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What are we to make of the "sticker price" on diamonds at retail stores? I was told that the sticker price is the "market value" of the diamond; does this have anything to do with Rapaport pricing? I had posted earlier with the following two diamonds trying to determine which was the better value at $9800. Both are GIA Certified Princess cuts:
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The sticker price is whatever the jeweler believes they can get for their merchandise in their locality... This price often changes dramatically by region due to the overhead of operating the jewelry store. For instance, our overhead in Roseburg, Oregon is significantly less than it would be if we were located in Portland, Oregon or New York City...
Rap prices are supposed to be "suggested wholesale asking price" however there is a lot that can be hidden in pricing a diamond based on Rap - proportions have a lot to do with discounts off of Rap and premiums charged over Rap... The Guide is a much better reference.
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Carat Co Cl Depth Tbl Gdl Cul Sym Pol Flr Measurements
1.77 E SI1 74.90% 76.00% med-thk no vg ex fnt 6.67x6.54x4.87
1.60 F SI1 68.90% 75.00% med-thk no g vg fnt 6.75x6.43x4.43
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Do either of these diamonds exhibit any crown height? In other words, when you look at the diamonds from a side view, is the top half of the diamond (the crown) clearly visible or is it really thin? A crown height of 8 - 13% tends to make princess cuts POP but it is quite rare... However it might explain why there is such a significant difference in price between the two stones... One may clearly be cut better than the other. Check out
http://gemappraisers.com/chrt4.htm for a proportions chart on princess cut diamonds - these recommendations are not "absolute" just a reference so don't get too caught up in it... Note that you will need a Sarin or OGI analysis on the stones to really use the charts...
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OK; so the 1.77 appears on paper to be the better of the two although I thought the 1.60 had more shine to it. The strange thing was the price for the 1.77 was $19K and the price for the 1.60 was $27K. Both stores are reputable dealers in the area.
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On a dealer level, the difference in color between the two diamonds is only about $500.00 per carat, so we're going to assume that one of the diamonds is either cut much better than the other -or- they are sourced from different suppliers from which the store gets a different discount... Very common.
How did the store explain the difference in price?
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Have you run a search on PS for comparable princess cut diamonds? Those prices look pretty steep! You could probably save yourself a lot of $$$ buying the diamond on-line... Some of the vendors might even be able to source those exact diamonds for you assuming that the store doesn't actually own them and just brought them in on memo from the cutter to show you... It might be worth a try!
