Need help from Professionals (you guys/gals)

[ringshopper111]

Hey all,

I'm a long time lerker and finally came aboard. Now before you start to bite your lips and get upset...I've searched and read all the threads on this topic but still have a few questions.


I'm in search of buying a ring from Shance Co. I've read on here that some people are not content with the service however I was amazed. The service was great and so was the ring selection. They showed me the flaws in different rings, taken me outside to look at the ring and spent hours working with me. They're return policy and service policy is the best I've ever come accross. They took time to teach me every single aspect to diamonds and I was welcomed as opposed to rejected...not to mention...I'm a black male...I usually get kicked out of stores

.


However:

I've read different people on here post about them NOT being certif...is that true??? I read on their website that "Every diamond we sell is graded according to exacting GIA (Gemological Institute of America) standards."


Also, I would like to know if I'm being ripped off for a center stone. I don't want to buy from an online vendor, I would much rather see the stone in person. I've read about people saying it's EXTREMELY OVERPRICED.

Here's an idea as to what I'm looking for:

I'm going for a:

Cut - Princess Cut
Color - H-G
Clarity - SI1
Carat Weight - 0.50-0.65 (probably a 0.58-0.60)





I went online and picked one out that seems ideal, here are the specs:


Princess Cut Diamond
Carat Weight 0.58
Color: G
Clarity: SI1
Price: $1,240.00

^^^Average Price for same stone is around $1,380.00 online on Shane Co...I picked the cheaper one.

http://www.shaneco.com/catalog/my_setting.asp?ProductID=25008&fromPage=&size=6&BID=2934344&ssid=465571&Loc=



Is there anything I should know? Any stories or thoughts on the price of the diamond? Is Shane Co. a good choice or do they rob the blind?


Thanks for even reading my post!!!

 

[Skippy123]

Hi there. The diamond you posted does not have cert info. In order to find out if it is a nice diamond or not we need cert info. Cut is so important and can either make a diamond look fantastic or not depending on the cut. Can you find the info and post it here? There are so great reputable vendors here; I would search Shane and Co and see what reviews others gave. If you want to give us a budget we can help you look

 

[dockman3]

Hi there, and welcome to Pricescope!

I don''t know too much about Princess cuts, but from what I do know, those prices seem to be in the general ballpark of what I''ve seen. You do need to make sure that your diamond comes with a GIA report and ask to see it before you buy, just to make sure its all in order. Remember that cut is king, and if the princess is not well cut, it won''t sparkle, no matter how white and clear it is. Good luck, and keep us posted!

 

[Lorelei]

Welcome to Pricescope ringshopper!

Princess really need to be seen to be properly judged, so if you prefer to buy from a jeweller, then take your time and look at as many Princess as you can, to get a feel for how the well cut ones look and perform. Also see if you can find a jeweller who can show you some AGS0 cut grade Princess, this could help you to find a well cut diamond more easily. I don''t know much about Shenoa, but you can use the search tool to read about others experiences with them. Your specs are fine, maybe look at some H colour diamonds also to broaden the options.

 

[ringshopper111]

Thanks all. I may have forgot to say, all the diamonds at Shane Co. are "well cut"...or atleast they what I''ve been told on serveral visits.

The diamonds they usually show me are great and the "feather" or "flaw" is usually unnoticable in a SI1-SI2. It''s the I''s that you can truly see from eyelevel. I''m not walking around with a 10x Scope to see everyone''s diamond...and I doubt anyone would do the same.

Skippy...thanks for offering to look and help me out, but I wanted to buy a diamond in person rather than online.


I take it no one has anything to say about Shane Co??? I had never heard of them until the last two months. They seem a lot more professional than Zales and Kay...

 

[Allison D.]

Date: 7/28/2008 11:32:24 AM
Author:ringshopper111

I've read different people on here post about them NOT being certif...is that true??? I read on their website that 'Every diamond we sell is graded according to exacting GIA (Gemological Institute of America) standards.'

You may want to clarify this point with them.

Graded according to GIA standards isn't the same as 'has a GIA grading report' or 'graded by GIA'.

When they say 'graded according to GIA standards', the question you need answered is 'who is doing the grading?'. I suspect from that language that it may be an inhouse grader, which isn't the same thing as an independent grading report.

 

[ringshopper111]

Allison...

I just called and spoke to a gentleman and asked him if all the diamonds they sell are certified. He said not all, but most. So I asked why is that, he then explained that grading is subjective and varies between person to person and not all of their diamonds are graded. I asked him, then why even grade some? His responce was: well people like to sometimes have a gaurentee when they buy a diamond...some don''t. He then explained that if a diamond isn''t certified they class it as a SI1 or I2 based on the people they buy it from.

