vjd3

Please ... don't try and talk me out of it ;-)

I'm looking for a good source to buy a diamond soon, just the stone, will do a custom setting later. Anyone have any experience buying wholesale, or importing from say, Belgium or Amsterdam? Want to find someone trustworthy and save some money for future mods ;-)

For the knowledgeable, probably about a 1.75 to 2 carat, princess cut, VVS1 or 2, decent color, but not a bank breaker (G to H-I). Not sure what the Rap price is at the moment, but certainly not looking to buy at a retail store.

Vic
95 C4 cab

Rick Lee

Lots of online places to get them domestically and save the sales tax. I got mine online from McGivern's in OH. Sure wish you were looking for the kind of rock I have for sale, since my engagement ended. I need the money for more mods!

TroyN

When I bought my wife's engagement ring, I went to the Diamond District in NYC. This was about 4 years ago, but at the time there was a daily price list that everyone agreed to, so there wasn't a whole lot of benefit to going to one place over another, at least price-wise. You need to know what you're looking for though the shops I went to seemed to have what they advertised. You're not too far away, you should shoot down and check it out. Good luck!

GratefulJED

Vic, I think Bruce Anderson would agree - buy the best color, clarity, & the most weight that you can afford, they are all about the same age - - I don't know what a princess cut is but I can say that my wife's emerald cut is more expensive cause more of the rock is cut away or it takes a bigger rock, I don't know. The diamaond business is different fro sure. My guy sent me a dozen diamonds worth I don't know how much via USPS - I guess he knew that I knew that if I skated I would be dead. I think some good advice would be to find a good appraiser (GIA or better)to look at what ever diamond you are going to buy to verify. We once bought a diamond from Columbia Emeralds while down in the Carribbean and it turned out to be a fake, so you have to be careful. If you want, my wife is really hooked up here in NM and would certainly help get another woman a rock...

flatair

I as well live in NYC and went to the diamond district, I know a wholeseller there. Color H and above is really hard to tell unless you have a white card and colorless light, spend your money on a really great cut - that's what makes it catch light and sparkle. If you're interested I can contact them to see if they're willing to deal with ya. Let me know

Brad

graham_mitchell

This topic has come up a few times in the OT forum, IIRC. Tried a search?

Randy M

"Hi, I'm Tom Shane"

"Now YOU have a friend in the diamond business. The Shane Co."

I've been hearing this damn commercial everyday for the last 25 years.

vjd3

Brad, that would be great ... my email's vjd3@yahoo.com

Relax, Graham. I did a search. I just trust the people who appreciate the 993 more ;-)

Vic
95 C4 cab

TheOtherEric

Ok, as much as i feel that threads like this SHOULD HAVE BEEN POSTED IN OFF-TOPIC, I'll give you my advice. Buy G/H, VS2/SI1. That's your best value by far. Go check out www.pricescope.com forums-- that's the only way to get properly educated about diamond buying IMHO. I'd buy from www.dirtcheapdiamonds.com or www.whiteflash.com because these guys give you tons of info from which you can actually judge cut quality. EVERYONE talks up cut quality, but VERY FEW actually give you the info you need to evaluate it. I bought from whiteflash and am very very glad i did. I'd never recommend Bluenile or Mondera for that reason.

TheOtherEric

Oh, p.s. here's the other big lesson I learned about diamond buying: if it's GIA certified, it's almost certainly a POOR CUT. GIA doesn't take any measurements from which you can determine cut quality, so if a diamond is cut poorly, the vendor gets it GIA cert'd. If it's cut really well, they get it certed by AGS (check out BlueNile's signature line and you'll see what I mean). In other words, if you want a great cut, which everyone says is the most important C, then avoid GIA cert and seek AGS as a rule.

