Qusetion about Tiffany diamonds...

[B6A48304]

Is it possible to buy a Tiffany (-certified or whatever the term is) diamond without a setting from either Tiffany or a third-party jeweler?

A friend tells me this is possible but I think not. Who is right?

 

[ame]

No, you cannot buy a Tiffany Diamond without their setting, to my knowledge.

 

[Kaleigh]

The answer is no, ame is right.

 

[rockaholic]

I didn''t know that Tiffany has their own diamonds? They may say it''s a Tiffany diamond (by inscribing it), but as far as I know, they do not cut their own diamonds. Graff on the otherhand, has their own cutting facilities, so their diamonds are GRAFF DIAMONDS...

I may be wrong, but this is based on my own research

~rockaholic~

 

[bling*diva*]

~~From what I understand, Tiffany does cut their own diamonds (which is why they usually do not tell you if the diamond is Ideal cut or not, because they cut their own diamonds).

~Info on Tiffany Cut

~P.S. Hope that helps!!

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

I know the owner of a workshop that appears on Graff''s video, along with the Helium Pacor scan of the big rough diamond.

A diamond is a diamond.
It is a bit like a Mikimotto pearl - they sold their pearl farms yonks ago.

Even things like "this is a Canadian Diamond". It is likely that many Rusky and Canadian diamonds originated from the same source and the various contints floated over the top as the volcanoes bought up the diamonds from 150 - 200km below.

I think I read Tiffany is selling the rough it gets from the mine it has shares in, and buying some back after it has been cut.

 

[perry]

I believe if you check the used market that you can find Tiffiny rings and such.

Regarding a "Tiffiny diamond" ...

I believe that the reason Tiffiny does not use standard grading is just a marketing attempt to confuse people. Afteralll, their diamonds are so exclusive that "normal" grading does not apply. Of course, this may also mean that they are so bad that normal grading does not apply.

I also believe that they are buying at least some of their diamonds on the market. They are unlikely to get enough high quality rough from their own mining interest to supply their sales needs - even if they do have their own cutters.

Overall, from the reports that I have gotten from other''s here on pricescope and elsewhere - and the few Tiffiny diamonds that I have actually seen; they are nothing special. They are clearly not focuesed on the "super ideal" cut like NiceIce, GOG, Whiteflash ACA, Infinity, and a few others.

Perry

 

[pad3006]

Perry;
Tiffanys does have there own mine which they exclusively use. They also have there own cutting facility, and grading facilitys.
As for there grading, it is not a different grading system. It is an aditional report on top of the GIA report. It is slightly more strict then the GIA. That fact is not widely stated, so its not a marketing ploy.
As for your comment about there cut...have you ever seen a Tiffany stone?
They sparkle like crazy, so I dont really know what you mean when you say the diamonds are not not greatly cut

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

http://rapnet.com/news/newsitem.asp?num=10536&type=all&topic=all&searchfor=Tahera&author=&collapse=0

"Tiffany will buy a significant portion of the diamonds produced at the Jericho project for its manufacturing requirements and will sell the balance on behalf of Tahera on the international market. The agreement extends over the entire life of the project, which Tahera estimates is nine years."

I think this is not a big mine and could not sustain Tiffany''s requirements.
I know Tiffany is looking at a Joint Venture to make jewellery in India.
I do not believe Tiffany would be silly enough to try to polish diamonds themselves. They will contract it out like every one else who says they polish diamonds does, as they do wth most of their jewellery production.

Running a lab is in line with their core business and staffing profile (and easy).

 

[ame]

Date: 10/5/2005 8:00:15 AM
Author: pad3006

They sparkle like crazy, so I dont really know what you mean when you say the diamonds are not not greatly cut

I have seen better at Walmart.

 

[denverappraiser]

The Tiffany brand is a value characteristic that’s endowed on the stone by Tiffany and Co, not by God, not by the mining company and not by the cutter. They can get their sources wherever they wish and Tiffany’s, and only Tiffany’s, can attach that name. They, in turn, can attach it to whatever meets their standards at the time. My observation has been that these standards are pretty high.

