Need Help with a Loose Diamond (Cushion)

[shoegirl]

Hi All!

I wanted to make sure I was not getting ripped off at a local jewelry store for a loose diamond that was shown to us.

Specs are:
GIA Certified
-Cushion Cut Modified Brilliant
-1.66 carat, D color SI1
-7.11 x 6.77 x 4.42
-Florescence: None
-Polish/Symmetry: Very Good/Good
-PRICE: $16,766 ($10,100/CT)

Now the diamond that was shown to us was very beautiful, the inclusions are on the border and you can barely see it. Also, this diamond does not have the "crushed ice" look and has many facets and is so awesome. The question I have is I searched on Blue Nile/ James allen this morning and found that similar diamonds in carat weight and color/clarity run about $3,000-$4,000 cheaper. I know online retailers can drop the price more but for that much? Is it possible the jewelry store raised the price of this diamond that was shown to us? Is it because possibly the ones on Blue Nile have crushed ice look (no pics avail but specs are very similar)? What could be the reason why the one shown to us to be $4,000 more in price ($16,766)?

I need some help as I'm not fully trained on diamonds and prices so any advice and help will be greatly appreciated! Thank you!!

 

[baj]

I was recently in a similar situation. The price to me for a GIA D color and SI1 clarity seems maybe slightly high (not by much), but you cannot compare to all stones online. As many of the experts will say, you really must see the stone in person first. I totally agree with that after looking at 25-30 stones in the last 4 months. The next best thing is a HD video of the stones as on Jamesallen.com. Jamesallen prices will be slightly higher than bluenile, but you know what you are getting better IMO.

I am VERY anal about most things (as you can see in my halo setting post) and I knew I wanted an antique or antique style cushion with larger chunkier facets to AVOID the crushed ice appearance for my future bride. 95% of the stones I looked at in person had some variation of crushed ice. I finally found a cushion shaped stone, but was not classified a cushion as it was an Old Mine Brilliant on paper. I originally saw the video on jamesallens website and fell in love with the features of it. I found that the larger chunkier facet structure really gets rid of the crushed ice effect. Look on james allen and compare several stones videos and you will see what I mean (that is if you can find another OM cut listed under the cushion cuts.) Good Old Gold has several videos that helped me figure out that I wanted an antique style cushion to rid the crushed ice effect. Now don't get me wrong there are several cushions out there that are not antique style so to speak and will not have any crushed ice effect. I just could not find one of those, and once I fell in love with the chunkier facets of an antique style cut I wanted nothing else.

The price on jamesallen was about $2000 more than the stones I was looking at in person at the store and about $3000 more than most of the same characteristics on bluenile and the other websites. Personally, I would not even consider a stone without seeing it in person or at the very least an HD video or several HD pics at different angles.

If you love the stone at the store, try to talk them down a bit and buy it! It is purely a personal preference, but if you order stones site unseen I can almost assure you that many will be full of crushed ice. Good luck and I hope you find the perfect one as I did.

 

[treasurehunter]

Do you have a copy of the cert or a photo please. ??

 

[shoegirl]

Do you have a copy of the cert or a photo please. ??

i didn't think to take a pic of the paper that the stone was wrapped in but wrote all the info down on my phone. what info were you looking for? also, i didn't see the actual GIA certification i totally forgot to ask!

 

[shoegirl]

I was recently in a similar situation. The price to me for a GIA D color and SI1 clarity seems maybe slightly high (not by much), but you cannot compare to all stones online. As many of the experts will say, you really must see the stone in person first. I totally agree with that after looking at 25-30 stones in the last 4 months. The next best thing is a HD video of the stones as on Jamesallen.com. Jamesallen prices will be slightly higher than bluenile, but you know what you are getting better IMO.

I am VERY anal about most things (as you can see in my halo setting post) and I knew I wanted an antique or antique style cushion with larger chunkier facets to AVOID the crushed ice appearance for my future bride. 95% of the stones I looked at in person had some variation of crushed ice. I finally found a cushion shaped stone, but was not classified a cushion as it was an Old Mine Brilliant on paper. I originally saw the video on jamesallens website and fell in love with the features of it. I found that the larger chunkier facet structure really gets rid of the crushed ice effect. Look on james allen and compare several stones videos and you will see what I mean (that is if you can find another OM cut listed under the cushion cuts.) Good Old Gold has several videos that helped me figure out that I wanted an antique style cushion to rid the crushed ice effect. Now don't get me wrong there are several cushions out there that are not antique style so to speak and will not have any crushed ice effect. I just could not find one of those, and once I fell in love with the chunkier facets of an antique style cut I wanted nothing else.

The price on jamesallen was about $2000 more than the stones I was looking at in person at the store and about $3000 more than most of the same characteristics on bluenile and the other websites. Personally, I would not even consider a stone without seeing it in person or at the very least an HD video or several HD pics at different angles.

If you love the stone at the store, try to talk them down a bit and buy it! It is purely a personal preference, but if you order stones site unseen I can almost assure you that many will be full of crushed ice. Good luck and I hope you find the perfect one as I did.

thank you for your reply! I do agree that you just never know until you see it in person but didn't realize if it was that much of a price difference! do the cutters price the stones less if it looks like "crushed ice" ?

 

[treasurehunter]

The cert number would be nice, some cushions are cut for weight so are cheaper , the facet patterning on the cert or photo of the stone would give us an idea if its a cushion cut for weight or not.
Virtual stones are often cheaper online as they do not carry the diamond on premise and don't carry the risk and capital investment tied up in having a diamond on premise

 

[Gypsy]

The lab report picture would be helpful for the faceting plot.

but other than that there's not much that we can help you with.

Why? Because well cut stones cost more than poorly cut ones. Two 1.5 carat G VS2 cushions could have very different prices.

https://www.pricescope.com/diamond-search-results will help you do a search on your diamonds stats to see what the prices offered for similar specs are going for. But that's about all we can tell you from what you have here.

Anytime more is useless speculation.

 

[shoegirl]

The lab report picture would be helpful for the faceting plot.

but other than that there's not much that we can help you with.

Why? Because well cut stones cost more than poorly cut ones. Two 1.5 carat G VS2 cushions could have very different prices.

https://www.pricescope.com/diamond-search-results will help you do a search on your diamonds stats to see what the prices offered for similar specs are going for. But that's about all we can tell you from what you have here.

Anytime more is useless speculation.

Thank you for your reply! I was actually looking at my pics and happened to catch a photo of the paper sleeve of where the diamond was kept! If you zoom the paper w info is on the top left of the pic. Also the ring on the RIGHT is the diamond dropped into a setting to see how sizing looks. Pic on the left is just a random set ring. Second pic is the pic of the diamond dropped into a setting as a sample of sizing again. Thanks for any feedback!

 

[shoegirl]

Anyone?

 

[Gypsy]

Not what I had in mind. I meant a picture like this:

 

[shoegirl]

Not what I had in mind. I meant a picture like this:

Oh ok. I wouldn't have the slightest clue on where to find the lab report pic on the internet. Thanks anyways

 

[Gypsy]

You get it from your vendor.

Ask them for a high resolution picture of the lab report. They should be able to get you one. Tell them you want the faceting plot.

Also they should be able to provide you with a high resolution picture of the stone as well.

Most jewelers have these abilities.