who should set my diamond?

[theboss]

Thanks in advance for any help with this, I just found this site and have already invested about 2+ hours reading posts. I have a couple of hopefully simple questions.

I found a setting that I''m really in love with. I''m working with a friend of friend that works with brokers and jewelers and I''m supposedly getting "wholesale" pricing. Regardless of the deal, I''m happy with the price and style of this ring.

She was also pulling stones for me to look at (princess cut - .85-.95, F-H, VS1-SI1). However, she insists that the jewelers she''s working with don''t typically certify stones under 1 carat, she''s shown me 3 stones so far, one was 1.03 EGL cert''ed and the other 2 were uncerted. The EGL stone was too rectangular for my liking and was unimpressive in clarity and cut as well, one of her other stones was nice but her prices were within 5% of similar diamonds on Blue Nile and I''m not comfortable buying uncert''ed (or EGL) stones in this manner anyway. While I like several diamonds on BN, I''m not really impressed with any of the settings.

She is OK selling me the setting without a stone and I have found 3 nice diamonds on BN that I''m deciding between. My question is if I get the setting from her and the stone from BN, who should I have set it? I''m not crazy about giving my BN diamond to her to have set by someone I don''t know, let alone know where they''re located. If I find a local jeweler that I''m more comfortable with, would they be happy about taking someone else''s ring and a BN stone for setting and sizing? What should I expect to pay for that?

Also, since I''m buying the pieces individually, at what point should I have them independantly appraised? Isn''t it better to have appraisals done separately?

 

[Regular Guy]

These sorts of scenarios get discussed here with some frequency, and you may want to use the search feature to review how some of them turn out. One option to consider, since you seem to be out of pocket with respect to someone to set the stone...Dave Atlas is an appraiser here who has suggested he can both help get your stone set, and accept responsibility for damage, should this happen, so he''s one resource for both providing both an appraisal, and getting the setting done, all in one swoop.

Best,

 

[perry]

You are wise to separate the ring (setting) from the diamond purchase.

Why not purchase the setting - and send it to whomever you purchase the diamond from.

Since you are new here, I would like to point out that you can probably get a diamond that has more sparkle for less money than the Blue Nile selection.

Here is how this works:

If your time is very short and you want a truely spectacular diamond without knowing why it is spectacular and with a lot of certification - from dealers with solid customer service ratings: I suggest that you contact NiceIce or Good Old Gold, These vendors charge a slightly preimium price for a preimium product and service - but are probably on par with Bule Nile pricing.

If you don''t need all the extra certification: Contact: Winfields, Whiteflash (A Cut Above Line), Superbcert.

If you have a couple of weeks and want to find a truely spectacular diamond, without extra certification, and at a lower price: read the tutorials (and some sections several times), use the search features of PriceScope, and ask for help once you can identify what you are looking for and your budget (there are people here on pricescope who will go out of their way to help you).

If you really want to learn about diamonds and find the absolutely best deal.... Welcome to pricescope, it will be a many month education.

I suggest that you have the diamonds and/or the final set ring independently appraised.

Hope this helps,

Perry

 

[theboss]

Thanks for the replies so far.

I cannot send my setting to BN because they do not want the responsibility of handling and shipping a 3rd party setting.

I would imagine some local jewelers would have the same issues because of the risk/reward that was pointed out already. I guess it''s time to work the phones a little, if anyone has any suggestions, I''m in the chicago suburbs.

I will check out the pricing tools a little more, I feel like I''ve learned an enormous amount already and I think I have been able to spot the better stones on BN so far. To answer your questions a little more, I am interested in a certified stone and while I''m not 100% sold on BN I was recently on the phone with them and their customer service was excellent. Perhaps later today I will post some of finds to get some opinions.

 

[Slykat12]

I am bumping this up as I find myself in the same dilema. I gots a marquise that would be very difficult to replace if damaged and my seller sold no settings to even check out. I do like Unions and Whiteflashes settings and would be willing to buy the weddings bands from them as well. I wonder what there policy is?

 

[pinkee]

always use the person who you bought the stone from, unless the setter will guarantee damages - I replace my setting a jewelery exchange, they sent me internally to the setter in the bldg, they chipped my stone and of course who I bought the new setting from is not responsible nor was the setter because they said they are not responsible for damages - word to the wise, always work with person who sold you the stone!

 

[denverappraiser]

Date: 6/29/2005 7:53:09 AM
Author: pinkee
always use the person who you bought the stone from, unless the setter will guarantee damages - I replace my setting a jewelery exchange, they sent me internally to the setter in the bldg, they chipped my stone and of course who I bought the new setting from is not responsible nor was the setter because they said they are not responsible for damages - word to the wise, always work with person who sold you the stone!

Pinkee,

The original seller of the diamond is usually a good choice but they are not the only choice. Sometimes they aren''t even the best. The issue is the liability of the setter and the diamond sellers don’t always assume this either, especially if they didn’t sell the mounting. There are plenty of jewelers who will take this liability, they just aren’t usually the least expensive. Do not assume that the person who sold you the diamond will take setting liability without asking. The same is true of the seller of the mounting. Ask them. Go with someone who agrees to take the liability, even if they charge a bit more. I agree that it’s best to buy the diamond, the mounting and the labor from the same firm but if this isn’t possible, my next choice would be to buy the labor the people who sell you the ring, assuming they agree to the risks.

