Find your diamond
Find your jewelry
shape
carat
color
clarity

Question for Garry... and general question about buying diamond

ratatat

ratatat

Shiny_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jul 12, 2017
Messages
253
Hi all

I hope I'm not breaking any forum rules and I hope I do not come off as antagonistic at all, just genuinely curious. I have a question for Garry @cutnut, and also a question for everyone else :)

I was recently looking for an upgrade to my engagement ring and chose a beautiful setting from Holloway Diamonds.

I was considering buying the whole ring from Holloway diamonds but when I inquired into the specs of the stone I was only told the carat weight, colour and clarity and that it had a GIA certificate. I asked if I could have a look at the cert, or at least be told the specs, or see an ideal scope, but was told the cert details were only available on buying the stone :confused: It just surprised me because I've seen Garry on here so much (does Garry own pricescope??) and the forum seems to be so encouraging of consumers being proactive in their diamond buying and to do some homework themselves to find the best stone. Obviously all the diamonds looked beautiful and I'm sure they were all ideal cut etc, I just found it strange that I couldn't see the certificate or know any more details of any of the diamonds before purchase. In the end I bought a diamond online which I love and looks great with the setting (thanks to your help here on PS) so I'm very happy.

Anyway just interested to hear thoughts on this. Garry, just wondering why your store has this policy? And also everyone else, would you ever blindly buy a diamond from a trusted source, particularly if you had seen it (but only under jewelry shop lights) or if you would insist on seeing specs/idealscope/aset etc every time

Thanks :wavey:
 
That just doesn't sound right to me, so hopefully Garry will see your post and answer! Sometimes vendors list stones they do not actually have in-house, and in that case, some may require you to pay in order for them to have the stone shipped to them. I am not sure if that is the case at Holloway or not. But I cannot imagine any reason you couldn't know the specs of the stone from the GIA report. They can cover the report number if they are worried about a buyer having another jeweler call in the stone.
 
Hi Ratata. I am.way outback at present but endeavoring to find out what went wrong. We certainly share GIA certs with buyers. So its some sort of training issue. Give me a day or two to reply please.
 
I have never been to any store that refuses to provide lab report information. I am sure it was a mistake by sale's rep you are dealing with.
 
DS yes. That can be an issue. And calling in a stone to Australia is hugely expensive. But as you say, we are happy to share the GIA report info minus number if the stone is virtual.
I work hard, even when I am bush, to find excellent stones for clients when my people get a request and we do not have a match un our extensive inventory. It hurts if we do the work and a business that carries no inventory at all makes a sale.on a few % margin.
 
Ok. I think it was someone emquiring about half carat stones. Correct Ratata?
A lovely new person who misunderstood the guidelines. She will happily send you the numbers etc.
We do not have a set up for ideal-scope and ASET photos although a few of us do good shots on the ideal lights we sell. But as a Brick and Mortar store we are all able to show you any stone thru any scope.in.person.
 
Thanks so much for your replies!
Thanks Garry. I thought it was odd too and I thought I might have misunderstood so I asked twice - once in email and another time in person - with two different salespeople and they told me the same thing, that they couldn't show me the cert or give me the details of angles etc and no idealscope. Obviously I don't want to get anyone in trouble! But if the GIA cert was available - or even just the further details - that would have been great.
 
Hi Garry,
No this was for a 0.94ct D VVS stone already in a setting that I saw in store - sorry I didn't see your second post when I wrote the reply above
 
Last edited:
I was in a NY store in the diamond district recently and they refused to show me a cert. They said something about not having a bidding war with themselves or something. I wasn't planning on buying from a storefront anyway so it didn't bother me. But I have a feeling your situation is different.
 
Yes that sounds like the one, with the tapered baguettes, for some reason I thought it was a VVS. Too late for me unfortunately as I have my diamond and it is all set - it looks beautiful btw - but thanks for sharing the report :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
GET 3 FREE HCA RESULTS JOIN THE FORUM. ASK FOR HELP
Jewelry Blog
PriceScope-Concierge-Ad
Find prime cuts.
Top