For $10 you might want to download the book. It explains why fluorescence became a bad guy in 1993 on a completely non diamond appearance matter (fluorescent diamonds were being over graded in South Korea).
Chapter 10 is the best Garry !!!
It's about 5.75, sometimes 5.5 or 6 depending on the brand
Here is another explanation using sunlight to highlight Dreamers point about going dark
www.hollowaydiamonds.com.au
Here is another explanation using sunlight to highlight Dreamers point about going dark
Some good diamonds look dark in sunlight
Some good white diamonds look dark in direct sunlight. Yellow diamonds look great in sunlight but white diamonds look best in shaded lighting.
). Graff will have an endless supply of fine diamonds in fine mountings.
I love Graff and I'm also having a hard time wrapping my head around setting a price-point of up to $80K and then trying to walk back how suboptimal color or other parameters I am willing to accept in the process (!). That's putting the cart before the horse, imo. Using the Porsche analogy: I don't care a ton how well it runs; I just must have one in my garage.
I get falling in love with a brand name like Hemmerle, where no one else does what they do. I can not tell even the best goldsmith that I want a massive brass shank (that will patina with time) lined with 18K YG and with a weathered-copper bezel for my giant colored stone. No one else will do it. And I get falling in love with real Deco-era Tiffany and a few others. But I don't get falling so in love with a brand name for something as commoditized as colorless, conventional-cut diamonds in a well-crafted but conventional mounting unless it is to be able to name-check for people who otherwise would not know.
Maybe the Graff family personally picks all their diamonds. So what? A half-dozen folks on here could easily help you find their equal at a fraction of the price. And if price does not matter, then don't ask us and buy whatever they tell you and assume that the "value" is comparable across their entire spectrum (e.g., 4X mark-up vs. others).
I might pay an extra $10K for an extraordinary make in a mounting but not an extra $50K. The things I have considered buying in your price range have been one-of-a-kind untreated colored gems in (generally) simple antique or vintage mountings; they were "now-or-never" events (and usually nevers
Graff is funny. One son and I were at their Geneva location a couple months ago fresh off a red-eye while we were waiting for my wife to fly in. We stashed our wheelie-bags at the train station and showed up unshaven in T-shirts and jeans. We had to wait in the air-lock-like vestibule for a good 30 seconds ("for de-lousing," my son said) before their time lock would let us in the interior door. But once inside, I was treated like royalty and shown their only colored stones -- in the mid-six- and low-seven-figure range.
You asked the forum for help with securing a discount and I did not ask this in Graff because I made clear that what they showed me was miles outside my target, but a simple "Are you able to work with me on pricing?" goes a long way. Not the first words out of your mouth but after they have invested a couple minutes in the conversation, and you have shown that you know what you are talking about and are there for a reason and are not just ducking out of the sun or rain, and you have seemingly identified something that genuinely intrigues you. Every now and then you will get an "Oh, heavens no, you filthy heathen!" but more typically the response is along the lines of "Well, uh, um, we like to ensure that our customers feel they are getting a good value...what exactly were you thinking...?" If you are too indirect and just hem and haw that that's more than you'd like to spend, they just bring out the tinier ring, also for full list price.
I agree with others to not come in and blurt out a price-point. It's just like a used car lot. They are not gonna show the "$8,000 guy" the $10,000 - $12,000 cars in the hopes that he can successfully talk them down.
Also, if you are shopping with your partner, you need to treat it like car shopping and you'll want to show genuine interest but also play it somewhat cool. You must be prepared to walk away and think about it. You are in trouble if you lead off with, "OMG, Honey this is the one!!!" Once my wife and I played it so cool that it was only back in the car that we learned that the other thought something we were shown was amazing. (It sold right after we left -- lesson learned(ish)!) (In contrast, for vendors whom I know and trust, they lead off with their best price and I respond with a candid assessment of my interest level so the dance is a brief one.)
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