Hi Moonie,
Yes, i would recommend the above places to explore your options, in perth.
For bigger diamonds, you have to do your research locally and internationally.
When i had my 1ct asscher solitaire made, (which is what i think you are referring to), it cost me AUD $7k in 2010ish, and i dealt with a vendor in sydney- Joey from Jenny Bay. I would not know how much it would be these days, as 11yrs is a long time. But, i think it woudl be safe to say that it is definitely over the AUD$10k mark.
I have no hesitation of recommending her again for your ring needs. Everything is done online/ phonecalls/ CADS etc. It really depends on how you feel about doing a project online/ sight unseen.
Do your sums. biggest thing to consider is that buying internationally, say USA, means that there are GST and exchange rates, need to be factored in, in some cases up to 17% more than the listed USA pricing that has been converted to AUD. Once again, this is managing a project sight unseen, so to speak. However, having seen
BGD ideal cuts, they are stunning and would not get that kind of cut here in Perth. Do you need ideal? maybe, maybe not. But knowing what i know, i would not hesitate in working with vendors in USA.
As a comparison for pricing that i did, over 2yrs ago for small stud earrings (0.1ct each), it was far cheaper to get them from USA and pay the taxes, than to source one locally. It cost me close to AUD$1000, compared to Perth pricing of $1200. And, i truly believe the ideal cut taht i got from
BGD, is something that i have not seen here. it just sparkles more. Would it matter to the layperson, for seomthing so tiny.. probably not.. But i got a family picture with a camera over 2m away, and these small earrings sparkled.
WF has a reasonably good upgrade policy. but from what i read on here
High Performance diamonds have a better upgrade policy. Why upgrade? well. some ppl like their bling, and you can only afford what you can now. in a few years/decade, your partner may want bigger or deserves bigger and you can afford more????
Try to start another thread to get the good ppl on here to guide you.
in doing so, you will need to have a greater understadning of a nubmer of things, and in no particular order:
1) budget
2) clarity
3) colour- white or lower coloured.
4) carat
5) cut- the shape- round, square etc.
6) cut- ideal- brilliance/ sparkle that the stone gives you. Rounds- use HCA tool here, and imaging that is provided is the
ideal scope. AUS vendors are not to familiar, even though Garry , a Melbournian desgined the HCA tool. Fancy shapes need ASET images. Garry Cut nut, has a store with these imaging tools, taht you can buy and take it to the stores to see how the cut perfoms. IT is quite overwhelming to learn, but PS folks like their stones to eek out the max light return. But it may not be improtnat to you, then that is ok.
Spend time in a jeweler to knwo what you guys like.
that is what i did. i went to several stores - mazzacheli, michael hill called the brick and mortar (B&M) stores; to get the understanding of the diamond world. then i went to a jeweler to see the size that i want.. they had a bigger selection of size compared to the BM stores. IT took some time. And, once i knew what my tolerances are - the non negotiables (eg-for my asscher- high colour, higher clarity, 1ct sizing) then it was a little easier. This was all just at the time i discovered PS, but had already engaged Joey.
It is all fun learning. but also time consuming to learn.
Hoep taht helps.
