Where can the average consumer buy small diamonds?

[bluethunder]

I was just wondering who sells the small diamonds that jewelers use in necklaces and settings...can these diamonds be bought over the internet?

 

[NewYorker]

I know israel-diamonds.com sells them. I've never bought from them though. I buy mine in NY diamond district.

 

[niceice]

http://www.whiteflash.com carries smaller ideal cut diamonds, however they do not list them on their web site, you will need to initiate a request via email or by telephone. Tell them that we said hello

 

[Mara]

yes whiteflash sells small melee type stones--superideal even. very interesting. i have often wondered how these would look as compared to typical melee stones which most likely are NOT well cut because they are so small and people don't scrutinize the cuts or even question/care about them half the time. if you use them--please post pictures. i also will say that i priced them out against what we were charged for the type of stones (but not 'ideal' cut) for my wedding ring and wf's prices for the melee were more than competitive. If I didn't want my wedding ring to look EXACTLY like my e-ring which was made with regular melee stones--I would definitely use WF.

 

[bling]

Thanks for mentioning that mara! I too would love to see some pics..if anyone out there has some...of a wedding band in which ideal small diamonds were used..
I had the exact same question! and also, what the rought price of these stones are...ranging from .05 to .10...
thanks!!

 

[tlee]

Is WF the only dealer that sells small diamonds with ideal proportions? We're thinking about the ring below (1/2 ct tw) and most places that we've talk to say they'll sell us diamonds in the range of G-H or F-G. And only WF has promised diamonds with superior cuts.

My question: do people generally choose these small diamonds that go in a wedding band or do they just rely on the dealer to do it for them? How picky should I be? What if I want all D diamonds for bragging rights? These diamonds are so small that none of them come with certs. Is there any way for me to know the characteristics of these diamonds before purchase short of sending them to GIA?

The Robbins Bros. near our house wants to charge us around $3K for this setting (D-F, VS2). It's not a Diana Classics ring though. An on-line broker will sell the Diana ring with similar characteristics for around $2K. We haven't gotten a quote from WF yet. Any opinions on which route we should take?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

T

 

[Griffin]

You might want to keep looking for that mounting. With .5 carat TW, even with D/VS stones, I can tell you that it is not a $3k mounting or even a $2K mounting.
Find a designer in your area that can source the stones or look on the internet for someone who can make it for you.


As for getting your hands on small stones? That's easy - just buy one big stone and whack it with a hammer!

 

[weemodin]

3K is way high, IMHO. I just got my e-ring setting made for $700 -- it's got 1 ctw of diamonds 3/4 bezel set eternity style all the way around the band -- I think they're .06 ct. each, G-H, Vs2-SI1. Obviously, this is in white gold, so platinum would tack on a few hundred extra, but I really think you could get that ring done for under $1000 easily. Shop around, or find someone who does custom work.

 

[Mara]

Yes I wouldn't pay over $1k for that setting....have it custom made if you need to but don't overpay!! I would also use melee stones from WF and it will still come under budget most likely...I found that their melee stones aren't any more expensive than our local jeweler's stones AND they are superideal melee.

 

[Shappy]

I bought a ring just like that (1/2 carat t.w. white gold) for $320 last week in Los Angeles jewelry district--virtually every store has that design. As for cut in that size diamond--get real- no one can see cut or inclusions in those tiny stones, real diamonds sparkle you don't need to re-invent the wheel here. You can also get the same thing at eweddingbands.com

 

[tlee]

Sorry for the confusion. The prices I quoted were for the whole ring, including the diamonds. I think we will have it custom made afterall. I'm just a little leary b/c there are so many versions of this ring out there. It'd be nice to buy from a B&M store b/c we'd get to see the exact setting in person before we buy. However, we'll probably save over $500 if we bought on-line.

T

 

[Mara]

tlee...melee stones are NOT that expensive...so that still is way overpriced. If you assume 10 diamonds of around .05c each for .5ctw....each stone at WF is around $85 I believe..though I think they give some discount for multiple melees purchased. So around $850. The setting may be around $400 if they can find a manuf. who has one already. So total around $1200/$1300 MAX I'd pay for this. $3k is absolutely hands down ridiculous for such a common setting with melee you don't know a thing about.

 

[tlee]

Wow, I didn't know that I could save that much shopping on-line. Robbins Bros. wanted $1400 before tax for this setting. The $3K was their estimate of how much it would cost to put in D-F stones instead of the usual G/H. I thought that was a bit high considering that an on-line dealer told me these stones could be found for as low as $35 each.

T

 

[valeria101]

I know this is a tad exaggerated, but the quality of such small stones really makes the difference between disposable gold items and serious jewelry. Those might be small, but many! Since a carat of small diamonds is so much cheaper than a carat of big ones, the cut, color and clarity of those specs has little financial excuse not to be top. Inclusions are very visible in them: not in each stone, of course, but a "field" of SI2 melee looks like the same set of VVS-s after a sand storm

Color.. well, I don't really know since most of things I had direct experience with were YG. Instead of paying 3k instead of 1k I'd rather go D-G, VS or better on the stones. It really does make a difference, as does the cut. What size are those diamonds in the band? Those prices seem rather random from this side...

There are two down-to-Earth arguments for such exaggeration:

One: these stones are not certified as the big ones are: accents came in parcels with some range of colors and clarities guaranteed (usually two clarity grades and two or three color grades, as far as I had to deal with). So do not count on great looking SIs and white Ks here.

Two: these small stones are the big money savers of jewelry makers. Since most buyers do not pay much attention to their quality, anything goes... literally. While there may be a good reason for this in some inexpensive silver trinket, not sure about a wedding band.

Just a thought...

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

GH = HI in practice on mellee.
F/G VS is the way to go

But the thing that will make the most difference is the cut.

Any jeweller can select the better cut's for you out of parcels with an ideal-scope - or you can yourself if you are handy with a loupe and tweezers. It aint that hard. we select all our smalls this way - 20 - 30 stones a minute.