Review of Victor Canera + Alistair Kelsey (from Sydney)

[Acinom]

Depends on whether she is careful with her hands and whether she is someone who wears her rings all the time. My wedding ring had Gypsy set diamonds all around the band. It was stunning but I kept banging the diamonds as I was hard on my hands but still wanted to wear my ring all the time. I have altered the band and there are now 4 sapphires in it to represent our family. Much better for me! On the other hand: I am much more careful with my hands and my kids are older, so stones all around would work for me now.

It is a bit annoying to see the plain metal when the band spins...

Personally I would not opt for a full eternity. I would ask Alistair to engrave the part where there are no diamonds.

 

[arkieb1]

SeekingClarity- Hello fellow Aussie, I'm in QLD and am wanting to get my e-ring o/s too. Mind if I ask some questions?

I'm currently on this same path and am having trouble getting my own thread questions answered!?
I am considering Victor or Steven Kirsch. In-house diamonds are covered by VC of course but if I wish to have it examined prior to setting it WHO does one go with being an international client!?? I'm starting to wonder if after 13 years of waiting it is never going to happen!

1) Can you tell me on your findings- is it not possible AT ALL for us aussies to have the loose stone insured whilst it is being set over in america?

2) Did you get the diamond examined by an appraiser in US prior to it being set with Alistair?

3) Was Victor ok with you getting just the stone from him and sending over to Sydney? Was it insured for this process?


Please if you have any info that would be so great.
P.S you have done well I bet your fiancé is wrapped

Hi, I am in Brisbane - If you purchase a diamond from Victor why do you need to get it examined? He sends all his stones to top labs to get certified, and the numbers on the stones if they have been inscribed should match the certificates. If you purchase the diamond from elsewhere someone like David Atlas in the US is a trusted valuer or there is a list of them in the Resources drop down tab above.

If Victor makes the setting and the stone also comes from him he will give you a small discount and both will be fully insured all the way to Australia. If you purchase the stone only from him, it too will be insured all the way to Australia, when the loose diamond gets here Alistair is one of the FEW jewellers I know that will insure your stone when he sets it, 99% of jewellers here will not and most in the US will not unless you also purchase the stone from them or their inventory. It is about a 1 in 100 000 or something miniscule that they will break, chip or damage the stone if they are a reliable recommended vendor, but there is still a very small risk. This risk increases with stones with thin girdles lots of inclusions and some antique diamonds.

I think the main thing is making sure that when the stone or ring is shipped here that it is declared AND insured for the full value of what you paid, that way if it gets lost or stolen in transit you get it replaced.

There are valuers and appraises both in Sydney and Brisbane that should be able to match up a stone to a certificate for you. If you have any other questions or need help let me know.

 

[pyramid]

I think the reason buyers get diamonds appraised no matter who they buy from is from the saying which was always on this board
'Trust buy verify'. Maybe one of the professional appraisers here could comment. I believe it covers everyone, the seller and buyer. I mean what if the jeweller phones the buyer to say this diamond you sent me is not a diamond at all. What does the buyer do. Was it a diamond I bought from the diamond seller or has the jeweller swopped the diamond over. Who is to blame? That is the reason there are appraisers, they are as important as the person you are buying from and part of the buying process especially when buy large money items. Another thing is the diamond may have been mixed up, expecially in high clarity goods, a customer could not tell if it matches the certificate or not, the same with colour. Also an appraiser will check if there is new damage on the stone, which could have happened at the diamond vendor after the diamond report was done, so that needs to be checked before blaming a jeweller for a chip under a prong.

Where did the 1 in 100,000 come from for chips when setting. Due to a diamond having perfect cleavage, I would think it may be more likely than that, but don't know. Maybe one of the appraisers or jewellers will know more from their experience.

 

[SeekingClarity]

Thanks for that, VRBeauty and derbygal!

Still happy with the ring? I was wondering whether you have met Alistair for your wedding rings. Any news?

The fiance is still enamoured with the ring and is worried she might be cleaning it too often! Unfortunately, we weren't able to meet Alistair this side of the holidays, but we will see him early next year. We have already talked about a few different design options for both of our wedding bands and he was able to confirm that he can get custom cut French cut diamonds for my ring as well. Very exciting.

Perhaps this is more suitable for another thread or even a good search, but we're debating on a full eternity and half eternity for my fiance's wedding band. Anyone have any thoughts? (Not to derail my own thread...)

Cheers,
SC

Full cause of spinning and seeing metal annoys me. Of course it may not annoy her! So it depends. So happy for you that your ring turned out so well. It looks beautiful on her. Congratulations!!

Thanks for that! This spinning is actually what Alistair warned about, but she's not sure if it will bother her. Without the solitaire stone on top, it would be much easier to spin, particularly if she wears the wedding band alone on occasion (as it is my understanding the wedding band would be slightly larger to account for the thickness of having two rings stacked). We've also been warned about resizing in the future when we want to start a family, which may be much simpler with a half or 3/4 eternity.

Depends on whether she is careful with her hands and whether she is someone who wears her rings all the time. My wedding ring had Gypsy set diamonds all around the band. It was stunning but I kept banging the diamonds as I was hard on my hands but still wanted to wear my ring all the time. I have altered the band and there are now 4 sapphires in it to represent our family. Much better for me! On the other hand: I am much more careful with my hands and my kids are older, so stones all around would work for me now.

It is a bit annoying to see the plain metal when the band spins...

Personally I would not opt for a full eternity. I would ask Alistair to engrave the part where there are no diamonds.

She is pretty careful, but never really wore any rings prior to the e-ring. I love the idea of adding engraving, though that could also make it hard to resize. I hadn't thought about adding engraving there before. It's also great to hear opinions from those of you that have had a full eternity before!

 

[Acinom]

This is an older thread, but with valid arguments. Could be an interesting read if you and your fiancee are going back and forth on the full vs half eternity: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/please-help-me-decide-full-eternity-or-half-eternity.136511/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/please-help-me-decide-full-eternity-or-half-eternity.136511/[/URL]

Or these:
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/poll-anniversary-band-half-circle-or-full-eternity.177715/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/poll-anniversary-band-half-circle-or-full-eternity.177715/[/URL]

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/does-your-eternity-band-spin-3-4-vs-full-eternity.171066/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/does-your-eternity-band-spin-3-4-vs-full-eternity.171066/[/URL]

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/those-with-eternity-rings-full-3-4-or-half.204003/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/those-with-eternity-rings-full-3-4-or-half.204003/[/URL]