Seems fishy and I didn''t really like that answer. In other words there isn''t a reason why they don''t grade all their diamonds. And if it''s not graded, they get the specs from the people who they buy the diamond from...which means NOTHING...cause it''s up to that person to grade it...

Thanks for your info, it really helped. I''ll have to take a ride out to Shane Co sometime in Oct/Sept to speak to them and take a look at their graded diamonds.


Anyone else have any info on any of this stuff...it would really help!!!

 

[cara]

So I recently convinced a male friend of mine to do the following... Buy the ring from a local chain store (I think it was Shane Co), but buy the center stone online. He was similarly skeptical of online diamond-buying, as was my husband, whom I wish I had been able to convince to go online. Husband still got a reasonable price on a nice diamond, we just could have saved some $$ or gotten an ideal cut by going online. Many online vendors even have generous return policies so that you can return the stone within 10 or 30 days if it is not to your liking. I am all for giving your business to a good local store, but this way you can get a killer stone at a fair price and still have a business relationship with a local dealer for the setting. For example, this princess will rock! And we can help you find other online options if you are interested in slightly different specs.

As to whether or not it is certified, it is very simple to figure this out. Ask to see the certificate. Hopefully it is a certificate from an independent, well-regarded laboratory such as GIA. If there is no certificate or the certificate is from a Shane Co lab, you are basically trusting the Shane Co. opinion on the grading of the stone, a stone which they own and a trying to sell to you, so presumably they have a financial interest in forming their grading opinion. A rule of thumb is that the grading could easily be off by 1 grade on each color or clarity, and you should promptly take the stone to an independent appraiser for an outside opinion.

As for all their diamonds being "well cut", that is a meaningless phrase in this context. They can call it well cut, it is their opinion and you cannot sue them for misleading you, even if pricescopers would disagree. They may have some well-cut stones, but finding them from the others will be the challenge. Check out the tutorial above under Knowledge. If you want to buy from Shane, best arm yourself with lots of diamond knowledge to be able to choose intelligently.

Last, be sure not to place too much value on the Warrenty or other guarantees. And read the fine print carefully. Many times the lifetime warrenties require you to bring in the ring every 6 mo for an inspection, and if you miss one inspection the warrenty is not valid. And they don''t cover loss of the ring, so many people will want to get separate insurance for the ring anyway to cover loss.

 

[ringshopper111]

I''m going to have to make a trip over there and check out their selection.

One last question...

If I could give up some to get more...what would I want to give up? i.e.: Go from G in color to I in color, but gain 0.07 carat weight...

Which is the least important? and which is the most?



Thanks folks,
Mario J.

 

[dockman3]

My vote goes for clarity as least important, just because I''m more sensitive to color. I''d go (eye clean) SI2 before I''d go lower than G in color. Obviously you never sacrifice cut. My advice to you is to find the biggest ideal cut diamond you can within your limits and budget. As long as all of the 4 c''s are within your limits and the price is within your budget, its a good stone. To get the biggest stone out of that and stay within budget, go with the lowest color and clarity you are comfortable with.

 

[jstarfireb]

Date: 7/28/2008 3:45:41 PM
Author: ringshopper111
I'm going to have to make a trip over there and check out their selection.

One last question...

If I could give up some to get more...what would I want to give up? i.e.: Go from G in color to I in color, but gain 0.07 carat weight...

Which is the least important? and which is the most?



Thanks folks,
Mario J.

Most women will prefer going up in size over color/clarity, provided that it meets their minimum standards. This is particuarly important with a princess cut stone, because they are smaller for carat weight than round stones. My princess is an I color stone, and it looks very white because it's well cut.

I've never been to Shane Co., but what you're saying reminds me of another store: Jared. They have a great selection and service, and they're defintely better than the mall stores like Kay or Zales. But they're still overpriced compared to buying online, when you're talking about stones of similar cut quality (for Jared we're talking about their Peerless diamonds, which are branded superideal cuts). You might be able to get a less expensive stone if you compromise cut quality, but please don't do that! Cut is what makes a diamond sparkle.

When you buy online from a trusted vendor like Whiteflash, Good Old Gold, James Allen, etc., they give you so much info that it's almost like seeing the stone in person. You won't be able to see ASET and IS images at Shane Co., or have a trusted person with good vision tell you if a stone is eye-clean. You'll get the best cut stone for the least markup online, so don't write off buying online!

ETA: Oh, btw, any store will tell you "all our diamonds are well cut." Don't believe that for a second!