Please advise on WF diamonds vs. BN diamond

[Gussie]

Hi y'all.

I've shared my dilemma about the setting and come to terms with it. Now I am worried about my diamond choice. Neurotic here! I want to know what y'all think about taking the stone from blue nile to WF next week and comparing it to super ideal cut diamonds. To get a similar carat wt it will end up being about $5K more or I could go down to 2.26 and it will only be about $2500 more. Remember this includes taking a sales tax hit which irks me to no end! But I am not comfortable with skirting around it by shipping to another state either. I am not sure I would trust a vendor that offers this. The sales tax could be a deduction on fed income tax though (not much but anything helps!). Also I don't know if the BN diamond is returnable - the setting definitely is not.

Do you think an untrained eye will be able to see $2500-$5000 difference in the following diamonds? I know my husband won't be able to so that is a whole other story. I also don't want to waste the people at WF's time but if I just can't live without an ACA they would make a sale. What do you think? I appreciate all y'alls help and know you must think I am crazy.

2.261 https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3817254.htm
2.396ct https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3817251.htm
2.5 Blue Nile Round Brilliant ($22K)

Measurements
8.61 - 8.66 x 5.40 mm
Carat Weight
2.50 carat
Color Grade
I
Clarity Grade
VVS2
Cut Grade
Excellent
proportions

Depth
62.6 %
Table
56 %
Crown Angle
36.0°
Crown Height
16.0%
Pavilion Angle
40.6°
Pavilion Depth
42.5%
Star Length
50%
Lower Half
80%
Girdle
Medium to Slightly Thick, Faceted, 3.5%
Culet
None

 

[WinkHPD]

As a vendor I cannot speak about the diamonds involved, but you mention not liking to take a sales tax hit if you buy in state.

By law, you are required in most states to report your out of state purchases on your state income tax and then pay the use tax on those items. In theory then, whether or not you purchase in or out of state makes no difference to the final price. In practice, at least in Idaho, fewer than 2% of out of state purchasers actually report those purchase.

The Idaho State Sales Tax overlord is one of my neighbors and at a neighborhood block party he asked me how I handled my out of state purchases for High Performance Diamonds. (I buy a lot of things such as office supplies and printer Ink on Amazon and other such places.) I told him that we report them on our sales and use tax monthly reports and pay the use tax on them. He said that fewer than 2% of people do this and that when they audit businesses and find that they have not paid the use tax it gets VERY expensive with penalties and interest.

Back in the late seventies or early eighties, Tiffany was nailed by the New York Sales Tax people for mailing empty boxes to clients who lived out of state after letting them walk out of the store wearing the items. The sales tax people then went back several years and made the assumption that EVERY package shipped out of state by Tiffany was empty and charged them the tax, the penalty and the interest on every box shipped. Total was somewhere around $75,000,000.00.

I think that a business that is willing to try to cheat the government is probably willing to try to cheat their clients too.

Fortunately, you have chosen a company that will play by the rules and I think looking at stones side by side will give you the chance to see the stones with YOUR eyes and then YOU will know what YOUR eyes think.

Wink

 

[Gussie]

Thank you for your reply but Texas is awesome enough that there is no state income tax. Woohoo for the Great State of Texas!

I definitely agree though that if I buy in state I have to pay the sales tax. I wouldn't trust a vendor if they tried to skirt that!

 

[LLJsmom]

Reality check. Your eyes are "untrained" now but after staring at your BN stone for a year or two it will become trained whether you like it or not. That is my guess. I started with a BN 3x with great specs and I after wearing it long enough and seeomg some precision cuts, I could not "unsee" the leakage on my stone. I wish I had forked out for a precision cut to start with, with WF in particular cause of their awesome upgrade program. I know everyone is different. Maybe you will never notice or care. I'm just telling you the experience of someone who did. Good luck!!

 

[tyty333]

I can assure you that WF will not mind showing you stones and will not consider it a waste of time. I think you will always have that thought in
the back of your head wondering about how yours measures up to an ACA. Take it and go check it out now while you can still return it. Call and
make an appointment so they know you are coming. If you seriously dont see any major difference worth paying more than no harm, no foul. WF
will be ok with it. They are professional and very friendly.

 

[Gussie]

I think yall are right. I made an appointment to see the wf diamonds. I told my husband and he seemed ok with it even though the stones are more expensive.

https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3817251.htm
https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3701014.htm
https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3817254.htm

The 2.617 is probably a no go but my husband does seem to be in a good mood so we'll see.

 

[Gussie]

Update! I went to WF today and compared my diamond to several ACA diamonds. The lady at WF was so helpful and sweet and looked at my stone and certificate and answered all of my questions. I decided to stick with the blue nile stone because I really couldn't see a difference. I am so giddy over my new ring!!! And I am grateful for all your help here on pricescope! I just posted a few pics on smtb. Thanks again to all!