Where to buy small stones?

[goldengirl]

Pricescope has been invaluable for teaching me what to look for and what''s a reasonable price for e-ring-sized diamonds...

I''ve kinda been eyeing a pave setting...and I frankly think the one I''m seeing is grossly overpriced.

Where do I check for smaller, pave-sized diamonds?

 

[noobie]

Waht size and grade are you looking for?

 

[goldengirl]

Sorry--I could have worded that much clearer.

Looking for stones sized 1 to 5 points; color G-I, clarity any that's reasonably eye-clean, good but not necessarily premium cut.

I don't even know if there IS a place to research stones this tiny? Are jewelers the only ones with access to these stones, or could I hand-select them if I wanted? And even if I wanted, would it be anal-retentive and a waste of my time, and should I just let the jeweler pick them out for me?

Looking at graduated pave ctw ~.20 for the e-ring and ~.30 for the band.

Edited to add: this will be single-sided pave. Inspiration pic attached.

 

[noobie]

OK, It should only be a few hundred for something like that. Dirt Cheap can get them quickly in a couple of cut grades, but full cut melee look best. Josh can help you over the phone. Signed Pieces has high quality VVS/VS F/G stuff for about $1000 per carat or less. The DCD stuff is VS and G for a few hundred less per carat I think. GOG can get them for you as well.

The ring doesn''t look like it graduates from 1 to 5 points. The size change looks smaller. As well, your ring maker will need the melee to make sure the mountings match, since diameters are approximate.

 

[strmrdr]

pretty much any of the PS vendors can get them for you.
Gary @ diamondexpert.com has the lowest price on that kind of stuff a lot of the time .
They arent on his website you will have to fire him off an email.
Gary is great to work with.

diamondexpert.com

 

[noobie]

Gary is great at response! However, last I checked (two months ago), Gary can''t sell small quantities in graduated sizes (it''s too bad). WF will not sell ACA melee loose as well.

 

[goldengirl]

Interesting. Is the labor on a pave setting typically much more expensive? (I imagine so, of course.) Noobie, you''re right in that the ring doesn''t graduate from 1 to 5 points... it''s (the e-ring) about .2 tcw, so if I had to guess I''d say it graduated from 1 to 3 points. But that''s just a guess.

But, wow, a few hundred dollars for the stones? I understand plat''s expensive but BN is asking $1000 for each piece of this set. I wanted to see what the parts would cost me because I''d be okay with wg... looks like it might be do-able with the right jeweler, then.

Thanks, guys.

 

[noobie]

If you''re just trying to save money I don''t know how much you''ll save by buying your melee loose. I bought mine becasue I was having a custom ring made and my jeweler didn''t supply at very good prices.

You are probably better off just buying it from BN unless you want some changes made to the setting and band.

 

[goldengirl]

No, I do want some changes made... I love the ring but there are some details lacking I''d strongly prefer in my own set. I was just wondering about prices, so I could kinda get an idea what a custom job might run me.