[Edit: accidentally included EGS with AGS]

mrsullivan

you dont know me.... but if you did, you would trust me when i tell you -- i researched this topic to death a couple years ago when i bought my wife's engagement ring.... we had dated a very long time, and i thought she deserved something very nice... i read all the web boards, met with gemologists, researched different grading labs, etc. In the end, i came to the conclusion that the absolutel cleanest, nicest, diamonds at the appropriate price were SUPERBCERT diamonds.

They are Super-Ideal Hearts & Arrows Diamonds and are cut with the utmost precision. All of their diamonds are certified by GIA and are consistently graded as excellent-excellent.

Cutting tolerances are extremely tight as measured by either Sarin or MegaScope analysis. Table percentages typically range between 55-57 %. Depth percentages range between 60.5 to 61.8 %. SUPERBCERTS consistently score very high (VH) on the BrillianceScope on measures of brilliance, dispersion, scintillation.

I have ABSOLUTELY no relationship - formal or informal - with this diamond manufacturer.... however, I really recommend them. Since purchasing, I have had several independent gemologists comment that my wife's diamond is one of the best they have ever seen in their career.

www.superbcert.com - OR- if you will be in NYC, you can go look in person...they are in the Diamond District on 46th.

Bruce SEA 993

OK Guys - here comes another viewpoint - from a wife! Admittedly, getting more senior in age, definitely past the engagement phase. Now I look at the gems my husband has purchased for me over the years and have decided that I no longer desire them. Had I to do it over again I would opt for a custom gold design, or even a moisonite, for two reasons.
1. The African diamond trade is ripping off the people of that country (try Canadian diamonds if you want to avoid human depravation)
2. The money spent on a diamond can make wonderful investments for your future, the future of your community or your world.
3. It took our professional certified gemologist 40 minutes to determine that a "man made" diamond was in fact, man made. He would not like his name published, but he is well trained and qualified.
4. The "investment value" of a diamond depreciates much faster than an auto. As one of the rennlist members mentioned his gem that he would like to sell due to a change in status is a difficult transaction to make.
5. The amount of money spent on that type of jewelry could also be spent on "auto jewelry".

Having said all of that, LOVE does not have a price tag and as a woman I appreciate all of the efforts to express your love by doing the research, finding just the right piece to exemplify your love to that special person in your life. Of course, after years of marriage, I delight in the toilet seat being put down, the coffee in bed in the morning, and...driving the Porsche whenever I want to. Oh, life is good!!!

Bruce SEA 993

Oh, by the way - the aforementioned message was from Bruce's wife, not Bruce. If he had written that I might have shot him!!

akolodesh

Mrsullivan brings up a good point about diamond hunting: the four C's are just the proverbial tip of the iceberg when evaluating the quality of the stone. This is especially true when looking for rounds where table, crown, girdle, pavillion, culet and the angles associated with them are all factors. The reality is that a round diamond can have the appropriate table size (55-57%) and depth (around 60%) -creating what on the surface would be characterized as a tarkolvsky (spelling??) ideal. One, though, needs to go further to find real quality - that includes understanding the approriate crown and pavillion angles, the impact girdle thickness has on the brilliance, the size of the culet and the "fisheye" effect. Once someone moves from rounds, you can throw all this stuff out the window since the angles are not nearly as standardized.

In terms of certification, AGL provides the highest $ value as it takes all the above factors into consideration (many times 12 -15% above RAP), GIA is the next best and provides for a premium over RAP (8-10%). EGL is considered the least stringent and is usually valued below RAP.

Rounds are consistenly the most in-demand stones. Radiants and Pears are very nice and can provide a good deal of brilliance, marquies are a bit out of favor currently (but these are trends which always swing back and forth). Princess cuts have no brilliance, but some people really like them as they are more subdued.
What I have found is that when you really compare apples to apples: Not just the four C's but certifications, etc... The prices are not really that much different (unless you buy your diamond at the mall - in which case you can expect to get hosed).

Take any of this info with a large grain of salt: I am not, nor do I pretend to be, a diamond expert!!!

Benton

Hi-jack:

Vic, how come you are selling your car? I saw it in the classifieds.