Please Help A Newbie! Did I Get A Good Price on My New Diamond Ring????

[2423kids]

Hi all!
I''ve been reading here for quite some time, but just yesterday decided to register so I could post a question and get all you diamond experts'' opinions.
First of all, the reason I was looking for a new diamond wedding ring is because after 10 years of marriage I recently lost or misplaced my diamond ring (1.18 ct. center stone with 1.50 ct. total weight channel set stones).

I have been sooooooooo upset and heartbroken over it that the hubby said to go out and buy a new one for X-mas --- Yippie!!!!!!
I didn''t want to spend a LOT of money, but I really wanted one that would remind me somewhat of my original ring. So ... now that you have the background ... here''s what the appraisal that I got with the ring stated: (This was an "estate" piece.)

From the International Gemological Institute Appraisal Report:

Three 14K yellow gold mountings (rings soldered together) weighing in total approx. 5.4 DWT, containing the following:

(A) One natural diamond, marquise shape brilliant cut, meas. approx. 9.50 x 5.30 x 3.10mm, weight estimated by formula 1.00 carat, depth 58.5%, table 58%, Girdle: Medium to very thick, faceted, Culet: None, Color: Fancy Light Yellowish Brown, Clarity: SI(2)/I(1), Fluorescence: None, Polish/Symmetry: Good/Good.

(B) Twenty natural diamonds, round brilliant cut, meas. approx. 2.60 - 2.80mm. weight estimated at 0.075 carat each, in total 1.50 carats, Color: Near Colorless (H-I), Clarity: I(1)/I(2), Polish/Symmetry: Good/Good.

(C) Thirty six natural diamonds, round brilliant cut, meas. approx. 2.00mm in diameter, weight estimated at 0.03 carat each, in total 1.08 carats, Color: Near Colorless, Clarity: I(1)/I(2), Polish/Symmetry: Good/Good.

The ring was appraised at $4,145.00 and my purchase price was $2,600.00.
I looked at MUCH more expensive diamond rings that were of MUCH better quality, but this ring kept calling my name. I really like the 1.00 ct. fancy light yellow stone because it IS so different looking ... and it looks nice in this ring mounting. I''m going to try and post a link here so everyone can see a picture of the ring. (It''s not the greatest pic because I have a cheapo digital and diamonds are hard to get a good shot of.) Here''s the link: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v629/2423kids/newring2.jpg
Anyway, do you guys think that I got a fair price on the ring? I know almost nothing about the price I should pay for a 1.00 ct. fancy light yellowish brown diamond(??????). I do think that the mounting would be pretty pricey because it is very heavy and it has 2.58 total weight of diamonds. They are full of FIRE and SPARKLE even though they are I(1)/I(2)''s.
I DO have a 30 day money back guarantee, so please let me know what you think! I can always return it, but I REALLY like it very much ... it''s a DAZZLER!
Thanks sooooooooooo much for any help or opinions you all can share with a Newbie!

 

[strmrdr]

Im not an expert on colored diamonds but the price seems reasonable and it looks great so if you love it then it was a great deal.
Enjoy!

 

[Patty]

First of all, I want to say that I really like the ring! It reminds me very much of my wedding ring which is about a 1 carat round stone with 7 pointers on the sides. But mine does not have the wedding bands soldered on.

My question is...The appraisal says the main stone is a marquise. But the picture definitely looks like a round to me. Which is it?

I can''t help you on the price because I don''t know anything about fancy colored stones. It sounds like a decent price for a lot of carat weight, but I really don''t know.

 

[RockDoc]

If you want accurate information - particularly with an IGI cert, have it checked out by an appraiser. Start with the local ones and listen to what they tell you.