There is a secondary market where it is possible to buy previously owned Tiffany products from whoever happens to own them and, assuming that has appropriate history and documentation to demonstrate that it was originally sold at Tiffany’s as a one of their stones, it is appropriate for the seller to use that name. Otherwise it’s not. Where it was mined, who owned the mine and how many hands it may have passed through before they bought it has nothing to do with it.

Removing the stone from the setting will make this paper trail more difficult but not completely impossible. To the best of my knowledge, T&C will not sell an unmounted diamond.
Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ISA NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

 

[rockaholic]

I am kind of confused now. I have a friend''s friend who works at Tiffany as a buyer, and based on what I was told, Tiffany buys stones from outside... So what is considered a Tiffany Diamond? Just as long as it comes in the signature "blue box"? Does it have any kind of special marking or anything that makes it so different?

Confused...

~rockaholic~

 

[denverappraiser]

Date: 10/5/2005 9:43:51 AM
Author: rockaholic
I am kind of confused now. I have a friend''s friend who works at Tiffany as a buyer, and based on what I was told, Tiffany buys stones from outside... So what is considered a Tiffany Diamond? Just as long as it comes in the signature ''blue box''? Does it have any kind of special marking or anything that makes it so different?

Confused...

~rockaholic~

rockaholic,

A Tiffany(tm) diamond is one that is called that by Tiffany & Company. No more, no less. Some people count that as pretty valuable and others prefer to shop at Walmart. It’s a big world and both companies seem to have happy customers.
Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ISA NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 10/5/2005 12:02:46 AM
Author: bling*diva*
~~From what I understand, Tiffany does cut their own diamonds (which is why they usually do not tell you if the diamond is Ideal cut or not, because they cut their own diamonds).

~Info on Tiffany Cut

~P.S. Hope that helps!!

What you pointed to--the "Tiffany cut"--is an outline of the standards by which Tiffany's selects their merchandise for sale. It doesn't mean they cut them themselves. (And this standard info isn't particularly helpful, either, since they don't specify measurements that would determine the precision of the make of stone.)

Similarly, "Tiffany clarity" doesn't mean they actually "grow" their own diamonds....it just means they have arbitrarily made a buying decision to only carry the top 6 clarity grades.

From their 10K report: "Tiffany purchases cut diamonds principally from eight key vendors. Were trade relations between Tiffany and one or more of these vendors to be disrupted, the Company's sales would be adversely affected in the short term until alternative supply arrangements could be established."

This isn't to say they don't cut any diamonds....they do. They began purchasing rough diamonds after they acquired an equity interest in a sight-holder firm. Of that rough, some is cut/polished by them; some is sent out to contractors to cut/polish and return it to Tiffany.

A "Tiffany" diamond means any diamond they sell, so it doesn't mean only ones they cut.

 

[rockaholic]

Thanks denverappraiser and aljdewey for the clarification. I guess it''s just good to know that I''m not the only once confused by Tiffany. It is unfortunate that they don''t provide more information on their website. I have many friends who own a Tiffany ring and they are very pourd of their rings, I am just skeptical about paying the premium for something that I would not be able to compare to other stones since they are rated under a different system...

Thanks again,

~rockaholic~

 

[Rank Amateur]

Is LK a preferred Tiff supplier?

 

[Kaleigh]

I think LK is a preferred Tiff supplier, could be wrong, but that''s what I''ve always heard....

 

[pad3006]

no offence Rock but where do you get the idea that they are graded by a different system? The only Tiffany stone that is not graded the same as any other stone is the Lucida cut because that is a patented cut used by tiffanys.

 

[ame]

They certify and grade their own stones using their own system. They are VERY public about this.

http://www.tiffany.com/expertise/diamond/certification/default.asp?

 

[rockaholic]

thanks for the clarification ame...

