Why the price difference between these two stones?

[jmb1978]

Hi all,

I'm still pretty new here... still shopping for a nice diamond and I've studied up on the 4 C's and am a bit familiar with the various angles involved in cut evaluation. With that being said, I ran across this scenario and I can't figure it out.

Here are two stones from BGD, both are G VS2, AGS 000. One is 1.09ct and the other is 1.01 ct. Yet, the 1.01 ct is almost $2000 more than the 1.09 ct. The 1.01 ct lists for 11,300 while the 1.09 ct lists for 9,500. When I look at the various angles and specs, they are both very similar. My gut feeling is that 9,500 seems low for a G VS2 of that size.

I've seen this kind of thing before, and it's making me wonder if there is something about the 1.01 stone I am missing, that causes it to be 20% more than the 1.09 stone of very similar specs. Pricing error perhaps? Is there some glaring flaw with the 1.09 stone that I am just not seeing, or something spectacular about the 1.01 stone I am missing? Any insight or constructive help is much appreciated, as I seem to enjoy learning about these things more than shopping for them! Thanks in advance.

The 1.09 stone:
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamond/diamond-detail/?product_id=AGS-104051364022

The 1.01 stone:
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamond/diamond-detail/?product_id=AGS-104052883009

 

[pinkprashu]

It could be because of the price of the rough at the time of sourcing these stones. If you look at the reports you will see the 1.09 was certified on April 22nd vs the 1.01 was certified on July 13th and believe the prices have gone up significantly during that time(20% seems about right) so if I were you and interested in buying a G VS2 stone around 1 carat I would choose the 1.09 one(Usually VS2 stones are eye clean and with BGD signature stones you don't have anything to worry about and I like the look of the 1.09 stone personally and it is bigger than the 1.01). I spoke to Brian in June about Diamond prices and he said that he usually does not raise the prices of diamonds just because the prices have gone up everywhere but it is more based on how much it cost him when he sourced those stones. So I would hurry up and put the 1.09 stone on hold before a lurker snatches it.

 

[swingirl]

Snap up the cheaper one.

 

[jmb1978]

Thank you both for the replies!

I have the 1.09 on hold. I spoke with Janie at BGD and she was very helpful... I asked her why this 1.09 was so much cheaper than the 1.01 and she simply said that the 1.09 really is priced as advertised (9500-ish). She said I got very lucky finding that and that it was my lucky day, and that there are no issues with it at all. It sort of sounded like a price increase on this diamond was about to happen. I'm feeling good about this... I'm really starting to feel that I found my diamond. Every spec is pretty much right in line with what I've been looking for, and I am apparently coming in about $3k under budget... Maybe now I can buy this AND buy that Canon 1Ds Mark III my coworker wants to sell.