Far too much fun in Graff

[Pandora II]

I spent today in New Bond Street helping my brother decide what he wants as an e-ring for his gf. We''ll be buying online, but I thought he needed

to see the best I could show him.

So we went to De Beers and then Cartier and then ... I put on my big girl pants and went into Graff.

They were so nice! I spent at least an hour there trying on all their e-rings. The saleswoman was so helpful and enthusiastic and I got to try everything on. Yay!

My brother is great to shop with as he gets so enthusiastic. We ended up deciding a rb with tapered baguette sides was the right way to go.

The thing that really amazed me was this:

Cartier:

1.04ct RB F VS2 with 0.30tcw baguettes F VS2 - £17k

Graff:

1.01ct RB E VVS1 with 0.33tcw baguettes E VS1 - £10k

I would take the Graff over the Cartier anyday...

 

[Independent Gal]

Hooray! Another huge Graff fan here. They''re my favourite high-end retailer. And I too have always found them super-non-snotty and super-eager to let me try stuff on!

 

[Pandora II]

I''ve always been too scared to go in before but they were so much nicer than anyone in Tiffany''s has ever been.

I had a long chat about tsavorites with the saleswoman - my brother mentioned my e-ring to me and she asked what I had (it''s at Wink''s at the moment) - turned out that she has just bought one.

Then she says to me - You must be a Leo.

I was a bit taken aback and said - yes, how do you know.

She then told me that she was too and tsavorites are now down as the new Leo birthstone. Weird or what!

She insisted I tried on some of the 10ct rings - so I could see what they looked like. She had to go and get them from the safe, I didn''t even ask.

I would kill for her job!

 

[Dee*Jay]

I LOVE Graff! There is one on Oak Street that I visit with (alarming) frequency. They are always just wonderful--"Here, please try this 8 gazillion carrot whatever on, it will look stunning on your hand", that sort of thing. Drool...

The Van Cleef here on Michigan Avenue also lets me have a field day, but my favorite salesperson there has just left to pursue his music career (apparently he has quite a voice) and I have yet to find a new person to torture--I mean *visit* with!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Wow, what an amazing contrast in those prices!!!! Yikes!

 

[Deelight]

ohhh nice choice that will look surperb

We don''t have Graff or Cartier here (bloody shame or I would another places to drool) here but I have found is that all the high end jewelery stores are nicer and a lot more accommodating then any of my local mall stores, here try on our 7.47 ct Asscher with pink argyles (that was hardy brothers ) or whatever else you fancy (you don''t even need to ask) You would like to try 5 on at a time sure go ahead and compare but yet I go into a local mall store and they grill me about budgets treat me like I know nothing and won''t even let me try anything on not even the 1ct rings?

go figure.

Date: 10/20/2007 9:43:27 PM
Author: Dee*Jay

The Van Cleef here on Michigan Avenue also lets me have a field day, but my favorite salesperson there has just left to pursue his music career (apparently he has quite a voice) and I have yet to find a new person to torture--I mean *visit* with!

We don''t have a van cleef either

There is a ruby & diamond star shape ring I saw on their website that I am coveting so baddddly

It speaks to me

 

[Independent Gal]

Deelight you''re lucky all the high end jewelers where you are have friendly service! I find the staff at Tiffany usually somewhere between indifferent and obnoxious. Cartier and Bulgari are fine, but a little chilly. van Cleef I also find great, but it''s only at Graff where you really feel like you can sit around with the warm friendly staff for half an hour, talking diamonds, trying on million dollar necklaces, drinking Perrier... They are so just plain NICE there! Not too formal. We sometimes see the Graff guy on the bus and he says ''Hello!''

A friend of mine also recently went in there for the first time and they treated her just the same. Seems like it''s just the policy there. And a good one it is! Because I can tell you straight where I''m heading if I should ever come into serious jewelry play money!

 

[diamondfan]

i love Graff too. They have some stunning things, out of the big name stores I do love them...(but they are all pretty fine for the right item!!!)

 

[smitcompton]

Hi Pandora,

I need clarification on the prices of the diamonds. You have marked pounds, not dollars. I know you live in England so I''m not sure if you meant to say pounds / If it is pounds, diamonds in England cost so much more than in the U.S. WoW.
My brother lives just outside of London with my nieces. Two years ago I sent one of them a tsavorite garnet ring for her 20th birthday. She is a Leo, so I''m happy I sent her that ring. I love tsavorites above all other gemstones and I am a Leo as well. As foolish as it sounds I am happy to have that stone as my birthstone.
I have only been to Cartier in Las Vegas and I was happy to be left alone to browse. They were very nice, but I was intimidated by the guard who stood by the door.
Thanks for your post.
Annette

 

[Pandora II]

Yes, I am talking pounds GBP!

Everything here is expensive even if you have a GBP salary.

