Diamond advice

[Etschell]

Originally Posted by GB-man

This was my experience when shopping for my wife’s ring a few years ago. I went to maybe 5 local jewelers and it was shadier than sam’s hot car lot. Ymmv.

I never said they weren’t capable, I was implying that they purposely lead consumers to believe lower quality stones are higher in order to make money hand over fist. Like most steak houses that don’t even use prime.

Woah woah woah there are no trees located on Sam's hot car lot that I am aware of

In all seriousness it is like a horse, without seeing it in person you shouldn't buy it. In fact you should never buy a diamond. But I cant stop marketing and tradition engrained from birth.

Let me make this clear each year 133 million carats are mined. Each year the world adds 80 million people. That means everyone could have a 1 carat diamond if they would be given it at birth.

[GB-man]

Originally Posted by Etschell

Woah woah woah there are no trees located on Sam's hot car lot that I am aware of

In all seriousness it is like a horse, without seeing it in person you shouldn't buy it.

I used Ritani. They ship the diamond to a local cooperating jeweler for you to see it in person free of charge. It took us one return to get the right one but it smoked anything they had on hand.

[timepieceluvr]

Not too many people running around with jewelers loupes examining stones one peoples fingers.... I’d get one that looks great to the well trained naked eye and leave the rest. As several others have mentioned most women aren’t going to ask for a better quality stone in the future but almost all of them will ask for a bigger one. As also mentioned there is a big difference between 2.9 carats and 3.0 or 2.4 vs 2.5.


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[Valenciawatchrepair]

Originally Posted by Etschell

Woah woah woah there are no trees located on Sam's hot car lot that I am aware of

In all seriousness it is like a horse, without seeing it in person you shouldn't buy it. In fact you should never buy a diamond. But I cant stop marketing and tradition engrained from birth.

Let me make this clear each year 133 million carats are mined. Each year the world adds 80 million people. That means everyone could have a 1 carat diamond if they would be given it at birth.

A horribly applied statistic. Is every Carat mined a 1CT VS stone???

[Yoda_Eating_Pizza]

Originally Posted by superdog

I went for cut and clarity over size.

No regrets. It sparkles from across the room and gets many compliments. It’s not quite 2 ct and the cleanest diamond the eye can differentiate.

I went to a friend for help. Someone I trust. From what I understand, it’s a shady business. Find a jewler, not a store, but an actual jewler with a ton of reviews. And yeah, I’d go for something certified. It’s worth the peace of mind.

+1
I prioritized cut, clarity, color over size. Ultimately (after a long embarrassing journey), the future wife helped choose what setting she wanted, which was a big help, since I was clueless. We got it from an independent jeweler, certified AGS, at substantial savings over what a store would have cost.

Not knowing any better, I actually first bought a diamond from Ben Bridge. Even met Jon Bridge himself (grandson of Ben), which in hindsight, was a driving factor (he's quite the salesman). Got the setting from another store. Then went to the jeweler to have it mounted. Then promptly got an in-depth education with a microscope (not just a loupe). Bottom line was that for what I paid, he could have gotten me something bigger & better. Ultimately, I returned the diamond & setting, and got everything from the jeweler. Mrs Yoda now buys all her diamonds from him.

I know many people like Tiffany, and that's cool. But if your jeweler also makes settings, he could also do something like Tiffany. The fact that it doesn't come in the little blue bag will save a lot.

Originally Posted by dkg1616

I also have a relationship with my AD who is very refutable. The issue I am seeing though is they are ~15% higher in price, and at these price levels is a material amount!

Refutable or reputable? Big difference!

[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by Etschell

Woah woah woah there are no trees located on Sam's hot car lot that I am aware of

In all seriousness it is like a horse, without seeing it in person you shouldn't buy it. In fact you should never buy a diamond. But I cant stop marketing and tradition engrained from birth.

Let me make this clear each year 133 million carats are mined. Each year the world adds 80 million people. That means everyone could have a 1 carat diamond if they would be given it at birth.

The missus is a proper expert on diamonds and has banned me from buying diamond jewelry. I bought her earings once and she made me take them back. She used to have good contacts in Dubai and the prices from her contacts were nothing compared to what they retail for. It's the worlds biggest commodity scam.

Originally Posted by Valenciawatchrepair

A horribly applied statistic. Is every Carat mined a 1CT VS stone???

The major houses lock away most of the inventory to artificially inflate the market price. They trickle diamonds into the market to sustain inflated prices. Diamonds are not an uncommon commodity, they are an uncommonly well controlled commodity.

[Etschell]

Originally Posted by Valenciawatchrepair

A horribly applied statistic. Is every Carat mined a 1CT VS stone???

The point was simple, diamonds arent rare. Debate it all you want but 1 company controls the market.

[Valenciawatchrepair]

Originally Posted by Abdullah71601

The major houses lock away most of the inventory to artificially inflate the market price. They trickle diamonds into the market to sustain inflated prices. Diamonds are not an uncommon commodity, they are an uncommonly well controlled commodity.

Originally Posted by Etschell

The point was simple, diamonds arent rare. Debate it all you want but 1 company controls the market.

Never said they weren't inflated, rare, or otherwise. But, all diamonds mined doesn't equal all diamonds made for jewelry. And within that are all the grades and sizes as well. Plus cutters, graders, etc.(aka cost of running a business) This statistic is always presented in a way that makes it sound like there are 133mil ONE CARAT stones mined. Even 266mil half carat stones would still be a ridiculous number.

[Fat_ninja]

Originally Posted by Etschell

The point was simple, diamonds arent rare. Debate it all you want but 1 company controls the market.

Yup...I meet with anglo management occasionally. They had to shut down capacity at one point to tighten the market...

