Thoughts about in-house vs. all diamonds?

[Bry]

I''m trying to find a 1.3-1.4ct round brilliant, and there''s very little selection when using the "in-house" search. But, when you search all diamonds, you get very little information about the diamond (particularly the cut). Questions:

* How do the "in-house" diamonds become in-house? Many of them appear to have large inclusions right in the middle of the table. This leads me to believe that "in-house" diamonds are ones that previous customers called in, then rejected, but then the jeweler keeps "in-house" since the reports/pictures/etc were already made. If that''s the case, other than the super-premium branded ones, it seems to make sense to avoid "in-house"?

* For the "virtual" diamonds, how much thought went into the pricing? Has the actual owner of the diamond already done all the reports/pictures/etc to figure out the true worth of the diamond? Or might I get lucky by picking the right one? If they''ve already done all the work, why don''t they make the reports, photos, etc, available to the dealers to avoid having to drop-ship just to evaluate it?

* How much does it cost a dealer to have a diamond called in, take all the pictures, etc? As an uneducated guess, I might imagine it''d cost $100. In that case, I''d feel bad requesting many diamonds called in, especially since I am not binding myself to purchasing any of them at all. What''s the normal etiquette here?

* It seems like inventory is fairly low this time of year. Given that DeBeers has a huge stock sitting out in some warehouse, why don''t they release stock to keep inventories normal? I feel like I have to wait until next year to find the right diamond, whereas I''d rather buy on my schedule than based on "inventory".

Thanks for any thoughts!

 

[JulieN]

in-house diamonds are not rejects; if a stone was brought in and rejected, it will go back to the supplier.

Whiteflash charges $50, James Allen charges $30. I don''t know how much Good Old Gold charges. These charges apply if you do not buy the stone, and it covers shipping back to the supplier.

Need to update your terminology. DTC.

 

[simplysplendid]

Hi, I have the impression that in-house diamonds are the better diamonds i.e. those that the vendors have decided to keep stock because they are confident of selling them. I have been looking at Whiteflash''s website and have also bought a diamond from them recently and I noticed that the in-house diamonds are those with much better ratings eg: 5 stars or 4 stars as compared to those that are not in-house eg: 3 or 2 or 1 star.

 

[Stone Hunter]

Date: 12/18/2006 2:01:22 AM
Author: JulieN
in-house diamonds are not rejects; if a stone was brought in and rejected, it will go back to the supplier.

Whiteflash charges $50, James Allen charges $30. I don''t know how much Good Old Gold charges. These charges apply if you do not buy the stone, and it covers shipping back to the supplier.

Need to update your terminology. DTC.

With James Allen you only pay if you don''t buy ANY of the diamonds. So say you look at 3 diamonds and he''s called in two of them. If you buy one you don''t pay the charge. Even if it was one he already had "in house."

HTH

 

[pricescope]

Bry, welcome to the forum

>>How do the ''in-house'' diamonds become in-house. Many of them appear to have large inclusions right in the middle of the table...

Companies by them for stock. Which diamonds in particular have you found with inclusions? What clarity grade? Do you judge by looking at the diamond or inclusion plot on certificate?

>>For the ''virtual'' diamonds, how much thought went into the pricing? Has the actual owner of the diamond already done all the reports/pictures/etc to figure out the true worth of the diamond....

Virtual diamonds are listed on the trading networks. Only about 1/4-1/3 of these diamonds are listed in the Internet. Some have scanned certificates available online. However, you have to keep in mind that wholesalers who list their diamonds in virtual databases do not primarily do it for Internet shoppers. (Internet sales are still a few % from total diamond sales). They have a large local jeweler clientele which ask these diamonds "on memo" when a customer looking for such diamond in a local store. (See also Neil''s article "Why are there several dealers offering the exact same stone?")

>>How much does it cost a dealer to have a diamond called in, take all the pictures, etc? As an uneducated guess, I might imagine it''d cost $100. In that case, I''d feel bad requesting many diamonds called in, especially since I am not binding myself to purchasing any of them at all. What''s the normal etiquette here?

It definitely involves shipping cost plus time spent on taking photos, etc. As Julie mentioned, some vendors charge some fee for doing that job although it might be less than the actual cost of such job.

>>It seems like inventory is fairly low this time of year. Given that De Beers has a huge stock sitting out in some warehouse, why don''t they release stock to keep inventories normal?

This is common misconception in our days that De Beers is sitting on a pile of diamonds to keep the prices higher. In fact there is a shortage of the quality goods because of the increasing world demand. That was one of the reasons of De Beers "supplier of choice" program.