I have never had a great time in Cartier or Tiffs, but yesterday has shown me where I will be shopping when I win the lottery! They were more than happy to show me (and let me try on) rings that were easily beyond any normal person''s budget. We both have ''BBC news-reader'' accents, but were in jeans and jumpers - hardly their average customer I would imagine.

The other thing that impressed me was that they can make any changes you want - so you want the side diamonds at a higher angle and the shank more rounded, no problem. You want to set the centre stone in a temporary setting and let her come in and choose her own setting, it''s a great idea you should really think about it.

Do you think if I write a letter saying:

Dear Mr Graff,

Please could I come and be your personal assistant. I make great tea and I''m happy to carry your diamonds for you on overseas buying trips. All I ask in return is that you teach me everything you know and let me try on the bling.

Lots of love
Pandora

They''ll give me the job???


Just out of interest, you guys that go often - have you ever bought anything, or do you just go for the joy? Do they mind if people just want to oggle and admire?

 

[Deelight]

Date: 10/21/2007 1:22:18 PM
Author: Independent Gal
Deelight you''re lucky all the high end jewelers where you are have friendly service! I find the staff at Tiffany usually somewhere between indifferent and obnoxious. Cartier and Bulgari are fine, but a little chilly. van Cleef I also find great, but it''s only at Graff where you really feel like you can sit around with the warm friendly staff for half an hour, talking diamonds, trying on million dollar necklaces, drinking Perrier... They are so just plain NICE there! Not too formal. We sometimes see the Graff guy on the bus and he says ''Hello!''


A friend of mine also recently went in there for the first time and they treated her just the same. Seems like it''s just the policy there. And a good one it is! Because I can tell you straight where I''m heading if I should ever come into serious jewelry play money!

The lady at tiffany''s was beyond nice to me the store was crowed and yet it was like me and BF were the only people there, same thing as I mentioned with all the others none of them have been snotty or dismissive. I never dress up I wear my crappy jeans and a shirt :/ who knows

Dear Mr Graff,

Please could I come and be your personal assistant. I make great tea and I''m happy to carry your diamonds for you on overseas buying trips. All I ask in return is that you teach me everything you know and let me try on the bling.

Lots of love
Pandora

They''ll give me the job???


Just out of interest, you guys that go often - have you ever bought anything, or do you just go for the joy? Do they mind if people just want to oggle and admire?

I think your a shoe in how could they refuse

 

[monarch64]

Dear heavens, I''m sorry to report that it would take me two pair of big girl pants to walk into Graff. Seriously. Maybe DeeJay will take me with her someday, LOL!

Sounds like you had a blast, Pandora, I''m happy to hear about your experience! Once again, until someone like Deejay takes me under her wing and waltzes me in there someday I''m considering myself a minor-leaguer, and that would make DH very happy, LOL!

 

[Beacon]

Date: 10/20/2007 7:00:44 PM
Author: Pandora II
She then told me that she was too and tsavorites are now down as the new Leo birthstone. Weird or what!

She insisted I tried on some of the 10ct rings - so I could see what they looked like. She had to go and get them from the safe, I didn''t even ask.

I would kill for her job!

Oh I hope this is true! I am Leo also but never a great lover of peridot. I never bought my birthstone cause I don''t think it looks good on me. But Tsavorite - now that''s working. Or do you think she just said that cause a high end place like Graff wouldn''t have any peridots?

 

[Pandora II]

They didn't have any either - she bought her's at a gem show in Dubai. The 10ct rings were all D flawless diamonds - an emerald cut, an assher and a rb.

The minute she heard I had a tsavorite, she asked straight out if I was a Leo - and there was no way she could have know. I'm not a huge peridot fan either - although there are some great ones.


Monarch - I so get you on the big girl pants. My brother is horribly good at the 'of course we are going in' thing with shops. He also knows exactly what to say so you get out of any hard sell - most men are crap at that. Not that there was any attempt to sell us anything there.

 

[Delster]

I was in Bond Street on Friday too and Pandora we tried on the same ring in Cartier! How funny! It was really beautiful, your BF''s girlfriend is a lucky ducky to be getting that style. I likey a lot!

Did you get to try on the £117,000 3.20ct F VVS RB in the pave setting? I had to ask about four times before she took it out but I got to play with it in the end...

Then I came home and did a quick Whiteflash search and found a 3.2ct D in a pave setting for £85k! There was a £7,000 eternity band that the girl brought out for me to play with and it was just beautiful. RBs in a shared prong setting, full eternity. It looked just stunning with their solitaire.

