Please tell me the process for buying a diamond

[tmdblue]

I''ve been looking for several weeks at posts and online vendors to gather information. I know what I''m looking for and the budget. What I don''t know is how do you go about viewing more than one diamond at once? Is there a charge for this convenience? I live in the middle of nowhere,PA so going to WF/JA/ or any other vendor isn''t possible but there is a small "jeweler''s" who does appraisals. So if I find let''s say 3 stones that look good on paper how do I go about getting them for viewing and then returning the ones I''m not interested in and the one that I want so it can be placed in a setting. Also how much is an appraisal likely to be and what''s the point of an appraisal besides having the diamond insured? To make matters more complicated the cut that I want is princess and I have been constantly told that you must see them in person and you can''t go by numbers alone. Lastly since I''m doing all of the research I will be picking out the stone, my fiance lives in another state and will need the final selection sent to him for the "proposal" day. So I''m wondering if the stone can be sent for viewing to one state (PA for me), then to the vendor for setting, and finally to GA (where bf lives) .

Thanks,
tmdblue

 

[jasontb]

Date: 5/16/2006 2:29:00 AM
Author:tmdblue
I''ve been looking for several weeks at posts and online vendors to gather information. I know what I''m looking for and the budget. What I don''t know is how do you go about viewing more than one diamond at once? Is there a charge for this convenience? I live in the middle of nowhere,PA so going to WF/JA/ or any other vendor isn''t possible but there is a small ''jeweler''s'' who does appraisals. So if I find let''s say 3 stones that look good on paper how do I go about getting them for viewing and then returning the ones I''m not interested in and the one that I want so it can be placed in a setting. Also how much is an appraisal likely to be and what''s the point of an appraisal besides having the diamond insured? To make matters more complicated the cut that I want is princess and I have been constantly told that you must see them in person and you can''t go by numbers alone. Lastly since I''m doing all of the research I will be picking out the stone, my fiance lives in another state and will need the final selection sent to him for the ''proposal'' day. So I''m wondering if the stone can be sent for viewing to one state (PA for me), then to the vendor for setting, and finally to GA (where bf lives) .

Thanks,
tmdblue

Only way I see it happeneding is if you pay for 3 stones, have them sent to you, and return two of them.

Besides insurance (rip-off) there are reasons to get an appraisal. First to make sure you got the stone you were promised. Second to make sure that the stone is of the same quality as you expect. I guess if you trust your jeweler a lot this is not needed. But I wasn''t going to trust somebody I had never met.

 

[oldminer]

We are in PA and often accept diamonds for folks to view in our offices while we do an appraisal for them. Certainly, if you say okay and pay the vendor, we can ship it direct to your mounting source for you directly. We can even accept it back on your behalf and make sure it is in perfect condition and set properly. There is no added cost for this part of the service. We''ll complete a full report on the finished ring that way and you can simply pick it up from us or we''ll send it to you.

Many appraisers now offer such services. It was a dream idea that these sort of transaction might happen ten years ago, but it really is happening now.