Whiteflash vs. Blue Nile

[lmurden]

For the record I didn''t ask to be agreed with and there is no need for sorry. As far as I am concerned everyone is entitled to their opinions and to give their advice based on personally experience and through word of mouth, but to compare a reputable online jeweler to Kmart is a slight to the jeweler and the multitudes of satisfied customers. Anyway, I hope Lakesha finds what she wants with whatever vendor she chooses.

 

[noobie]

Date: 3/24/2006 3:48:34 PM
Author: caracol
Hello Noobie,




What you are recommending is that for the purchase of any stones, they should be seen??? What about purchases from internet where only a picture sent by e-mail can be seen???



Let me know.


Caracol

Unless you are lucky to live close enough to the internet vendors seeing them in person before buying is going to be tough. You can, as chrono suggested, have them shipped to an independent appraiser to inspect before purchase. I''ve purchased 9 loose diamonds over the last couple of years on line and only three of them were inspected before purchase. Two more were looked at with an appraiser. I have only sent one back. In that case the inclusion was misrepresented and I discovered I did not care for J color stones (personal preference only). I''ve bought loose stones from Blue Nile, Abazias, Good Old Gold, Whiteflash, James Allen and a very good vendor who is banned here for violating forum policies. It just so happened that there guys had stock of what I was looking for at the time.

In all cases, I looked at sarin, idealscopes, H&A pictures and all data before deciding. Of the three I looked at before buying, two were because I was just learning and one I just happened to be in New York for the day.

To answer your question, if you look at all the data available and find a vendor to look at the stones for you, you increase your chance of success by quite a bit. You can then have the stone shipped to an appraiser or rely on the return policy of the vendor. You risk anywhere from $25 to $50 for shipping, but it''s not much of a risk if you do your homework.

However, I have purchased three stones with a cert and sarin and they worked out. This was after I had a very good idea what to look for and knew what a good value and had several top notch stones at home to compare to.

Spend some time and do some research and above all do get hung up on any single stone. Stones get cut everyday. If you miss one because you are not ready, there will alwasy be another one that fits your needs.

Regarding negative comments, my statement was only surprise that some had strong opinions without having a purchase experience. That''s all. I think I stated the pros and cons of each and what situation I would use them. As I mentioned for a novice, WF is a better bet. I used Blue Nile when I was looking for stones with no particular time frame or deadline and found an exclusive stone at a price no PS vendor could touch. I know many have had great experineces with their vendors and are happy to support them. If you search, you will see that I have had good experiemces with WF. I''m just trying to give an objective view.

 

[Mara]

For those who can't see past the fact that I actually wrote KMART (god forbid) instead of 'Any Large Well Known Store' the whole point was that one IS more elite and the other is not. Not like elite is better by any means for all things. I have shopped with BOTH vendors just like I shop at Target for some things and smaller stores for others...big deal. But to me they aren't even in the same league. BN is like a nice maul jewelry store in the Jewelry Center.

Also, I think that BN is something like the #1 seller of diamonds online? I know there have been articles about them in the past. In another article, WF was mentioned in the same article as BN and I believe they even made the same kind of reference where they noted that WF did custom and specializations and BN just sold rings and diamonds or something. So it's not unheard of to class them in different arenas.

I seriously can't believe people would actually spend time getting offended because of the name of the store used in a terminology.

Kmart/Walmart/Target, to me they are all the same in my mind, the point being they cater to the masses and you can see lots of stuff. Even a Costco is the same. Maybe a Costco analogy would have been less upsetting.

I did get my gas grill at Kmart 5 years ago because they had the best price and it's been awesome!

 

[pinkflamingo]

Date: 3/25/2006 9:45:33 AM
Author: Angela1977
The appraiser we hired couldn't believe what an exquisite diamond we'd gotten, and it appraised a few hundred higher than what we'd paid for it, which we really didn't care about (we weren't trying to make a profit off of it

Ummm... unless I am missing something here, most things appraise for more than they sell. It's not like you could sell that diamond for anywhere near what you paid for it.

I wasn't offended by the Kmart analogy. BN is a large well respected store, but specialty boutique, it is not. It appeals to the masses who want to find a nicer diamond than a maul-store diamond. We considered buying from BN when we bought my e-ring but we chose suberbcert for their excellent information. I was miffed that BN would not provide a sarin analysis, and for that reason, I would never buy a diamond sight unseen from them.

