Question about James Allen

[julesnjewels]

Hi everyone,

I have been blown away by how low the prices are at James Allen. Why are they so much more competitive than other sites? Does he have especially poor cut or occluded diamonds? For those of you who have purchased JA diamonds over the internet, do you think that they are as high of quality as you would get elsewhere?

thank you!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

They carry a wider variety of quality of stones than say a vendor like WhtieFlash or Good Old Gold who specialize in top quality cuts. I think they are owned by a diamond supplier. They also have a very restrictive trade-in policy. But if you can find an AGS0 stone, you maybe can save a few dollars. Just be sure you don''t plan to ever upgrade the stone as I think they require a purchase of double the original price to trade a stone in.

 

[julesnjewels]

Pardon my ignorance, but what is an AGS0 stone?

 

[Ellen]

Date: 4/23/2008 7:18:42 PM
Author: julesnjewels
Pardon my ignorance, but what is an AGS0 stone?

It''s a top grade stone graded by the AGS lab.

Here''s a brief summary of the varying labs and reports.

http://diamonds.pricescope.com/grading.asp

 

[diamondseeker2006]

And here''s a nice tutorial on diamond quality. See the part on Cut to read about the importance of cut to the beauty of the diamond and what "ideal" cut means.

http://www.goodoldgold.com/4Cs/

 

[julesnjewels]

Thanks for the links. So, how do I gain access to AGS reports from online vendors (like James Allen)? I haven''t run across any AGS ratings in my online hunts. Do I need to contact the vendors directly and ask for the AGS ratings?

 

[JulieN]

James Allen posts diamond reports and pictures for many, many stones.

Search with the AGS box checked off of PS instead of searching off JA if you want an AGS stone.

 

[Ellen]

Date: 4/23/2008 7:43:01 PM
Author: julesnjewels
Thanks for the links. So, how do I gain access to AGS reports from online vendors (like James Allen)? I haven''t run across any AGS ratings in my online hunts. Do I need to contact the vendors directly and ask for the AGS ratings?

Nope.

James Allen has AGS AND GIA both in their H&A section.

Whiteflash''s ACA''s are all AGS.

GOG is GIA and AGS mixed in together throughout their inventory.

One note, with GOG, most of his GIA''s are as nice as AGS stones. There are great GIA stones, but you have to know what you''re looking at.

At WF, their Expert Selection has many GIA that just missed the branding, so again, great stones without the small premium.

 

[julesnjewels]

Are AGS reports always superior to GIA reports? I am interested in a cushion cut diamond, so I''m wondering if one report is better for certain cuts.

 

[JulieN]

This stuff about AGS 0 doesn''t apply to cushions.

 

[wawatu]

i just bought a AGS 0 stone from James Allen too and it''s a great deal. But not all JA stones are cheaper than the other vendors. I guess we are just lucky!