Sorry for the novel, but here''s my situation:
I think I may have found the engagement ring I was looking for. After considering buying off the Internet I decided to buy from a store near my house instead. I feel he''s an honest seller because he''s the only one who showed me the rapaport sheet without me asking and he even said he pays less than what''s on the sheet. He also spent a lot of time explaining what affects diamond prices and even how the industry works, and so far everything is in agreement with what I learned online (well almost - see question #2 below).
The ring I''m considering is solitair .73ct, G, SI2 with a good cut. It''s in a custom made (by him) setting of 18K white gold, platinum coated. It comes with a GemScan certificate. He said I can have it for $3000CDN taxes included which seems very reasonable to me.
My questions are:
1) I know of the importance to get an independant appraisal, but how exactly do I do this? Do I leave a deposit with the seller and indicate if the appraisal comes back lower than what the Gemscan indicates then I want my deposit back? Or do I have to buy it outright first? What if he gives me a different diamond then accuses me of switching? Also a different dealer told me the appraisal can come back a grade lower and still be considered accurate - I don''t want that ring if it comes back F color I1.
I''m just not sure of the logistics of performing this step.
2) Directly opposite to what I always thought - he told me that 18K white gold (NOT yellow) is stronger than 14K white gold. His explaination is that with 14K they use 58% gold plus copper and silver or tin (honestly I don''t remember which he said). With 18K gold the 75% gold is so soft they need something stronger to hold it together so they use almost all nickel in the remaining 25% - which is stronger than the copper in the 14K grade. Did anyone else hear of this? Is it true? I want to use the strongest white gold for the prongs (14K or 18K). He said he can make the ring in either 14K or 18K and isn''t really pushing either - it''s my decision, but his comment confused me. There''s only a $100 price difference so I don''t think he''s trying to rip me off. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
3) He said after making the setting he plates them in platinum. Is this common? I never heard of anyone doing this before (but I never asked). I asked him if he plates it how do I know it''s gold inside and not just steel? He said it can be tested by running an electrical current through it and a machine can determine the karat value. It was left at that. Any comments on this platinum plating?
Thanks in advance for all the help. If everything sounds OK then I plan on viewing the ring one more time tomorrow and if I get a good feeling I''ll buy it.
Guido
I think I may have found the engagement ring I was looking for. After considering buying off the Internet I decided to buy from a store near my house instead. I feel he''s an honest seller because he''s the only one who showed me the rapaport sheet without me asking and he even said he pays less than what''s on the sheet. He also spent a lot of time explaining what affects diamond prices and even how the industry works, and so far everything is in agreement with what I learned online (well almost - see question #2 below).
The ring I''m considering is solitair .73ct, G, SI2 with a good cut. It''s in a custom made (by him) setting of 18K white gold, platinum coated. It comes with a GemScan certificate. He said I can have it for $3000CDN taxes included which seems very reasonable to me.
My questions are:
1) I know of the importance to get an independant appraisal, but how exactly do I do this? Do I leave a deposit with the seller and indicate if the appraisal comes back lower than what the Gemscan indicates then I want my deposit back? Or do I have to buy it outright first? What if he gives me a different diamond then accuses me of switching? Also a different dealer told me the appraisal can come back a grade lower and still be considered accurate - I don''t want that ring if it comes back F color I1.
I''m just not sure of the logistics of performing this step.
2) Directly opposite to what I always thought - he told me that 18K white gold (NOT yellow) is stronger than 14K white gold. His explaination is that with 14K they use 58% gold plus copper and silver or tin (honestly I don''t remember which he said). With 18K gold the 75% gold is so soft they need something stronger to hold it together so they use almost all nickel in the remaining 25% - which is stronger than the copper in the 14K grade. Did anyone else hear of this? Is it true? I want to use the strongest white gold for the prongs (14K or 18K). He said he can make the ring in either 14K or 18K and isn''t really pushing either - it''s my decision, but his comment confused me. There''s only a $100 price difference so I don''t think he''s trying to rip me off. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
3) He said after making the setting he plates them in platinum. Is this common? I never heard of anyone doing this before (but I never asked). I asked him if he plates it how do I know it''s gold inside and not just steel? He said it can be tested by running an electrical current through it and a machine can determine the karat value. It was left at that. Any comments on this platinum plating?
Thanks in advance for all the help. If everything sounds OK then I plan on viewing the ring one more time tomorrow and if I get a good feeling I''ll buy it.
Guido
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