frank, non-inflammatory discussion. Problem solved. It's much easier for vendors to meet your expectations when you outline what they are.
2. The diamond business, I figure, isn't much different from others. Those folks who are vocal get noticed. This is a fact of life. In a perfect world, everyone would get treated equally regardless of their chosen method of communication. But it's not a perfect world, and the truth is that the best way of communicating with most of these folks is still the good, old-fashioned telephone.
Yes, I know these folks all operate over the internet, but it's easier to separate the tire-kickers from the real shoppers on the phone than it is on email. There's also less "spam" on the phone to pore through than there is email. (Imagine if you had to listen to 29 voice messages on your home answering machine before you could get to the 30th message---a call from your sister, maybe.) If you choose use email alone, you may not get the kind of response time you want. It's not that difficult to use the phone, and I know---I physically phoned every single vendor when we were shopping for my e-ring last year. It was faster to tell them what I wanted than to draft an email, to be honest.
3. I'll say it again....the diamond business isn't much different than others. I've seen local jewelers give their regular customers breaks on pricing that Joe off the street doesn't get. I've seen them give free repair work that non-customers pay for. Vegas hotels give comps to their high-rollers. Airlines give frequent flyer miles to those they KNOW fly with them often. It's not outlandish to me that any vendor here might work the numbers harder for a PS customer or a repeat customer.
4. I can't fairly comment on the perceived price discrepancy between what you were quoted for custom work and what others may have been because there are a whole host of variables. The price of a custom job depends on the metals used, the amount of metals used, the stones, etc, etc. etc. Unless it's an apples-to-apples comparison, it's not really meaningful.
The timeline on when those people got their rings made may also have a GREAT deal to do with price differential. Before choosing WF to make my setting, I spoke to a custom designer last November and got a price quote for my ring....by the time I finalized my choice in March, his price was 25% more for the same ring with NO sides. The price of the metals had gone up, especially the platinum.
I also spoke to another designer who made a custom piece for another woman here. Her price was nearly half what mine was....but her ring was made 14 months prior to mine, and it didn't involve as much metal weight as mine did.
After I posted pics of my custom ring from WF, a few folks asked me what it cost. I didn't divulge cost information for two reasons: one, because that's a personal question to me...I don't give details like that even to my family. And two, because I don't want to mislead someone....either too high or too low....when their project may actually vary greatly from mine. Not all custom jobs are the same.
Anyway, just a few random thoughts.
Mara
Super_Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2002
- Messages
- 31,003
I'm still curious to know why WF changed their policy (if they did) on selling melee standalone?
Noobie..did the lack of response on your initial question to them re: standalone melee lead you to assume that they don't sell it by itself? Maybe that is not case and they just didn't answer the email for another reason. I know sometimes WF is not the best with email responses, it happens to me too.
Can someone clarify, Strm did they tell you point blank that they don't sell it loose any longer??
Noobie..did the lack of response on your initial question to them re: standalone melee lead you to assume that they don't sell it by itself? Maybe that is not case and they just didn't answer the email for another reason. I know sometimes WF is not the best with email responses, it happens to me too.
Can someone clarify, Strm did they tell you point blank that they don't sell it loose any longer??
strmrdr
Super_Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2003
- Messages
- 23,295
mara:
Zachscott:
Our ACA melee is not sold loose - the diamonds are specifically cut to be used in our rings. If we can help you in this direction we would love to hear from you.
LesleyH
www.whiteflash.com
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/can-you-buy-the-melee-diamonds-loose.16256/
Zachscott:
Our ACA melee is not sold loose - the diamonds are specifically cut to be used in our rings. If we can help you in this direction we would love to hear from you.
LesleyH
www.whiteflash.com
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/can-you-buy-the-melee-diamonds-loose.16256/
strmrdr
Super_Ideal_Rock
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I started another thread to address the double standard issue:
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/is-there-a-double-standard-for-ps-vendors-vs-others.18347/
Id rather my ring thread didnt get bogged down by it :}
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/is-there-a-double-standard-for-ps-vendors-vs-others.18347/
Id rather my ring thread didnt get bogged down by it :}
strmrdr
Super_Ideal_Rock
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- Nov 1, 2003
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Having viewed the diamond mounted under a million different light conditions Iv noticed a few things.
Due to the small size of the diamond the arrow bases tend to blend in as a dark ring (blue arrows) with the center bright (white arrow).
Looks a lot like a ring of death but as seen by the ideal scope image thats not the case.
Its just the small size of the diamond.
Under the same conditions you can make out the arrows without magnification so its a trade off.
It wasnt that noticable with the stone unmounted.
But the great news is that is more sparky than a lot of diamonds that are a lot bigger.
It throws off a ton of small flashes under normal lighting and a lot of larger flashes under bright sunlight.
I was comparing it with a friends 1/4ct and it is way brighter and throws off more fire.
Im not complaining its awesome but wanted to post this as a fyi so if someone else gets one simular they wont be disappointed and know what to expect.
I have a feeling its going to be the same with just about any of these real small h&a melee there just isnt a lot of room for the arrows and they blend together because of the small size.
Due to the small size of the diamond the arrow bases tend to blend in as a dark ring (blue arrows) with the center bright (white arrow).
Looks a lot like a ring of death but as seen by the ideal scope image thats not the case.
Its just the small size of the diamond.
Under the same conditions you can make out the arrows without magnification so its a trade off.
It wasnt that noticable with the stone unmounted.
But the great news is that is more sparky than a lot of diamonds that are a lot bigger.
It throws off a ton of small flashes under normal lighting and a lot of larger flashes under bright sunlight.
I was comparing it with a friends 1/4ct and it is way brighter and throws off more fire.
Im not complaining its awesome but wanted to post this as a fyi so if someone else gets one simular they wont be disappointed and know what to expect.
I have a feeling its going to be the same with just about any of these real small h&a melee there just isnt a lot of room for the arrows and they blend together because of the small size.
glitterata
Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2002
- Messages
- 4,289
That is a beautiful ring, Storm. So clean and pure.
The little diamond in my PS pendant has beautiful little arrows. I have no idea how big it is, but it sure is pretty under the ideal-scope. Have other people looked at their PS pins or pendants under the ideal-scope? Leonid did a great job with them. It's amazing to me that a diamond that small can have such perfect little arrows.
It would be interesting to know the specs on the PS pendant/pin diamonds, come to think of it.
(Sorry if I'm going too far off track, Storm.)
The little diamond in my PS pendant has beautiful little arrows. I have no idea how big it is, but it sure is pretty under the ideal-scope. Have other people looked at their PS pins or pendants under the ideal-scope? Leonid did a great job with them. It's amazing to me that a diamond that small can have such perfect little arrows.
It would be interesting to know the specs on the PS pendant/pin diamonds, come to think of it.
(Sorry if I'm going too far off track, Storm.)
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