Please help with buying a diamond

[twomiracles]

Hi, all. My hubby and I are celebrating our 10th anniversary this month and I am shopping for a gift. I''ve always wanted a nice solitaire so now I''m getting one. We are, however, on a budget. I do prefer quality over size, but as I''ve seen discussed, no one is going to ask me what color or clarity my diamond is, so if it looks good, I''ll be happy.

I''ve shopped the jewelry chains at the mall and, as we are on a budget, the fact that I can buy there and finance there is very helpful. However, I want to be sure that I''m getting a reasonably fair deal before I take the plunge.

I''ve been looking at a couple, but I don''t know if I have enough info for you to help me...

The first is a .72 carat, I1 clarity (but I can only see the inclusions from the side, nothing visible in the top to the naked eye), G color and is $2250.

The second is a .56 carat, I1 (I can''t see any inclusions on the top of this one, either), E color and is $1899.

Do either of these sound like a reasonable deal? If you can''t really say with this info, what other info do you need?

Thanks so much!
twomiracles

 

[bearman49]

Hope this helps:

The .72ct round seems a little high.
The .56ct round is very high.

The pricing depends on the proportions of the diamond also.
Ask if they can give you the measurements of the diamond or a cut grade.

Even with nice proportions, the prices seem a bit high, especially the smaller one.

Bearman

 

[twomiracles]

Oops...I need to clarify that they are princess cut in white gold settings.

Thanks again!

 

[Diamondsbybree]

Honestly, those prices are to high for what they are offering. Please shop around.

 

[twomiracles]

Okay, perhaps I should rephrase this. What should I expect to pay for a clean 3/4 carat princess cut solitaire in white gold? I can buy with cash if it will save me substantially, but I'd just have to wait a couple of weeks after the anniversary.

How are the deals on ebay? Any dealers there that you would or would not recommend? Is it safe to buy there?

Thanks to all!
twomiracles

 

[reena]

if i were you i would work with one of the pricescope-listed vendors to find your stone. IMO you'll be much better off that way and pay less too. ebay is iffy--some people on this forum have had nightmare experiences with it. (that's not to say that there are no legit vendors on ebay, but you have to be realllly careful.)

why don't you plug your specs into the pricescope search engine on the main page and you'll see a range of what you can expect to pay for the stone you want. if you need advice on cut parameters you can check out www.gemappraisers.com and/or post specs to get the opinions of the princess experts on this board--im sure they'd be glad to help you out.

 

[Todd07]

Hi Twomiracles,
There a couple good threads on cash or credit you should read. I understood jewelry store credit to be a bad deal and you'd be better off offering cash and negotiating a lower price.




Play with the price stat link https://www.pricescope.com/repscope.asp You can see the cost per carat for different colors and clarities in princess cut. I guess a G I1 princess should cost 2.1k/carat while the E I1 goes for 2.3k/carat




The high price at your local B&M would allow them to give 0% financing - don't be fooled

 

[Diamondsbybree]

I would definately try the vendors on pricescope first, but if you want to checkout ebay, I have heard alot of praises about the seller diamondboy. He does have good deals on nice diamonds.
On pricescope, I would try goodoldgold.com. Jonathon is pretty wonderful from what I have heard.

 

[twomiracles]

So, something like this?

Your Shape Is: Princess
Size: 0.73cts
Color/Clarity: F/SI1
Lab GIA
Depth%: 73.3
Table%: 74.00
Band: White Gold
Subtotal: $1796 (credit card) or $1735 (check/money order)
Total $1951 (credit card) or $1885 (check/money order)

Does this sound better? This is from a pricescope.com vendor.

Thanks!

 

[twomiracles]

This one is less expensive than most others with it's color/clarity. Is it the cut? I want sparkle

!

twomiracles

 

[reena]

if you want an idea about cut go to the cut grading charts for princess cuts on www.gemappraisers.com. that should give you a better idea of what you're getting. ( i know nothing about princesses myself.)

 

[jesrush]

Twomiracles,

Those prices are *fine* for a traditional brick & mortar retail store. In that sense they are not "high," especially if they're willing to negotiate the price a little bit (which they probably are). They are only high compared to internet stores (which often have less overhead and cheaper marketing expenses).

But nonetheless, you will probably get a better cut stone from niceice.com, superbcert.com, goodoldgold.com, or several others than you could find in most B&M's, plus they're cheaper!

-jesrush

 

[twomiracles]

Well, I do want the most for my money. I shopping the pricescope.com comparisons, but am having trouble because must do not list the cut grade. I did go to gemappraisers.com, but to a novice, that's a lot of info to absorb.

I do know now not to be in a hurry. Even if it's an after the actual anniversary gift (due to cash flow), I'd rather have a better value and wait.

Thanks for the help! Any further suggestions are appreciated!

twomiracles

 

[twomiracles]

What do you think of these?

http://www.bluenile.com/diamonds_details.asp?pid=LD00229949&filter_id=1

http://www.whiteflash.com/diamonds/Diamond_Details.aspx?idNo=384562

Thanks again!

 

[Todd07]

In the FAQ section on the forum, there is a good thread titled "Color...How low can I go"





My recommendation would be to consider dropping a few color grades from F and spending the saving on a better cut or larger size.

 

[jesrush]

Twomiracles,

To determine whether a given stone is promising, you need to know the crown & pavillion data on the stone. These numbers are only available when the vendor has run a sarin or megascope analysis on the stone (some certs--ie AGS--also lists this info).

Fortunately both those vendors (whiteflash & bluenile) are generally willing to run a sarin for you. Call Whiteflash and ask for Bob Hoskins, call Bluenile and ask for Lucas Scott.

To get an idea of what you should be looking for, look at the crown\pavillion numbers on the very nice stones at Superbcert.

-jesrush