Rockdoc

 

[2423kids]

Hi again all!
Thanks so much for your post Patty --- I love the ring too! It reminds me of my lost diamond wedding ring that I loved so much, except it had channel set diamonds set in five vertical rows on each side of my center stone. AND, you are absolutely right, it does look A LOT like your wedding ring!!!!! I like that the bands are soldered on mine, as it makes it look like a solid wide band.
I know the picture is not very good of my ring, but it is a 1.00 ct. marquise stone. My digital camera is a very inexpensive one --- not to mention a raw amateur was taking the pic! (me I was just hoping that the fancy light yellow color would show up --- along with all the SPARKLE! Hey, I''m glad that I was able to figure out how to post the link and it WORKED!!!!!!!
Thanks for all the comments so far. BUT, is there anyone who knows about pricing on a "fancy light yellow brownish" diamond? And, one more thing, someone mentioned taking the ring to another source for appraising --- does this mean that difference values could be given by different sources? In other words, is it possible to have two very different opinions and prices for a ring?
Thanks again for any help!

 

[2423kids]

Good Morning!
I am adding three more picture links of my new diamond ring purchase in hopes that it can be seen a little better than the other photo link I posted. (I''m sorry I can''t get a better picture of it .
I''m hoping to get a few more "expert" opinions from here on the pricing I got for this ring and more information about "fancy light yellowish brown" diamonds. (The full appraisal is at the top of this post.) While I am reallly attracted to the color of this center stone diamond (it looks very different in different light settings - sometimes champagne, sometimes more brown, sometimes more light yellow - and it has GREAT sparkle), I don''t know whether the coloring is a good or bad think considering the price. I think the reason that a whiter diamond was not used as the center stone for this ring is that it would disappear in the sea of white sparkle behind it. Here are the links:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v629/2423kids/newring10.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v629/2423kids/newring12.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v629/2423kids/newring8.jpg

I know the last picture is very blurry, but at least you can tell that the center stone is a marquise. My husband thinks I should take it back and get a larger, whiter center stone, but I''m just don''t know --- I''m still debating. Why do I like this strange light yellow diamond??? Thanks for any opinions, advise, or comments! Still waiting to hear about whether pricing was fair also. Thanks again!

 

[Patty]

Good morning 2423! Yes, I can see now that it is a marquise. I love the ring and think that you probably got a great price on it, but again, I know nothing about colored stones. I do love all the sparkle and the wide width.

As for your original ring, I almost went with channel set stones myself.

Yes, you will get different values for your ring from different appraisers depending upon their method of valuing the ring. Often times the person who sells the ring gives an appraisal value of roughly twice what you paid for the ring. Your best bet is to go to an independent appraiser. That means someone who does not sell jewelry.

My three stone ring appraised value is less than my wedding ring value even though I know the three stone is a much more valuable ring. The reason is that I decided to save myself a couple of hundred bucks by having my local jeweler appraise the wedding ring and we had an independent appraiser do the three stone. The independent appraiser assumed that I would replace that ring, if it were lost, by purchasing off the internet and so she assigned a lower value than you would pay in a retail store. It''s not an exact science.

 

[2423kids]

Me again!
Thanks Patty for all your comments about my new ring! It DOES have great fire and sparkle! I''m like you, I just don''t know very much about the fancy yellowish brown diamonds, and was hoping I would get some help with the fair pricing of such a diamond. I feel like I got a good deal, but then again, I love the ring, so mine is not an unbiased opinion .
Sooooooooooooo ... I was assuming that the appraisal report done by International Gemological Information WAS an independent appraisal. The lady at the store which I purchased my ring from (they deal in mostly all estate pieces) said that they sent the ring to IGI for an appraisal. The amount given on the appraisal of $4,145.00 was "Total Estimated Retail Replacement Value". I was assuming that since I purchased the ring for $2,600.00 I got a pretty good deal. If the ring is sent out for appraisal and not done "in-house" wouldn''t that be considered an independent appraisal?
Thanks again for helping a Newbie . Anyone else with more knowledge on fancy colored diamonds care to comment????? Please!

