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UK jeweler does not grade gems, concern?

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Carcosa

Rough_Rock
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Jul 31, 2018
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So I am looking for a Sapphire ring webshop in the UK. I have come across both Glamira and thediamondstore. Now at the latter, they don't display quality in the sense of A, AA, or AAA. Just that the rings are from Thailand and that they're unheated, I've asked and they state that they do not grade the rings. What do you guys think, should this be a concern? I know my partner would like the design better from thediamondstore, but with Glamira you can handpick the quality. Obviously I want value for money and make sure she gets an adequate stone. (budget is around 2000 pounds)
 
Grading of A, AA, AAA and such isn’t standard. They vary from store to store. CS should be selected on an individual basis.
 
Hi @Carcosa, The grading of AA or AAA doesn't make any sense for sapphires. If you can tell us what size and shape you are looking for, we can recommend stones to help you. $2600 USD will buy you a nice stone.
 
Is that the actual stone you will receive or an approximate (like or similar)? That's the part I haven't figured out yet.
 
I don’t see any independent lab confirming their sapphires are untreated, only their word.
 
I would absolutely not buy this. No lab report, no guarantee of what you're getting, no ability to even pick what stone you get.
 
Lab reports still aren’t the standard here in the UK. Some jewellers will offer an in-house CoA, but honestly, most people don’t know or care about them. I think they’re becoming more common with diamonds, but not with CS yet.

Speaking of the whole ‘AAA’ thing, I completely agree with them being essentially useless because they are just an opinion and can vary wildly, but it doesn’t help that The Birmingham Assay Office grade tanzanite for jewellers using that system, so people think that’s the standard thing.
 
lovedogs said:
I'll admit I don't know how much it would cost in taxes to buy a ring from the us, but here are options from a highly regarded vendor on these boards. You can see exactly what you're getting and the quality of the sapphire and the diamonds.

http://www.diamondsbylauren.com/index.php/jewelry/109ct-blue-oval-sapphire-ring-r8264

http://www.diamondsbylauren.com/index.php/jewelry/132ct-blue-cushion-sapphire-ring-r8502
Click to expand...

From my (many!) experiences importing from the US, you can expect to pay around a third of the items value...*sob*
 
Deathspi said:
Lab reports still aren’t the standard here in the UK. Some jewellers will offer an in-house CoA, but honestly, most people don’t know or care about them. I think they’re becoming more common with diamonds, but not with CS yet.

Speaking of the whole ‘AAA’ thing, I completely agree with them being essentially useless because they are just an opinion and can vary wildly, but it doesn’t help that The Birmingham Assay Office grade tanzanite for jewellers using that system, so people think that’s the standard thing.
Click to expand...
Depending on price, I might not insist on a lab report. But I would need to be buying from a trusted vendor AND be able to see exactly what I was buying. That's my biggest concern about OPs ring he linked. A big jeweler (seems like mall quality) that doesn't grade and doesn't let you see what you're getting, but is charging for "unheated" stones. No way.
 
lovedogs said:
Depending on price, I might not insist on a lab report. But I would need to be buying from a trusted vendor AND be able to see exactly what I was buying. That's my biggest concern about OPs ring he linked. A big jeweler (seems like mall quality) that doesn't grade and doesn't let you see what you're getting, but is charging for "unheated" stones. No way.
Click to expand...

Completely agree with you on wanting to see the stone you’re getting, but again, that’s the norm unfortunatly. It’s pretty awful really, you go to some of the websites for supposedly ‘high end’ jewellers here and sometimes they won’t even tell you the weight, let alone treatments!
 
lovedogs said:
I'll admit I don't know how much it would cost in taxes to buy a ring from the us, but here are options from a highly regarded vendor on these boards. You can see exactly what you're getting and the quality of the sapphire and the diamonds.

http://www.diamondsbylauren.com/index.php/jewelry/109ct-blue-oval-sapphire-ring-r8264

http://www.diamondsbylauren.com/index.php/jewelry/132ct-blue-cushion-sapphire-ring-r8502
Click to expand...

Thank you for showing me that lovely ring. The only thing is, but maybe it's just me, it looks like it's tiny if I look at the finger photo?

A third of the item on import is acceptable for me. Now I am only worried about how long it would take to get here and how it would work if the size is incorrect (shipping costs and such). I will reach out to them. :)
 
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Carcosa said:
Thank you for showing me that lovely ring. A third of the item on import is acceptable for me. Now I am only worried about how long it would take to get here and how it would work if the size is incorrect (shipping costs and such). I will reach out to them. :)
Click to expand...

Any decent local jeweller can easily resize. That would be your best bet I think. I'm in the UK too, shipping costs are usually £20-30 and take 1-2 weeks depending on which postal company is used. Be prepared for it to sit in customs for a while on the tracking. You have to pay the import fees to release the item to you and there is usually a handling fee as well. As @Deathspi says about a third in fees is about right.
 