 

[Angela1977]

Ummmmm....No, PinkFlamingo, You''re not missing anything. All I was trying to say was that I didn''t get ripped off. Jesus. And like I said, we weren''t trying to make a profit off of the thing. We''re not planning on selling it. We got it appraised for insurance purposes. I wanted to put it on my homeowner''s policy. Was there a point to your post somewhere?

 

[MissAva]

Angela,
That was a bit harsh, don’t ya think? PF was stating that often appraisals are double what people paid. She was trying to ensure that others who read this thread did not come away with a misleading assumption about appraisal values. Different types of appraisers give closer values (ie what you could pay online) and others will list off (online, in store, luxury store) and the ones seen in stores which are way out of line. No one was saying you made a bad purchase. As long as you love it that is all that counts.

 

[belle]

Date: 3/27/2006 9:30:18 AM
Author: Angela1977
Ummmmm....No, PinkFlamingo, You''re not missing anything. All I was trying to say was that I didn''t get ripped off. Jesus. And like I said, we weren''t trying to make a profit off of the thing. We''re not planning on selling it. We got it appraised for insurance purposes. I wanted to put it on my homeowner''s policy. Was there a point to your post somewhere?

you stated that your appraisal was higher than what you paid for it, but that you didn''t care because you ''weren''t trying to make a profit off of it.'' pinkflamingo''s point was that you would NOT make a profit off of it even if you thought you could and more than likely, you wouldn''t get anywhere near what you paid for it. she is absolutely correct. appraisal or not, you would not be able to sell your diamond for more, or even AT what you paid for it.
that is the point.

 

[Angela1977]

If you''ll go back and read my previous posts, I had actually been defending what Mara had said about her K-mart analogy. Though I felt that using K-mart was a little misleading, I understood what she was trying to convey. I was trying to bring peace to this thread.
I was giving my opinion, and then I was hit with this..."Ummm... unless I am missing something here, most things appraise for more than they sell. It''s not like you could sell that diamond for anywhere near what you paid for it."
Was THAT necessary? It had no bearing on the thread whatsoever. All I was trying to say was that I hadn''t been ripped off at BN...that the appraiser had been impressed with the quality of the diamond we had received. And the tone of that statement was pretty condescending, you have to admit. Yes, I may have been a bit harsh, but I feel the tone on here can get a bit condescending at times. "ummm...unless I am missing something here...". The beginning of that post was obviously sarcastic. And the part saying "It''s not like you could sell that diamond anywhere near what you paid for it" when I hadn''t even mentioned anything about selling it was completely unnecessary. I was simply stating my experience...what bearing did that have on the BN/WF debate? The OP wanted to know which was better. I was giving my experience with BN to balance out all of the negativity that seemed to be being thrown toward BN. I''m not even advocating the BN is better than WF...by no means! I was just trying to say that I''d had a good experience personally, and I''m met with condescention. Didn''t you think that was a little harsh?

I apologize if I seemed to get my feathers ruffled. However, we''re talking about something very personal and treasured to all of us...our engagement rings, given to us by the men we love. It tends to hurt if we feel someone is attacking the means by which we aquired said ring, or being snotty, or elitist. I was saying that my BF put a ton of time and effort into making sure I got a near perfect diamond, and that post started off as pretty sarcastic from the get-go which was incredibly unnecessary. I had been in "peacekeeping mode" up until that point...

 

[Angela1977]

And why would anyone assume that I''m trying to have my engagement diamond appraised to have it SOLD? That''s counter-intuitive.

 

[MissAva]

Date: 3/27/2006 10:07:46 AM
Author: Angela1977
And why would anyone assume that I''m trying to have my engagement diamond appraised to have it SOLD? That''s counter-intuitive.

You are misunderstanding what is being written, no one thinks that or has said that. I would assume you were doing it for insurance reasons.

 

[MissAva]