 

[pearcrazy]

I''ve found that the appraisal usually comes back with a grossly inflated price. I''m not sure what use it is other than to assure that the ring is worth what you paid for it. I''ve had two pieces of jewelry appraised, one came back at more than double the purchase price and one came back at triple the purchase price. One was done by a jeweler other than the one that sold the diamond. It was a .54 carat G SI1 pear shaped diamond in 14k six prong solitaire setting. We paid $1120 for it, it appraised for $3200. Waayy overestimated replacement cost.

The ring is pretty and it you like it then enjoy!! I think the ring is definately worth what you paid even without the center diamond factored in.

It appears that the outer eternity bands are a size larger than the ring. It that an illusion or is that the way the ring is made?

 

[2423kids]

Yes, the outer eternity bands ARE larger than the inner diamond band. Since this is an estate piece, it could have been three separate rings which were soldered together, or it very well may have been a set to start with and the outer bands were the jacket which the wedding band fit into. Whichever the case, they fit together perfectly and look like it was always just one wide ring. You can only tell that it was soldered together in the back of the ring.
Thanks again for all the comments!! It makes me feel better that someone else thinks it was a good price because I don''t know enough about diamond pricing to know for sure. I wish someone could provide some info on the pricing for a 1.00 ct. fancy yellowish brown diamond with SI(2)/I(1) classification (see first post on this thread for full appraisal report if anyone can help). Thanks again all!

 

[Patty]

I don''t think you are going to get anyone to jump in here with a price for a fancy colored marquise stone. There are not any online here for us to find and give you a price comparison and the appraisers will not gander a guess or value without seeing the stone in person.

Maybe I''m wrong...Anyone?

IGI is the only grading facility that I know of that gives a value along with the certificate. I think they are usually more than the real price that a person could expect to pay for the stone. An independent appraiser could help you out. There is a list of them here at Pricescope.

But...the most important thing is that you love the ring. It "spoke" to you. And just for all the carat weight of the sidestones alone, I think you probably got a good price.

 

[solange]

You love the ring and it is unique. It is a lot of sparkle for the money and I think it looks great.
You may or may not have gotten a great price but so what! You are probably paying more for the style than for the stones--although there are quite a few stones in there.
I doubt that you will find anything on Pricescope to compare it with. It was probably either custom made or someone just had three rings and decided to put them together. In either case, it works and is probably one of a kind.
It is certainly more interesting than a shared prong or channel set wedding band which could be just as costly.
I think that it is such a dramatic loking ring--especially for the price and I am sure you will get more compliments on it than on rings that are far more expensive.
I hope you buy it and love it.

 

[2423kids]

Thanks everyone for all the replies to my questions. Yes, I DID buy the ring and I DO love it! The more that I look at it, the more it grows on me. I tried on tons of other rings that had bigger center stones, but this one was the first one that caught my eye, and nothing else "grabbed" me as much (even the $45,000 one!!!).
After searching the internet for 1.00 ct. fancy light yellow diamonds, I finally found one that is almost identical to my marquise center stone. It is listed on Ebay --- here''s the link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4952561576&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT
This diamond could be my diamond''s twin except that mine only has two very, very tiny inclusions on the bottom side of the diamond. My diamond is top eye clean. AND, my marquise has a perfect bow-tie design like the one listed on Ebay ... it is very cool. I think the two-tone coloring is what makes it look so good in this particular mounting. I know some people don''t like the bow-tie effect that you sometimes get with the marquise shape, but I really like it - it''s very unusual! Cosidering the price of the diamond listed on Ebay and the other 2.4 tdw of the other stones in my ring, I think the price of $2441.31 plus $158.69 tax making the total $2,600.00 was a pretty darn good deal. I''m glad that I found the Ebay listing so you guys can see what my 1.00 ct. looks like, as my digital camera is terrible!
Thanks again for all the help! I really appreciate it!