Reworded question: How do you find a reputable jeweler?

[whirled]

Hi everyone! I just read Leonid''s post about trying to keep sellers advertising for themselves, so I realize my other post about recommending a jeweler in Md. might be askin'' for trubble!

Anyway, since my fiance and I are kinda new in this state, and we don''t know many people here who have shopped for jewelry, I was wondering, how can you tell if a jeweler is trustworthy and reputable? I don''t want to go into something like Kay''s or some other mall store, but my only other option is to just hit the phone book? I''d be totally cold calling and I''m not sure what I should ask or what I should look out for? Or even if I walked into a store, is there any way I can tell if the they are just trying to get as much money out of me as possible while selling me garbage?

Thanks for a great forum!!!!
andria

 

[Colored Gemstone Nut]

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On 7/21/2003 7:57:52 PM whirled wrote:

Hi everyone! I just read Leonid's post about trying to keep sellers advertising for themselves, so I realize my other post about recommending a jeweler in Md. might be askin' for trubble!

Anyway, since my fiance and I are kinda new in this state, and we don't know many people here who have shopped for jewelry, I was wondering, how can you tell if a jeweler is trustworthy and reputable? I don't want to go into something like Kay's or some other mall store, but my only other option is to just hit the phone book? I'd be totally cold calling and I'm not sure what I should ask or what I should look out for? Or even if I walked into a store, is there any way I can tell if the they are just trying to get as much money out of me as possible while selling me garbage?

Thanks for a great forum!!!!
andria
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I don't think reccomending any jeweler based on your personal experience is out of bounds here whirled. One of the main objectives of the forum is so everyone can share their experiences about a purchase..Good or Bad. Those who have good experiences with certain vendors are in a way advertising. Being that it is based on personal experience it keeps reputable vendors in check and recongnizes those who provide a great product, service and at competetive prices.

One thing your going to have to establish is what criteria do you have in picking out a stone.

What is the most important to you. You are going to ultimately have to decide and this will play a big role in the price you are going to pay.

First thing I would prioritize when picking out a stone is making sure it is graded by a reputable Lab.
I prefer going with Gia or Ags. Both are very highly reputable labs and highly regarded in the industry.

With that being said once you establish this as the first minimum requirement what kind of cut quality are you looking for in a stone. Dave Atlas has some great information which categorizes stones into different cut grades based on their proportions represented by their sarin data. Both Gia & Ags offer some info, but it is in your best interest when focusing on cut to get all the measurements of your stone. Some highly reputable vendors offer this information as part of your purchase or you usually can get this info by requesting it. If a particular vendor voices that it is not important he or she is trying to make the sale without providing all the information on a particular stone your interested in.

There are many Ideal cut Hearts & Arrows stones which fall in the best of cut classes, but you can get a beautiful stone which exhibits great light return in a lower cut class also. If the angles of a stone are not right particularly crown and pav angles a stone will not exhibit optimal light return as it would if it were in a higher cut class. A lot of you choosing your stone will involve asking a lot of questions and reading many different threads on how stones which fall into certain cut classes will affect the overall brilliance of a diamond. There is a great cut tutorial on this site which I think will be a great benefit to you. It has illustrations along with in depth explanations of what makes a beautiful stone tick.

Decide on what color, clarity you would like to go with. In an ideal cut stone it will face up more white. I decided to go with am H for my fiance and it faces up really white and is set in platinum. I decided on vs1 clarity, but in retrospect if there was an ideal cut eye clean si-1 stone offered at the time I would have gone with that because I could have gotten a little bigger stone for the same price. When you cant see an inclusion with the naked eye it really doesn't matter whether its a Flawless stone or a true eyeclean si-1. If you can't see it why pay the premium?

I know my explanation is kind of jumbled but there are a lot of factors you have to decide and since you have not stated what your priority list is yet I am trying to give you a short glimpse of everything that is involved. Budget plays an important role in your purchase also. If you decide on a top of the line cut Hearts & Arrows stone your already going to begin your purchase paying a premium, but to me it is well worth it.