We also went to Tiffany and were very very (can I say it again?) very dissapointed. It took ten minutes to get served and even then the girl would only take out one ring at a time and made us keep marching all over the shop to see different styles. I lost count of how many times I asked to be shown a selection of different shapes and sizes, and she kept pointing to the solitaire display that held the 1ct and under rings. I specifically asked to see the RB with square cut sidestones and she told me there was no such ring. I pointed to it and she took it out and told me it was a cushion. I looked at it and said it surely wasn''t and was this setting not only used for RBs? She went off to ask her manager and came back with a very sniper-ish "oh it seems you know more than I do now, ha ha!". Did I mention the ring had a label attaced that clearly said "1.51 RB"?

If I remember rightly that one was £23,000. By contrast at Cartier the girl who served us spoke knowledgeably about cut parameters and told us all Cartier diamonds are graded GIA excellent. She explained the difference between RBs and step cuts very patiently to my poor BF (who was suffering from information overload at this stage with all my questions!). It also seemed to us like Tiffany was MORE EXPENSIVE than Cartier? Seemed like comparable solitaires were priced on average £2k more in Tiffany than in Cartier. That surprised us.



Afterwards we were talking about how much we preferred the Cartier settings to the Tiffany ones. We hadn''t expected to prefer Cartier -- BF is a guy who had considered the Tiffany solitaire the only style of engagement ring that is truly an engagement ring; and I was IN LOVE with that square cut channel set ring. We wondered how much of our change of heart was down to the rings themselves, and how much was down to how lovely the girl in Cartier was? We settled it was A LOT to do with the latter...

We were well dressed but we are not possessed of BBC newsreader accents

Then again, given the whole Celtic kitten thingummyjobby, shouldn''t the pound signs have started to flash in front of their eyes as soon as they heard the thick Irish brogues?

I wish now I''d had the gumption to go into Graff...

 

[Dee*Jay]

Date: 10/22/2007 1:59:08 AM
Author: monarch64
Dear heavens, I'm sorry to report that it would take me two pair of big girl pants to walk into Graff. Seriously. Maybe DeeJay will take me with her someday, LOL!

Monnie, I got big girl pants enough for the both of us--of course I'll take you!

And Delster, come on girlfriend, they don't bite. Go have a little Graff adventure!

 

[Delster]

I almost forgot I got a photo and then it just took me the last hour to get it off of the camera! Ugh, technology! OK here''s hoping this works, different camera and not sure of how the resizing will turn out...

Dee*Jay I promise to bring my big girl pants next time I''m in London. There''s a rumour of another trip next month!

 

[Delster]

hmmm that was a bit small - trying to make it larger, fingers crossed!

ETA: yippee! yum!!!

 

[Pandora II]

Good girl! You remembered the camera!

Trust me, go to Graff. And...the prices are way better than Cartier (see my post above)

 

[surfgirl]

Date: 10/20/2007 7:00:44 PM
Author: Pandora II
I''ve always been too scared to go in before but they were so much nicer than anyone in Tiffany''s has ever been.

She insisted I tried on some of the 10ct rings - so I could see what they looked like. She had to go and get them from the safe, I didn''t even ask.

I know! I found the good folks at Graff Las Vegas so very nice and they also insisted I try on some rings even though I made clear at the beginning that I was just beginning to look for erings. They''re so nice. Ladies, put on your big girl panties and GO next time you''re near a Graff salon. It''s really a lovely experience...

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 10/22/2007 10:39:53 AM
Author: Delster
hmmm that was a bit small - trying to make it larger, fingers crossed!

ETA: yippee! yum!!!

Yay Delster! Thank you!!! Just an FYI, a huge article was in Forbes about Graff I think in the August issue.

He tends to sound a little like Donald Trump in the article; they are friends too.

 

[diamondfan]

I will just take the emerald cut, bottom center...would not want to be too greedy!!!!!

 

[iheartscience]

Date: 10/28/2007 1:23:23 AM
Author: diamondfan
I will just take the emerald cut, bottom center...would not want to be too greedy!!!!!

Well if diamondfan gets the biggest one, I want two! (I DO want to be greedy!) Let''s see...I''ll take the GIGANTOR marquise and...hmmm...I guess the pear looks third biggest, so I''ll take that one, too!

 

[diamondfan]

Truth be told they are all freaking amazing!

 

[Pandora II]

Truth be told, I was rather taken with the vivid pink EC - top shelf far right. It was very pretty in the flesh...

How the heck does one wear those giant 70ct rocks? I mean they are wider than about 2 fingers. Do people actually wear these things? I mean, I can admire them as art - but not exactly wearable.

I hate to say this, and I will probably be evicted from PS, but I actually think I prefer smaller diamonds.

 

[diagem]

Date: 10/28/2007 8:24:44 AM
Author: Pandora II
Truth be told, I was rather taken with the vivid pink EC - top shelf far right. It was very pretty in the flesh...

How the heck does one wear those giant 70ct rocks? I mean they are wider than about 2 fingers. Do people actually wear these things? I mean, I can admire them as art - but not exactly wearable.