Carcosa said:
Thank you for showing me that lovely ring. The only thing is, but maybe it's just me, it looks like it's tiny if I look at the finger photo?

A third of the item on import is acceptable for me. Now I am only worried about how long it would take to get here and how it would work if the size is incorrect (shipping costs and such). I will reach out to them. :)
Click to expand...
Which ring are you looking at? The more expensive one is almost the exact same size as the one you were looking at online. The first one ($1800) is smaller, unfortunately. But the stones (both diamond and sapphire) will be a million times better in quality.
 
Edit. The more expensive one ($2300 USD) is almost identical in both price and size (if you convert to pounds). It'll just be in a totally different league in terms of quality. You can also reach out to David (owner of DBL), and ask him if he's willing to give a small "pricescope" discount to offset your costs for shipping/taxes. It never hurts to ask, especially if you are nice about it.
 
Remember ct and spread (mm) aren’t the same due to the cut quality.
 
Carcosa said:
A third of the item on import is acceptable for me. Now I am only worried about how long it would take to get here and how it would work if the size is incorrect (shipping costs and such). I will reach out to them. :)
Click to expand...

It’s 20% import VAT, plus around 3% duty, so more like 23% than 33%. And I agree - size it locally.
 
lovedogs said:
Edit. The more expensive one ($2300 USD) is almost identical in both price and size (if you convert to pounds). It'll just be in a totally different league in terms of quality. You can also reach out to David (owner of DBL), and ask him if he's willing to give a small "pricescope" discount to offset your costs for shipping/taxes. It never hurts to ask, especially if you are nice about it.
Click to expand...

I like the design of the 1800 one better (more importantly, I think my partner will prefer it). I've already been in touch and they send me a better picture with the full hand, where the size is actually not bad at all, it's not huge but that is not neccesary, as long as I am getting quality.

Btw really appreciate your help in pointing me in this direction.

They also adviced to resize locally if required, which is fine.
 
Carcosa said:
I like the design of the 1800 one better (more importantly, I think my partner will prefer it). I've already been in touch and they send me a better picture with the full hand, where the size is actually not bad at all, it's not huge but that is not neccesary, as long as I am getting quality.

Btw really appreciate your help in pointing me in this direction.

They also adviced to resize locally if required, which is fine.
Click to expand...
Yay!! So happy that you're going with them. David is amazing, and the quality is critical in a ring like this. I don't think it'll look small at all once it's on her finger. And you're doing the right thing by choosing what style *she* would prefer. Sometimes guys go astray anf ignore their partner's preferences. That's almost always a mistake. Keep us posted!!!
 
Carcosa said:
(more importantly, I think my partner will prefer it)
Click to expand...
I have many, many guy friends, and it makes me cringe when I hear something like this. What you THINK she wants may not be what she actually wants, as my friends have often learned. It's always a good idea to let her pick for herself. Surprise should be worked into the proposal itself, and the ring itself should be her pick.

Edit-Ask her, and turn the “think” into a know.
 
voce said:
I have many, many guy friends, and it makes me cringe when I hear something like this. What you THINK she wants may not be what she actually wants, as my friends have often learned. It's always a good idea to let her pick for herself. Surprise should be worked into the proposal itself, and the ring itself should be her pick.

Edit-Ask her, and turn the “think” into a know.
Click to expand...

Same. My husband almost bought me a princess cut engagement ring, thinking I liked the cut. We ended up with a cushion to compromise.
 
voce said:
I have many, many guy friends, and it makes me cringe when I hear something like this. What you THINK she wants may not be what she actually wants, as my friends have often learned. It's always a good idea to let her pick for herself. Surprise should be worked into the proposal itself, and the ring itself should be her pick.

Edit-Ask her, and turn the “think” into a know.
Click to expand...

Not sure, a proposal with an empty box?
 
When I imported my ring in to the UK, I had to pay the 20%. VAT on it.
 
grading CS in A, AA etc reeks of incompetence. From such people a guarantee of no-heat is worth about ..all.
 
Carcosa said:
Not sure, a proposal with an empty box?
Click to expand...

Pick out the ring before you propose, and hang on to the ring until you surprise her with the actual proposal. That's way preferable to getting surprised with the wrong ring. She'll be excited you're buying a ring, but she will have to wait for your proposal to actually wear it. This way you know it's the right ring, in the right size.

This was how my fiance did it, and I'm more than happy with how it turned out. Or I guess, you can buy the ring first, propose within the return period, and offer her to pick out whichever ring she would want within your budget range.
 
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Remember that once resized, the ring is almost always no longer valid for a refund or exchange.
 
lovedogs said:
Yay!! So happy that you're going with them. David is amazing, and the quality is critical in a ring like this. I don't think it'll look small at all once it's on her finger. And you're doing the right thing by choosing what style *she* would prefer. Sometimes guys go astray anf ignore their partner's preferences. That's almost always a mistake. Keep us posted!!!
Click to expand...

They just told me the sapphire is heat treated , this gives me some doubt. Curious to find your thoughts.
 
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