Need advice buying diamond with a trade-in

[stat_freak]

First off, long time listener, first-time caller. I absolutely love, love, love this site and the limitless resources. I only wish I knew about it for my first engagement ring.

Which brings me to my issue. I will be proposing to my gf during the Christmas break. However, I have an e-ring from my first marriage. The original jeweler has offered 100% of the stone value (w/o tax unfortunately). I have very much enjoyed working with this jeweler but am afraid I am limiting my options by only going with them since they are willing to trade-in my diamond. Do I have other options in terms of trade-ins? What other experiences have other people had?

In terms of the diamond, I am looking for a perfectly cut (Halloway index <2), F/VS2 round brilliant in as large a ct size I can get. My budget is $25k - $8k (trade-in value) = ~$17. I''m willing to go $2-$3k more for the perfect stone.

ANY help would be much appreciated. And, yes, I know I have very little time.

Thank you.

 

[neatfreak]

Can your local jeweler provide what you want? To make it easiest I would ask them to pull in some AGS0 stones. If they can't do that you might want to explore other options. It also depends on how much markup they have on the diamond. I.e., if you can get the same thing from an online vendor for $5k less your "trade value" is really only $3k.

Just FYI you can also pretty safely drop to an eyeclean SI1 and a few color grades if you really want to maximize size.

James Allen and Good Old Gold I believe sometimes take trade ins, but the stones have to meet their standards.

 

[marcy]

I agree with Neatfreak. Good luck.

 

[stat_freak]

neatfreak - thank you for replying so quickly.

Can my local jeweler provide me with what I want? Well, originally yes. We had agreed upon a very beautiful diamond (Holloway index 1.5) F/VS2 1.78ct for $21364. Unfortunately, a couple days later he informed me that their vendor is now holding that diamond for a local customer and I probably should look at other diamonds. My local jeweler showed me another D/VS2 1.75ct diamond for $22050. But upon entering in to the Holloway adviser it was only 4.7. Interestingly enough both diamonds are GIA rated 3 EX.

This is a well-respected jeweler that''s been mentioned a few times on this site and I''ve had great customer service with them up until this point. You can imagine how stressed I''ve become (literally having hard time sleeping) as I assumed I had secured the perfect stone only to be left with something less than ideal with an impending deadline.

Maybe I''m too hung up on stats (hence my username), but everything I''ve read so far is that cut quality is the most important and that I should generally stay away from things >2 index. I''m afraid I will end up with a less than ideal diamond due to the time pressure and the 100% trade-in.

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 11/30/2008 9:58:02 PM
Author: stat_freak
neatfreak - thank you for replying so quickly.


Can my local jeweler provide me with what I want? Well, originally yes. We had agreed upon a very beautiful diamond (Holloway index 1.5) F/VS2 1.78ct for $21364. Unfortunately, a couple days later he informed me that their vendor is now holding that diamond for a local customer and I probably should look at other diamonds. My local jeweler showed me another D/VS2 1.75ct diamond for $22050. But upon entering in to the Holloway adviser it was only 4.7. Interestingly enough both diamonds are GIA rated 3 EX.


This is a well-respected jeweler that''s been mentioned a few times on this site and I''ve had great customer service with them up until this point. You can imagine how stressed I''ve become (literally having hard time sleeping) as I assumed I had secured the perfect stone only to be left with something less than ideal with an impending deadline.


Maybe I''m too hung up on stats (hence my username), but everything I''ve read so far is that cut quality is the most important and that I should generally stay away from things >2 index. I''m afraid I will end up with a less than ideal diamond due to the time pressure and the 100% trade-in.

Don''t compromise. Your jeweler is not great if they can''t pull in more than 1 stone for you. At the same time though, you might need to be a bit more flexible on the clarity and color combo if you want more options fast.

GIA Ex stones aren''t always that great, so I am not surprised that one scored a 4.7...I have seen it many times.

 

[stat_freak]

I''ve looked on Good Old Gold and James Allen and saw a couple of nice stones. Not many options though even if I go down to H/S2. I''ll have to call them to get an idea of their trade-in policy.

Can someone make suggestions of other jewelers in my area? I''m in the SF Bay.

Thanks.

 

[risingsun]

Date: 11/30/2008 11:20:41 PM
Author: stat_freak
I''ve looked on Good Old Gold and James Allen and saw a couple of nice stones. Not many options though even if I go down to H/S2. I''ll have to call them to get an idea of their trade-in policy.

Can someone make suggestions of other jewelers in my area? I''m in the SF Bay.

Thanks.

Why not ask your jeweler to call in some AGS0 diamonds for you. This way you will be looking at ideal cut/performing stones. I do think you will need to be somewhat flexible on carat size.

 

[:)]

I think you have a great jeweler willing to take full trade in minus tax - you aren''t going to get a better deal elsewhere with a trade in to someone else. How about entering your requested stats into the search engine on PS, finding some virtual AGS0 stones, taking those in to the jeweler, and asking him to call in those?

 

[:)]

(to clarify, go to the cut search, limit to AGS0 stones/AGS reports, 1 carat to 10 carats, limit budget to say 30K, D-F and IF to VS2, search 'all diamond listings' and see what comes up - there are some nice ones there!)