~rockaholic~

 

[pad3006]

Ame; you have an interesting way of looking at Tiffanys. You obviously are not fond of the company.
It says on what you put the link for that they offer a certificate so that the stone is actually certified to be what it says, and then also the customer gets a GIA report. It doesnt say anywhere they they are graded differently, that is like saying one school gives a different type of grades then another which wouldnt make any sense.
It is another way they show the stone is infact what you paid for, so as not to have to go to an appraiser. How this is a problem for anyone i am not sure.

 

[blueroses]

.....

 

[Kaleigh]

My ring is from Tiffany''s and we got the GIA cert and the Tiffany cert if this helps any???

 

[MissAva]

With every ring from Tiffany''s that we have you get a really lovely little cert (which to me looked just like my hs dimplomia...) anyway. All of ours have had GIA certs as well. I had read on PS that they were going to stop using GIA to grade their stones. However a friend just got her ring from Tiffanys and she showed me the GIA cert and that was less then a week ago.

 

[ame]

Date: 10/5/2005 1:10:48 PM
Author: pad3006
Ame; you have an interesting way of looking at Tiffanys. You obviously are not fond of the company.

It says on what you put the link for that they offer a certificate so that the stone is actually certified to be what it says, and then also the customer gets a GIA report. It doesnt say anywhere they they are graded differently, that is like saying one school gives a different type of grades then another which wouldnt make any sense.

It is another way they show the stone is infact what you paid for, so as not to have to go to an appraiser. How this is a problem for anyone i am not sure.

Because Tiffany's doesn't equate to quality with every item, contrary to what you seem to think. And its WISE to get a REAL appraisal for your jewelery to prove you did get what you paid for. Just taking their word for it is like taking a car salesman's word on heart surgery.

You are correct about how I feel, I think the company sucks and I don't find their stuff to be as high quality as they try to claim. My experiences with them could not be any worse. I have seen some great rings come out of there, Kaliegh's being one of them, and if mine was that gorgeous right off the bat without any of the other BS they pulled on me, I would probably love the place. But the way we were mistreated and the fact that I found higher quality stones elsewhere really, showed me they were no more than Walmart's jewelery dept with a pricetag. In order to get anything high quality you had to really spend some bucks. And last time I checked 10K wasn't a tiny amount for a ring. They obviously didn't think that was enough though, so we took our money elsewhere.

Starting to sound to me like you work(ed) for Tiffany's and can't stand that anyone thinks negatively about them.

 

[yellowfan]

exactly

 

[pad3006]

Thanks for the advice about getting an item appraised. Interesting analogy you made too.

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience, dont know what happened or how it was handeled by either party so I cant comment.
I have always had recieved excellent customer service.
Glad to hear you and yellow are in agreement that I must work for them. However you are wrong.
Ive found when I am nice at Tiffanys or any other retail location I am treated the same. Not sure where you purchased your ring or what was wrong. There isnt any account for personal taste.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Wow - at this link http://www.tiffany.com/expertise/diamond/brilliance/cut_carat.asp? that someone gave before, this image is shown - the implied suggestion is that this is a nice stone.

But the lower girdle facets have been dug out quite deeply - it would not be a nice stone.

 

[MissAva]

I love Tiffanys! But I get that not everyone does... I have some awsome peices from there that I am blessed to own. But I do not think anyone ought to shop there if they dont like it. There are a ton of places to shop, find the one that fits your taste and stick with it!

 

[Mara]

I have seen images of a few Tiffany stones that were on eBay with all the old paperwork etc etc with numbers like depth of 65% etc. Not exactly my fave # for a RB depth..

In the past Tiffany didn't cut their own items, maybe that is changing, maybe not. But regardless of the name attached to it, I want a primo diamond with H&A...and I don't know that Tiffanys has that in every stone. I didn't see arrows in a few stones I tried on in the store there but I could see them in mine.

As for them looking great, in the store the diamonds look fab, sure...but everything looks good in the stores, even my crappy 10 stone eBay ring.

Wherever you buy, whoever it is from, buy educated. To me that's not buying a brand name.

(HEY It's not FRIDAY!)