Where to buy Ideal cut H&A lab diamond melee?

[DiamondDuck]

Hi, I'm trying to make a chunky ring with only SIC diamonds (around 100 melee + 1 center stone)

The center diamond will be a Jann Paul decagon.
Right now I have a dozen (literally 12) of melee decagon from Jann Paul. But their pricing is monstrously high T_T (120 SGD per 2.2mm decagon LAB GROWN, or 3000 SGD = 2300 USD per carat). I didn't ask about natural, but it's maybe 1.5-1.75x that number.

I notice there's Grunberger Diamond that sells 8HA melee, their prices are extremely fair and good (900-1100$ per carat for NATURAL), but they only have natural diamonds.

Is there somewhere else that sell 8HA lab grown melee?

Thank you.

 

[DejaWiz]

Hello, DiamondDuck!
I'd recommend that you go with the Grunberger melee - that's what a very well-known and highly recommended vendor uses.

 

[concun]

I doubt that the the price for lab melees would be significantly lower than natural melees for the H&A cut you are looking for. The cost of cutting would be the same regardless of lab or natural, the only saving is for the material, which is not much when it comes to melees. That is my pov. It would still look great to match JP lab and natural melees.

 

[DiamondDuck]

@DejaWiz Thank you for the info, the videos from Grunberger that I've seen are really impressive.

@concun There's still a ~4-6x difference between lab and natural at melee sizes. The biggest factor here is the cutting cost and quality control I think.

-----------------------
Not very related, but I'm just super spoiled regarding diamond prices, because in the 2nd month of my diamond journey (just last month lol), I met an Indian guy online that offered me ridiculously low price. I thought it was a scam because it's literally under half/half the price of every local stores I see, but I borrowed one (yes he actually let me borrow after meeting in person) to test at a grading lab, and it's real.

I'm sharing for reference (hope I'm not breaking any rule):
- Natural 3mm DEF / VS: $660 - $730 / carat
- Lab 3mm DEF / VS: $125 / carat (melees under 3mm all have similar-ish prices)
- Natural 1.00ct D VVS2 3EX, strong blue: $3900
- Natural 1.00ct D VVS2 3EX, None: $5500
- Lab 1.00ct D VVS2 3EX, None (IGI): $165
- Lab 1.02ct D VVS1 3EX, None (GCAL 8x): $500
- Lab 3.9ct D VVS2 3EX, None, (GCAL 8x): around $2000

So now I'm looking for someone that can cut melee HA lab-grown for around 2x the normal number ($250). I want to contact an Indian cutter directly to ask, but I don't know any T_T

 

[0-0-0]

Perhaps ask LGD? Their calibrated rounds have similar pricing.

https://www.loosegrowndiamond.com/product/round-shape-calibrated-diamonds/

 

[DiamondDuck]

Perhaps ask LGD? Their calibrated rounds have similar pricing.

https://www.loosegrowndiamond.com/product/round-shape-calibrated-diamonds/

I think LGD's melees are just regular cut diamonds, not AGS Ideal 0 like Grunberger. Otherwise they would advertise that

 

[Alybird]

I, too wish someone would get on this. My tennis bracelet has natural DEF Grunberger melee and I've never looked back on this classic piece.

I am waiting for super ideal cut lab melee to become available for fun pieces, though.

 

[concun]

@DiamondDuck did you get your melees? May you share the source?

 

[0515vision]

Jann Paul does super ideal melee lab tennis bracelets. But you will pay. I inquired about a year ago, and I think a 5” 2.5mm was $300? This is off the top of my head, so it may be off. Plus gold has gone up.

 

[tyty333]

You mean $3000 @0515vision ? Or am I reading that wrong?

 

[Inked]

I bought mele from White Pine and was happy with it. They're really nice there, i called and spoke to them about what i wanted and they had great prices.
https://whitepinediamonds.com/

 

[0515vision]

You mean $3000 @0515vision ? Or am I reading that wrong?

Oh god the power of a “0” - smh
Yes - supposed to read $3000! lol!

 

[concun]

JP quote for 2mm decagon $102/ea or $2960 per carat, and $87.5/ea for 8HA round or $2538 per carat. Again, wait time is 3 months.

 

[DejaWiz]

JP quote for 2mm decagon $102/ea or $2960 per carat, and $87.5/ea for 8HA round or $2538 per carat. Again, wait time is 3 months.

That's great pricing in my opinion, given that they are all custom cut to strict specifications and the meticulous QA that JP puts forth!

 

[DiamondDuck]

@DiamondDuck did you get your melees? May you share the source?

I still haven't found a vendor that sells reasonably cheap lab-grown H&A melee. JP sells it, but it's way too expensive. So at the moment, I only know Grunberger H&A natural diamond (around 850-1200$ / ct)

 

[0515vision]

I still haven't found a vendor that sells reasonably cheap lab-grown H&A melee. JP sells it, but it's way too expensive. So at the moment, I only know Grunberger H&A natural diamond (around 850-1200$ / ct)

To be fair, ideal cut melee takes a lot of labor, You won't get it cheap.