Post more details, but as you read through the threads you will realize you have access to some of the most knowledgable vendors and diamond finatics in the world who don't get me wrong are in business to sell diamonds, but when it comes to this board are here to educate. You may find yourself swaying towards an online purchase and can see from a lot of the testomonials there are many vendors here who frequent the board who have access and sell the most beautiful diamonds that have ever been cut. These vendors selling online ultimately reduce their overhead and those savings to can be passed on to you. I am not saying you are going to get a steal of a deal because you get what you pay for, but I am saying you won't find more competetive prices anywhere on the net for a particular quality of stone your looking for. Along with that the knowledge and info provided by these vendors is crucial and in most cases free to you in helping you along your journey....

Post more and I am sure you'll get more responses.

-Josh RIoux
Sitka, Alaska

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Word of mouth is still the best system for finding reputable people.

Ask people who would know. Consumers that like and buy a lot of jewelry (usually very easy to spot), or associated professionals, like the local (independent) appraisers for example.

Martin Fuller is somewhere up there in Maryland. You could give him a call. He could probably give you half a dozen names of reputable jewelers.

When you get to the jewelers, ask questions that you know the answers to, and see how they reply.

 

[Colored Gemstone Nut]

Rich is also a very dependable reliable person who can answer some of your initial questions also. He helped me while I was picking out some sapphires a while back and is highly regared here.

-Josh

 

[Richard Sherwood]

"Regared?"

Just what do you mean by that? Are you trying to start trouble again, Scorpo?

If I wasn't on the opposite end of the continent I'd come up there and regare you from top to bottom.

Rich, likes the killer sapphires you ended up with...

 

[whirled]

Thanks Josh & Richard!

Actually, I'm not looking for a diamond this time around (I know, I know... I'm not sticking to the forum topic -- shame on me). My fiance bought me one while he was based in Johnstown, Pa. -- AND HE DIDN'T GO TO PRICESCOPE FIRST!! (Infinately shame on him!!) But he was lucky and ended up with a pretty nice rock (Gabriella cut round, ideal class 1a cut, .59, G, SI2 though it's really not eye visible. This info is from an independent appraiser, was for insurance purposes. Can you believe he did NOT ask for specs from the jeweler? How scary (and dumb)!!!

) I think he paid a bit much for it, too, but luckily only about $250 more from the research I've done comparing similar stones). Anyway, what pissed him off about this jeweler (Kranich's) is that he had specifically told the sales lady when he walked in that for the setting, he wanted to look ONLY at platinum. Well, he got a very pretty setting, but it was 18k white gold!! Still, not a bad metal, but he had specifically told her platinum ONLY. And when he bought it, he was under the impression he was getting a platinum setting. Now, the 4 prongs are platinum, but the band is WG. So, there was some misleading, some deceit -- he felt lied to and cheated. Luckily for him, they didn't charge him for platinum, it was priced at the WG rates, but they also didn't TELL him it was white gold and continued to let him believe he was looking at platinum. Perhaps he should have suspected by the price, but this is really the first piece of jewelry he has ever bought. He just didn't know better and didn't know well enough to really study first. I know he did look at loose stones from Blue Nile, but he's the type of guy that likes to see the stone in hand before he buys.

He said the sales people did tell him about the 4Cs, but how much, I don't know. But me, of course, first thing I did when I got the ring (aside from giving him a big hug) was do a lot of research -- and of course i found this wonderful forum!

Anyway, back to original question. Kranich's isn't that bad of a store, but they misled him and he was upset. This ring is warrantied at the store for its lifetime, and I get lifetime free sizings, and I can always trade the rock in, and as long as I get the ring inspected once every 6 months, if the rock should ever fall out of its setting, I would get it replaced free. Not bad, I don't think. But now we need to get wedding bands and he refuses to go back to Kranich's even tho they offered him a "great deal" for repeat customers. He says he never wants to see that woman again! hehe...