Also for the longest time they dismissed man made diamonds and what did they do recently? Sell man made diamonds to protect the real diamonds



Lol

[wantonebad]

I went with color and clarity the first time, but like others my wife cares more about the size so when we upgraded it, it was super easy to sell the clean stone for a larger stone that wasn't as clean. But she's happy and really that's all that matters.

[mjr24]

Originally Posted by Art 1

That's what I've always heard. This is the first place I have ever heard the opposite. I have seen some extremely bright and colorful 1/2 carat rings that looked great that were of the highest quality. I'm in an area just like you that I see huge diamonds on women. Just looks too over the top. And the depreciation must be awful. No matter what the tell you.

This exactly. No one with a shred of knowledge about loose stones will tell you to go with cut and clarity over size. I’d take a 2 carat, ideal cut, higher clarity diamond over a 2.5 any day with a less than ideal cut, inclusions, etc. People shopping solely off size are suckers for the most part.

As others said, you need to see diamonds in person. Blue Nile is simply a reference point price wise, nothing more. You don’t know which of those stones is eye clean regardless of the grade. You need to see them in person, see them at different magnifications, etc....

[Etschell]

Originally Posted by Valenciawatchrepair

Never said they weren't inflated, rare, or otherwise. But, all diamonds mined doesn't equal all diamonds made for jewelry. And within that are all the grades and sizes as well. Plus cutters, graders, etc.(aka cost of running a business) This statistic is always presented in a way that makes it sound like there are 133mil ONE CARAT stones mined. Even 266mil half carat stones would still be a ridiculous number.

Yeah I know. But lots of multi carat stones could be recut would it average a carat who knows so I digress.

[Starwalker]

Only ever buy with a GIA certificate. Would choose the 2 carat stone with better clarity, cut, and color. It is the better quality product. Do not compromise on quality ever.

[69mach351]

Judge by quality, at least by the eye's standard, then by size. Quality is the determining factor in price for a reason.

[Starwalker]

Originally Posted by GB-man

I would ignore anyone telling you to avoid using GIA cert to evaluate. Unless you’re a gemologist it’s the best way to read cut, clarity dimensions etc.

Most jewelers will try to pass off some bogus cert or say they could send it in to Gia but that would cost more and take time. Then they try to sell you an SI2 H with fluorescence as a vs1 G.

I’d go with the larger one in your instance as both those are more than suitable to the naked eye. Unless your future fiancé owns a 10x loupe you’ll be good to go.

Ritani, James Allen and blue Nile are good online avenues if you want low hassle.

x2!

[Valenciawatchrepair]

Originally Posted by Starwalker

Only ever buy with a GIA certificate. Would choose the 2 carat stone with better clarity, cut, and color. It is the better quality product. Do not compromise on quality ever.

A piece of paper does not make one stone higher quality than another.

Although, for the uninformed it would be a better choice.

[Pw92676]

Wife’s initial ring was just shy of 2/vs1/i and we upgraded to north of 4/vs2/i. I learned a lot both rounds but best take away was let her be present and have significant influences in the decision making.

[aparker973]

I will not add to the data points on diamond specific recommendations-- you are getting plenty!

I'll add my 2 cents on what ended up being meaningful to me: the support after the initial purchase.

The jeweler I purchased from has to this day (a number of years later) been a very reliable person for both me and my wife. My wife will occasionally pop in for a quick cleaning, a hello, and to see what's on display (he's certain to point out to me the items of her interest...). Remember- she is wearing the item, so it's generally more convenient for her to stop in for a service instead of you. If you choose B&M, keep that in mind, if it's important.

The jewelry & diamond business (including watches!) is ... complicated... and having a reliable person over the years (anniversaries, push presents, etc) has put my mind at ease. I get wonderful items that my wife and I enjoy, he makes a living, and we share a light friendship. Fair trade!

[Relyt]

Originally Posted by dkg1616

I posted a while back asking about diamonds as I am going to propose this year to my girlfriend. I am torn between a nice 2.50 or an extremely nice 2.0. Here are my thoughts on where I would be in the spectrum:



2.0: oval, d-f color, vs1-vvs1 clarity

2.5: oval, g color, nice si1-vs2 clarity



My budget is 30k max and have every intention to get around there, but it is not a must if I get the right deal. I want to do a platinum ring with a small halo.



So my question is where would you suggest and why? At what level of cut and clarity does it even matter? At the 2.5 level I am looking at does it even make a difference to the d-f /vs1-vvs1?



Thanks everyone!!

Used to work in jewelry back in the day. I’ll be honest the si1-vs2 is MORE than enough to make her happy. Nobody walks around with a loup checking their friends diamonds for clarity. And if they do, they are ass holes.

Color will be fine in the g region also. You also have to realize is jewelry stores create non natural intense light.

Go as big as you think won’t get in her way. 2ct is very large. Obviously if you have a 30k budget, price isn’t too much of an issue. If you were close to Cincinnati I could get you more than an amazing deal on exactly what you wanted.... at an ever better price due to my connections in the old jewelry business. But with that amount of money I’d be hesitant to pick something and send lol.

Absolutely no reason at all to do “d- flawless”. That’s just more of a prestige thing and in my opinion doesn’t add anything over the vs1-vvs range. Nobody, with the naked eye is going to see the inclusions in that range. And just because you spend 10-15k more on a stone, that to the naked eye Appears the same, you are throwing money down the drain.

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[Relyt]

Double post whoops.

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[Dr.Brian]

I went for quality and cut over size. A superiorly/ideally cut colorless diamond will be a beacon that gets noticed. YMMV. I don’t know anything about oval diamonds.
Good luck.
I’d add that we’ve moved on to other, actually rare stones for jewelry. I find them a better value, and at ~5 carats or so they make a statement.