Date: 3/27/2006 10:05:49 AM
Author: Angela1977
If you''ll go back and read my previous posts, I had actually been defending what Mara had said about her K-mart analogy. Though I felt that using K-mart was a little misleading, I understood what she was trying to convey. I was trying to bring peace to this thread.
I was giving my opinion, and then I was hit with this...''Ummm... unless I am missing something here, most things appraise for more than they sell. It''s not like you could sell that diamond for anywhere near what you paid for it.''
Was THAT necessary? It had no bearing on the thread whatsoever. All I was trying to say was that I hadn''t been ripped off at BN...that the appraiser had been impressed with the quality of the diamond we had received. And the tone of that statement was pretty condescending, you have to admit. I disargree, but perhaps that is becuase it was not my ring being discussed, but I typically try and give others the benefit of the doubt.Yes, I may have been a bit harsh, but I feel the tone on here can get a bit condescending at times. ''ummm...unless I am missing something here...''. The beginning of that post was obviously sarcastic. And the part saying ''It''s not like you could sell that diamond anywhere near what you paid for it'' when I hadn''t even mentioned anything about selling it was completely unnecessary. I was simply stating my experience...what bearing did that have on the BN/WF debate? The OP wanted to know which was better. I was giving my experience with BN to balance out all of the negativity that seemed to be being thrown toward BN. I''m not even advocating the BN is better than WF...by no means! I was just trying to say that I''d had a good experience personally, and I''m met with condescention. Didn''t you think that was a little harsh?

I apologize if I seemed to get my feathers ruffled. However, we''re talking about something very personal and treasured to all of us...our engagement rings, given to us by the men we love. It tends to hurt if we feel someone is attacking the means by which we aquired said ring, or being snotty, or elitist. I was saying that my BF put a ton of time and effort into making sure I got a near perfect diamond, and that post started off as pretty sarcastic from the get-go which was incredibly unnecessary. I had been in ''peacekeeping mode'' up until that point...

No one was being snotty, please try to remember that things online are open to interpretation, and that no one is here to put down anothers ring, that is simply not the way it is done on PS, and I can assure you that Lenoind and Irina would NEVER allow that.

 

[pinkflamingo]

I apologize if I came off as snarky.

 

[Angela1977]

And I apologize if I got upset over nothing. I know no one here is out to insult someone else''s ring. I just felt I had really tried to be a moderating voice in this thread and the only thing that was taken from everything I''d written was something about an appraisal that really wasn''t even the crux of what I was saying. And by starting the post with "ummm...unless I am missing something here" sounding a bit condescending. I''m well aware that things appraise for more than you buy them for...otherwise, it wouldn''t be a capitalist society.
I think we should just drop the whole thing. I was completely out of line with a few of the things I wrote, and I sincerely apologize for that...that''s not me. I just didn''t understand what that really had to do with the thead. I was trying to balance the thread out and explain that Mara wasn''t trying to be a monster by saying "K-mart", and I got that back. Just didn''t sit well...i didn''t understand.

 

[sparklelover]

I bought diamonds from both BN and WF, also other online jewelers and B&M stores. They have different stuff to offer. The point is you need to know what you are looking for and what serves your purpose. For example, for a center stone, one may need a vendor with upgrade policy just in case. For a 5 stone anniversary ring, a bracelet or a cross pendent, one should not overlook what BN has to offer, since those pieces are not usually "upgratable" by other vendors either. Even if you are in the market for a loose stone, like someone else said previously, BN can expand your searching universe.
The beauty of internet is that we are allowed more selcetions and comparisons in order for us to narrow down our choices and make an informed decision. Be it SP, GOG, WF, BN or even Tiffany, they each has unique value to offer their customers, or they can not stay in business for long.

 

[aljdewey]

The planets must really be in some funky alignment.......

Every single thread is degenerating into masses of people getting snotty and taking offense. Don''t get it.

Can''t we all just play nicely? Can''t we read without *looking* to get offended?

 

[lakesha]

Thanks everyone for your opinions. I am definately sold on White Flash!

You guys are awesome!

 

[argh&stuff]

Hi.

I understand some of your confusion. There are a LOT of diamond vendors, but what matters to me the most is SEEING the diamond. As in, the one that they''re posting a price for. I have seen some on Blue Nile that are bigger than some on White Flash, for less money, but when it comes down to it, I want to see the sparkle factor, since that''s what matters to my girl.

Even if the price is a little less, if it''s not what I want, it''s not worth it.

I''m new, too, but I trust a lot of the girls who''ve helped me with my search (sunkist, valeria101, blenheim, glitterata, pheg(something... she''s planning an Asain-style wedding, I do know that much), Febbride, and so many others) and everyone I''ve come in contact with via this site think WF is awesome, even if they''ve not worked with them personally.

My point is, word of mouth advertising is the best. And for that, WF kicks butt around here. I also like that I can call and ask if a particular diamond is "eyeclean," and I get a response that''s honest, and that they will tell me if a diamond that''s a bit smaller (and therefore cheaper) is more sparkly. It''s a good thing. I''m starting to trust them, which is saying a LOT!

I reccomend them, even though I''ve not used them (yet).