So, that's my story!

 

[canadiangrrl]

Hi Whirled

I don't know exactly where you are in MD, but Dirt Cheap Diamonds is located in Frederick, which is about an hour outside of DC. The company is owned by a guy named Jim Schultz, I've heard very positive feedback about them. They're an online vendor, but apparently you can view diamonds you are interested in at his office in Frederick. Hope this helps!

 

[whirled]

Thanks, Canadiangrrl! I live in Baltimore, so it's not too far from me!

 

[trichrome]

Whirled,

I think after reading all the tutorials here and talking with
the jewellers, you'll discover by yourself who is good or not.

The best advice was already given by Rich before..(that's why
he has more than 1400 posts and me only 300). Call an
independant gemmologist and ask him who are the jewellers in town
who are reputable. Be sure that the gem guy is 100% fully independant.

Hope this helps,

Trichrome.

 

[MichaelF]

I live in DC, and tried the local B&M Jewelery route and was rather disappointed. I found they were constantly constraining what they showed me based on how the classified me as a customer. I also felt like I was being given a "diamond education" that led me to those three stones they placed in front of me. Then I researched the stones here and found them to be not what I wanted in terms of cut quality. IMHO, the B&M's that seem to offer so much Fear Uncertainty and Doubt regarding Internet Brokers / Merchants are perhaps even worse!

At this point in my search, I'm wondering why a single B&M did not ever discuss the proportional relationship of crown and pavillion... Why they did not explain why the angles of the diamond affect light, and why when I asked too many questions they stoped calling? Aren't they the ones that are suppose to be full service? So I moved on to the internet providers with a bit of fear that I might get sold cubic chemically homogenized sterilized prizm cleverly disguised as diamond.

As I researched it I found that the internet merchants work with independent appraisers and ship the diamond to the appraiser free of charge. I pay for the appraisal, and it will take place in two stages. First the stone is sent to the appraiser of my choice, there is one here in Northern VA, so I get to be there for the appraisal... The diamond will then be returned for setting, then sent back to the appraiser for final inspection. When he tells me its the same stone, and the total "set value" I will transfer funds to the merchant. The merchant will call the appraiser and authorize distribution... The appraiser will hand me the ring and then I get to put it on my lover's finger... I think that might be the hardest part!

All in all I'm thinking this is far more secure and safe than the B&M approach. I get the entire product inspected by a respected independent appraiser so I know what I'm buying before I pay for it!

Thank God for this forum!

 

[whirled]

Thanks for sharing your experience, MichaelF. I've started to get the same feeling, too, about Internet dealers vs. store dealers. Plus with the Internet, you've got a world of research tools (especially this forum) to help make unbiased decisions. I haven't seen one store that offered pics of the inclusions like GOG does! Plus, with all their bright lights, everything seems flashy. sometimes I feel like they pop a flash bulb in front of you so you can't really see what you're getting into....

 

[nht]

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On 7/22/2003 10:15:31 AM MichaelF wrote:
At this point in my search, I'm wondering why a single B&M did not ever discuss the proportional relationship of crown and pavillion... Why they did not explain why the angles of the diamond affect light, and why when I asked too many questions they stoped calling? Aren't they the ones that are suppose to be full service? So I moved on to the internet providers with a bit of fear that I might get sold cubic chemically homogenized sterilized prizm cleverly disguised as diamond.
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Tilghman Co. Jewelers on State Street in Annapolis discussed proportion along with the 4 C's with me. In fact he emphasized the importance of cut over the other C's.

This was almost a decade ago ('94) so YMMV today. I'm planning on stopping by some weekend to look for another engagement ring so I'll see what they are like now.

If you find a local jewler thats good, I'd sure appreciate a tip.

Regards,

nht

PS How does one determine if a gemologist is 100% fully independent?