I hate to say this, and I will probably be evicted from PS, but I actually think I prefer smaller diamonds.

Remeber..., there is no such thing as a too BIG of a Diamond!!!

 

[bea80]

Be very wary of high street stores and remember that if it sounds like a good deal, it is probably too good to be true. You are never going to get a good deal at Graff. Believe me, the reason your salesperson was seemingly able to instantaneously "come down in price" is because the stones are marked up at about 200% of their wholesale value. If you were to look on Blue Nile this markup would be more like 10-20% of the wholesale value of a stone (assuming a stone of similar cut and quality). With a wholesaler it could be as low as 2-5%.

You also mentioned nothing about the quality of the stone. What about the 4C''s? In the glittering but dim lights it is easy for anything to look great. BE SKEPTICAL! Stores like Graff and Tiffany''s do a lot of business with "middle-budget" customers who believe they are getting a good deal at a fancy store on a smaller rock, yet they are unsuspecting that it could actually be a diamond of much lower quality than the rest of the store''s inventory.

 

[surfgirl]

bea, so, like, do you work for Blue Nile or something?

Seriously though, I think most folks here are well aware of mark ups on luxury brands are pretty saavy about buying diamonds regardless of the source (online, B&M, luxury brand, etc.). I really dont care personally. If I loved something in Graff and I could afford it, I wouldn't care how much the mark up was. It's all relative.

 

[diagem]

Date: 11/3/2007 2:08:41 PM
Author: bea80
Be very wary of high street stores and remember that if it sounds like a good deal, it is probably too good to be true. You are never going to get a good deal at Graff. Believe me, the reason your salesperson was seemingly able to instantaneously ''come down in price'' is because the stones are marked up at about 200% of their wholesale value. If you were to look on Blue Nile this markup would be more like 10-20% of the wholesale value of a stone (assuming a stone of similar cut and quality). With a wholesaler it could be as low as 2-5%.

You also mentioned nothing about the quality of the stone. What about the 4C''s? In the glittering but dim lights it is easy for anything to look great. BE SKEPTICAL! Stores like Graff and Tiffany''s do a lot of business with ''middle-budget'' customers who believe they are getting a good deal at a fancy store on a smaller rock, yet they are unsuspecting that it could actually be a diamond of much lower quality than the rest of the store''s inventory.

What did you just write..., can you explain better please???

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 11/3/2007 2:08:41 PM
Author: bea80
Be very wary of high street stores and remember that if it sounds like a good deal, it is probably too good to be true. You are never going to get a good deal at Graff. Believe me, the reason your salesperson was seemingly able to instantaneously 'come down in price' is because the stones are marked up at about 200% of their wholesale value. If you were to look on Blue Nile this markup would be more like 10-20% of the wholesale value of a stone (assuming a stone of similar cut and quality). With a wholesaler it could be as low as 2-5%.

You also mentioned nothing about the quality of the stone. What about the 4C's? In the glittering but dim lights it is easy for anything to look great. BE SKEPTICAL! Stores like Graff and Tiffany's do a lot of business with 'middle-budget' customers who believe they are getting a good deal at a fancy store on a smaller rock, yet they are unsuspecting that it could actually be a diamond of much lower quality than the rest of the store's inventory.

The saleswoman in Graff was only too happy to let me see the GIA reports for the stones we were looking at. Since when have Blue Nile supplied all that information? The stones I saw ranged from D flawless to F VS2. She even wrote all the stats I asked for for two of the rb's down for me and when I ran them through the HCA they were scoring excellent on all fronts.

Just to compare here:

Ring from Graff - 1.01ct RB E VVS1 with 0.33tcw baguettes E VS1, GIA report, scoring 1.something (I forget) on the HCA - platinum setting and the possibility of any changes you would like, plus the Graff name and experience: £10k and 1 hour.

Brother's Ring - 1.05ct RB H SI1 with 0.35 tcw baguettes G VS2, GIA report, scoring 1.3 on the HCA - yellow gold and platinum setting: around £4,5k and hours and hours of my time.

Here is an E VVS1 of a similar size/quality at $13,766.88, lets allow $3,000 for the setting, now add import duty to the UK @ 20% - all comes in at just over $20k.

How much was the Graff? $20k - so, not such a huge mark up... plus you can walk in and walk out, no customs, no hassle.

If you are time poor and cash rich, it probably makes plenty of sense to go with Graff, plus if you ever want to resell, the Graff will hold it's value way more than the non-brand.


Of course you pay more there on the whole than you will online, but it's an amazing buying experience and many people are happy to pay $$$ for that. Graff's team of benchmen will also carry out any changes that you want to the setting (included in the price) so that it is precisely what you desire.

If I had more money, I would be more than happy to sit back and let Graff show me the best of their pretties and I'd pay their prices equally happily.