Purchasing stone separate from setting

[carbon lover]

Is it better to purchase a stone separate/independent of the setting? It seems to me that one would have more negotiating power that way.

 

[optimized]

Hi k,

My opinion is that it is typically in the buyer's best interest to purchase the stone loose. This allows the buyer to more thoroughly examine the stone and have it independently appraised more accurately. Although many appraisers are more than happy to take a look at a stone mounted or unmounted, the only way they can really do a thorough appraisal of the diamond itself is if it is loose. This method may require more than one trip to the appraiser (once to check out the diamond, a second time to appraise the value of the assembled ring), but the benefits of having a loose diamond makes it worth it to me.

As you also seem to have figured out, an educated consumer also has an edge when shopping for a loose diamond since there are no ancillary considerations to cloud the true fair market value of the diamond. You will know right away what the type of diamond you're looking at goes for in the market without having to try to factor in the value of the ring it's attached to.

The other side of the coin though is that I found during my search that more than a few jewelers I talked with were willing to use the setting as an incentive, meaning some would give a discounted/free setting if I bought the diamond from them. Since it's obvious that no dealer would ever lose money on a sale, it stands to reason that in these cases they were making the money on the markup of the diamond itself, but a very shrewd shopper might be able to use their abilities to maximize the savings by working both angles (a discount on the diamond plus a discounted/free setting).

Hope this helps...

-Tim

 

[LesleyH]

k pouch:

If you purchase your diamond from a reputable company, and they provide you with all the information you need to feel safe and cofident with your purchase, I really don't see the problem with buying a diamond in a setting. Many internet shoppers feel the need to see the diamond loose, but just as many want to have the whole thing done in one place at the same time. I guess it's just a matter of doing your research and finding out which companies you can trust.

LesleyH
www.whiteflash.com

 

[RockDoc]

If you are going to want to have the diamond checked after you select it, then it should be unset until the testing is done, and you decide if you want it.


Appraisers and gemologists can grade stones in the mounting, but then their reports could be far less accurate, and since this is about YOUR MONEY, probably best to leave it loose temporarily.

For the testing I do, the stone has to be loose/unset.

Rockdoc