News segment comparing B&M, online & Costco

[Todd07]

http://www.mondera.com/about/kroner.asp




Nice piece but I think they under rated the importance of cut, mentioning to use it at the tie breaker between similar stones.

 

[reena]

lol, that article is pretty absurd in some spots! i'm going to paste it in if you don't mind ricardo; it's just such an entertaining read. thanks for the link:




DIAMOND RINGS
By Emerald Yeh

Buying a diamond engagement ring is one of the biggest and most intimidating purchases a consumer will ever make. Now imagine adding to the emotional by strain by forking over thousands of dollars to a vendor you've never met, for a diamond you've never seen. Contact4's Emerald Yeh did just that, and survived to tell the story.

Yes, it was a bit of a nerve-racking experience since so much money was on the line. We bought four diamond engagement rings ranging in price from $4,600 to $5,800. Two of them were purchased online. In the end, we were surprised about where we found the best deal.

It may be an emotional symbol, but shopping for a diamond requires a scientific approach. That's why we bought four diamonds for a side-by-side appraisal. Our mission was to see if the rings we bought online at big savings from Ashford and Mondera.com compared favorably with rings purchased at mall jeweler Bailey Banks and Biddle and at Costco.

To even the playing field we bought diamonds as comparable as possible in the 4-C's, carat, color, clarity and cut. We didn't tell Peter Shemonsky, an appraiser for Butterfield and Butterfield, anything about the rings. But it didn't take his trained eye long to figure things out.

"I would grade this as a VS1, which means it is very slightly included," says Shemonsky of one of our diamonds.

Inclusions determine a diamond's clarity. The fewer there are, the clearer and more expensive the diamond. To the naked eye, they are hard, if not impossible, to see. So spending more for clarity isn't always worth it.

"As long as you stay above an SI 2, for clarity you're going to be fine," says Shemonsky.

Diamond A, our Ashford diamond, does fine on clarity but not so well on cut.

"If you look at it very closely the stone is not exactly round, and that is going to affect the way it handles the light," says Shemonsky.

Then there's color.

"Color is really the first and foremost when you are buying a diamond," says Shemonsky. "The reason is, that's what you see first."

Color is what immediately eliminates ring B, our Bailey Banks and Biddle ring, from the competition. Its color was not as clear as the other rings, even though its certificate says so.

"If you held them close enough together you can certainly tell one is just a slight bit yellower than the other," says Shemonsky.

Shemonsky pointed out this ring was certified by the I.G.I. the International Gemological Institute, which jewelers say tends to have less stringent standards than the GIA or Gemological Institute of America, the lab that certified our other diamonds.

"All things considered a gia certificate is probably the best," says Shemonsky.

When rings are identical in carat, clarity and color, the cut can be the tie- breaker, as in the case of our third ring, from Mondera.com. Shemonsky was most pleased with this ring.

"The cut is very good on this I would say it has very good proportions," he says. "This stone just has that extra little edge to it that makes the stone much prettier."

Then it was on to our last diamond from Costco, a rectangular emerald-cut.

"The emerald cut is probably the least brilliant of the two, but it has a different type of optical quality, it looks sort of watery," says Shemonsky. "Some people like that softer, more subtle look."

The Costco diamond got a good review from Shemonsky. It was his second favorite. When we revealed to Peter that his top pick came from Mondera.com and at $4,600 dollars was our cheapest, he was pleasantly surprised.

"It's certainly the better stone," he says. "I mean that's a great deal!"

Lesson learned: Buying a diamond online can save you big bucks, over $1,200 in our case.

Many of the people that support a firm like Mondera are actually diamond wholesalers, that's why there can be substantial savings when purchasing online.

If you want to buy a diamond ring online, here's what we recommend: Check the return policy, take the ring to an appraiser, stick with a GIA certified diamond, and pay by credit card, so if there's a problem, you have a good chance of getting your money back. We were able to return all our diamonds without a hitch, including the ones we bought online. One last note to put it all in perspective: A similar diamond engagement ring at Tiffany's would cost close to $11,000 with tax!


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i think it's pretty funny that they say they bought "four diamonds as comparable as possible in the 4 Cs", and yet one is an RB and another is an EC. lol. and THEN they proceed to dock the EC points because it is less brilliant than the RB. i love it.

 

[Todd07]

I agree it was a poor study. If only they had first spent a few days on PS and learned something about diamonds




However it did give a thumbs up for buying online over B&M! Night and day difference to a WSJ? study some time ago that implied online diamond buying was a risky affair.

 

[reena]

true!

i guess we should be happy they didn't get it all wrong




love the new avatar!

 

[Todd07]

Thought the new avitar was appropriate, for awhile. I feel bad about giving the 20c woman a hard time.

 

[reena]

lol!