The key problem is that there are 5 choices for why the stone might break during the setting process or break or fall out later. The options are:

Defective diamond
Defective ring
Poor setting craftsmanship
Customer Abuse
Bad luck

If different vendors supply the various elements, there is lots of room for finger pointing about who should bear the responsibility for potential problems. Doing as much as possible with the same firm and allowing them a specific opportunity to refuse the job after their craftsman examines all components supplied by others if they aren’t satisfactory goes a long way to solving these problems.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ISA NAJA
Independent Appraisals in Denver

 

[Slykat12]

What? Looks like setter screwup was left off. I doubt they are completely innocent 100% of the time.

 

[denverappraiser]

"Poor Setting Craftsmanship" means setter screwup.

 

[Slykat12]

Hmmmm I saw that but thought it meant the "setting was crafted poorly"
''

 

[denverappraiser]

That would be under the broad grouping ''defective mounting''. There is a certain amount of overlay in these two areas because of supplies used but mostly it''s a confusion because the word ''setting'' can be both a noun and a verb.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ISA NAJA
Independent Appraisals in Denver

 

[theboss]

As I mentioned before I bought from Blue Nile, so I couldn''t have them set the stone. I did talk to Chubb (their preffered insurance company) and they told me that damage to the stone during the setting process was covered by their insurance policy. They also insure loose stones for up to 60 days.

As it happens the local jeweler I brought the ring and setting to was not comfortable with the job, mostly because the setting was designed more for round cuts and I had a princess (because I thought that was her preference)... The more I looked at the setting the more I was thinking the same thing so I do think it was good advice.

I''m so in love with the setting that I''m actually going to return the stone and look at some slightly larger round stones that will show better in the setting.

 

[Slykat12]

Wow I am shocked Blue Nile won't set their own stone! They lost a point with me!!!

Psst most the stones they sell other venders carry anyhoo.

 

[denverappraiser]

Date: 6/30/2005 1:00:30 AM
Author: theboss

I did talk to Chubb (their preffered insurance company) and they told me that damage to the stone during the setting process was covered by their insurance policy.

I''m no expert on Chubb policies but are you sure about this? With most companies this is not the case and it''s a fine reason to consider Chubb where available. JM has some level of coverage on this but it''s extremely restricted. Most will simply deny the claim.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ISA NAJA
Independent Appraisals in Denver

 

[theboss]

Just for clarification BN will set their own stone, but only in their own setting.

And I''m as sure as I can be about the chubb thing without actually having to go through the claim myself. I called them and specifically asked that question, the rep called the claims dept and returned my call the next day with the info. She said they would probably try to go after the jeweler for some of the damage but that it wouldn''t affect me. It''s probably something that''s worth calling back and asking a different rep.

 

[SquareCut]

Why did she sell you a setting for a round diamond if she knew you were looking at princess cuts? She should have told you. That is why I don''t deal with "friends of friends". Going with a round cut is a good choice - I''m a convert. It''s better to have someone who can do the whole job. I would call Mark Turnowski because he can get you the blue nile stones at better prices, set the stone for you and could have gotten you the setting wholesale too. A one stop shop at a discount, and since he is located in the diamond district he has immediate access to a greater inventory. Plus he is a pleasure to work with.

 

[JohnQuixote]

Date: 6/28/2005 9:05:29 PM
Author: Kimberly
I am bumping this up as I find myself in the same dilema. I gots a marquise that would be very difficult to replace if damaged and my seller sold no settings to even check out. I do like Unions and Whiteflashes settings and would be willing to buy the weddings bands from them as well. I wonder what there policy is?

Hi Kimberly,

Our mounting policies vary depending on the setting (ready-set, other brand name, Whiteflash design or custom commission), as well as the quality and condition of the diamond. We''ll gladly discuss specifics if you have a setting in mind.

 

[Slykat12]

Thanky John will call ya after the holiday.

 

[theboss]

Date: 7/2/2005 10:21:27 AM
Author: SquareCut
Why did she sell you a setting for a round diamond if she knew you were looking at princess cuts? She should have told you. That is why I don''t deal with ''friends of friends''. Going with a round cut is a good choice - I''m a convert. It''s better to have someone who can do the whole job. I would call Mark Turnowski because he can get you the blue nile stones at better prices, set the stone for you and could have gotten you the setting wholesale too. A one stop shop at a discount, and since he is located in the diamond district he has immediate access to a greater inventory. Plus he is a pleasure to work with.

Yeah I was wondering the same thing... her argument was that her guy would''ve been able to set the princess cut stone in it without a problem... I guess that''s true to some extent but the setting clearly looks better with a round stone. It didn''t even occur to me the first time i looked at it, the 2nd time I questioned her on it a little bit but she said she would change the head for me. I also thought it overwhelmed the stone given the carat range I was shopping in, which the independant jeweler also agreed with (of course he''s trying to sell me $9,000 stones).

All''s well that ends well I suppose and I have a new stone on order which should fit the setting nicely at only about $600 more than my princess cut (I sacrificed a lot of clarity to get the size and color I needed), so I''m keeping my fingers crossed that it will work out better this time... I definitely have a better idea of what i need now (in terms of stones).