Ok, went to an independent jewler

[missnikkie]

Alright....so thinking that the Shane Co thing might be too good to be true, and on the advice of people who AREN''T trying to sell me something - we went into an independent jewler. The ring I saw - gorgeous. OMG, gorgeous. Only one problem - something tha tis kind of bothering me.

The center stone was .80c, g, si1 - I saw it under the big microscopey thing and couldn''t see the inclusions, which means a hill of beans to me since I"m not gonna walk around with a microscope on my hand. Anywhoo - it was a half pave cathedrial setting - 1.22 total carots. The sticker price was 6925 - I watched him multiply the number by .70 to give us our "discount" price which is pushing 5000. Right in our budget (which he doesn''t know about).


The setting looks a little like this one
http://www.bluenile.com/product_details.asp?oid=5338&catid=93&filter_id=0&nav1=settings_channel.asp&page=3&col=1&row=5&pos=13&set_shape=

except the side stones were .4 and the center was a round .8 = 1.22 tcw.

So my question is....how do we heckle with this guy and how can we know the TRUE worth of this ring (worth as in market price?) He is not comfortable with purchasing a ring off of the internet - so I''m stuck with going into a place....any ideas?

Nik

 

[Maxine]

Do you have any idea about the cut of the center stone???? If you do a search on this page, you will see g, si1 diamonds of that size, mostly UNDER $3000.......if that setting is about $675....then the price you were quoted is sy least about $1000 higher than on the web....when you do a cut quality search (of well cut diamonds), there is a .81ct F SI1 for around $3500......even that would be just over $4000 with the setting......

 

[lostdog]

Making intelligent comparisons of similar quality is the trick, and that's why building an awareness of cut (particularly) and certs and relative visual performance is the central part of consumer education for buying diamonds (and diamond rings).

It's odd you couldn't see the inclusions under a microscope, since they are graded based on what's visisble at 10x (a standard loupe mag power), while a microscope should be a few more times that. There must be something there and you should know what it is before you buy. Depending on the cert, there may be an inclusion plot to guide you.

I assume you want to haggle with the guy (though heckling might be interesting to watch ), so you'd need to be able to relate the price and quality back to something else. "Internet" is probably not the magic word, they'll raise a cloud of FUD around that. And while a lot of settings look similar, sometimes there are big differecnes in the quality of execution, and a name brand will have a markup.

The starting point is knowing the details from the certificate, and the general cut parameters.

 

[Maxine]

Miss N, i also went to an independent jeweler, but he allowed us to take the stone to be reviewed by an appraiser before we bought it...is that an option for you???? That way you could get a better idea of the cut of the stone, plus an idea about the possible inclusions......and about the value....just an idea....