What should I be paying? Please help ASAP hoping to close the deal on Wednesday

[bigjermy]

Hi,

I am looking at buying a Canadian Princess Cut diamond with the following characteristics:

0.56ct
D Colour
VS2
Excellent cut, polish, symmetry

Sorry I do not have the table, girdle, and other percentages but I was wondering around what price should I be paying. I have looked at numerous sites on the internet but have not found anything comparble. My ring will be in 19K white gold having the diamond mentioned above in a low 4 prong claw setting and there will be 3 - 3pt diamonds channel set on each side of the main stone (6 stones total) with trapezoid windows on the side of the band so that you can see the side stones from the side as well.

The guy I am going through has given me a price of $4950 for everything. He stated that the centre stone itself is worth about $4500 the 3 point side stones $80 each totalling $480 and then the 19K italian gold which I am guessing would cost around $800. This is being custom made for me so I have to factor in that also.

I live in Canada so the price is in Canadian dollars but with the dollar being almost at par now I imagine it would be the same in the US.

He figures that all said and done it would likely be appraised at around $10,000. He has already spent about 5 hours of his time with me trying to find a diamond that I am happy with and in designing my ring with me. He has shown me each stone that we have looked at with the loupe and has pointed out anything that he has seen, most times I can''t even see the flaws he is talking about.

Does all this seem decent or am I getting ripped off?

Cheers,
Jeremy

 

[Deelight]

I did a search for princess cut diamond here https://www.pricescope.com/ and the price was just under or around the 2k mark in D Vs2 stones

I think that price is seriously outrageous IMHO

 

[insite]

polished prices quotes the price per carat of a GIA XXX princess cut stone to be $2,390 for a D VS2 stone. for a .56 carat, that means that the wholesale price for that stone is in the neighborhood of $1,340 US. i can tell you that i just purchased a round GIA XXX for about 3% below the wholesale prices quoted on that site, so deals are there to be had.

i checked solomon brothers, which is where i bought my stone. they list in GIA XXX, D VS2, princess cut, a .53 carat stone at $1,379 and a .75 carat for $2,322. if i look for a $4,500 stone w/ those grades, it''s over a carat. i''d say you should look elsewhere.

 

[bigjermy]

Thanks for the quick reply. So you are thinking around $2000 then even for a Canadian diamond that is of excellent/ideal cut? I originally brought in a few prices off of the internet to the guy I am working with and he stated that all classifications have a range and that since he hand selects each diamond his are at the higher end of the scale. He also mentioned that his prices are higher than you would find on the internet because I have the ability to actually select the diamond I want instead of just seeing pictures of it. Furthermore, since he is an independent jeweller I figured he needs to make some profit and thus marks up the cost. So for the diamond he is asking about $3600 I guess or somewhere in there. Does that still seem far to high? Also, the 19K gold will come at a higher cost and from what I heard it is harder to work with so will likely cost more because of this too.

Thanks for your help,

Jeremy

 

[insite]

i don''t personally know the difference between the diamond market in the US vs. Canada. i also don''t claim to be an expert. i would say that here in the U.S., i would not pay more than $1,500 for that rock. if i really shopped around & were a savvy negotiator, i bet i could buy it (from a store, like you) for $1,250. i understand wanting to ensure a fair profit, but this guy is surely taking you for a ride.

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 6/1/2008 12:29:53 PM
Author: bigjermy
Thanks for the quick reply. So you are thinking around $2000 then even for a Canadian diamond that is of excellent/ideal cut? I originally brought in a few prices off of the internet to the guy I am working with and he stated that all classifications have a range and that since he hand selects each diamond his are at the higher end of the scale. He also mentioned that his prices are higher than you would find on the internet because I have the ability to actually select the diamond I want instead of just seeing pictures of it. Furthermore, since he is an independent jeweller I figured he needs to make some profit and thus marks up the cost. So for the diamond he is asking about $3600 I guess or somewhere in there. Does that still seem far to high? Also, the 19K gold will come at a higher cost and from what I heard it is harder to work with so will likely cost more because of this too.


Thanks for your help,


Jeremy

Yes it still seems far too high. You can find a canadian diamond with the same specs for MUCH MUCH less if you wish to look around a bit. And also, who is saying it's ideal cut? Who certified it? This can make a HUGE difference with whether it really is an ideal cut or not...anyone can say that a diamond is ideal cut...it doesn't really mean anything unless it is from a reputable grading agency.

 

[bigjermy]

Thanks again for all of the replies. The diamond is either GIA or Gemscan as he said those are the certifications that he usually gets. I called a few other stores quickly to see what their cost for the entire ring would be. Another store with a 0.5 D good or very good, vs2 said that it would be $5300 so the stone would be 5pt smaller and a worse cut. I called Birks and they quoted me about $7300 for a 0.6 D excellent, vs1. So I am still waiting to hear back from a few other stores on what the price is looking like but from what I can tell in Calgary this is not that bad of a deal.

Cheers,

Jeremy

 

[bigjermy]

Also, just wanted to add that the jeweller comes recomended to me by a few people and is known in Calgary for producing high end jewellery so that is why I was trusting him.