As with any Auction site you are relying on the quality of the photographs and your ability to understand / assess any accompanying paperwork ie GIA report.
You need to keep in mind that the hammer price, if you are the winning bidder, has a 18% buyer premium added for you to pay. Further taxes or duties may also be payable depending on where you live in relation to the Auction House.
If you are bidding on line, before you register and bid you need to check what arrangements are available for shipping to you, with insurance, and how much that will cost. That’s another cost for the buyer.
with Auction there is no “changing mind” or “returning for a refund”. Once the hammer falls if you were the winning bidder it’s yours.
I have been buying jewellery via auction / online over 30 years. If you are new to such activity it does come with some risks.
You need to be fully up to date with what comparable prices are for a similar diamond. And even the smallest difference in cut or inclusion plot can change the $$$ considerably.
An Auction lot may have an appraisal document included (usually supplied by the vendor). It might say “retail replacement” or “for insurance purposes” and a “value” indicated of say $20,000.
That doesn’t mean it’s worth $20,000 and if you buy it for $15,000 you’ve saved money.
You as a buyer have to get online and start looking at comparable stones. You are likely to discover that you could buy one from an online diamond vendor for say $10,000.
In addition, an online vendor might offer free shipping, they might offer a ”7 day look” period, they might have a jewellery partner who can provide a well priced mount AND set it for you. Some even have “Trade up” Policies.
Buying at Auction you get none of that.
So before you buy at Auction you have to calculate what “all those things you won’t get” are worth to you.
Lets say $1,500.
So to “buy at a good price” in my example here you only want to pay, hammer price $7,000.
I have been buying jewellery via auction / online over 30 years. If you are new to such activity it does come with some risks.
You need to be fully up to date with what comparable prices are for a similar diamond. And even the smallest difference in cut or inclusion plot can change the $$$ considerably.
An Auction lot may have an appraisal document included (usually supplied by the vendor). It might say “retail replacement” or “for insurance purposes” and a “value” indicated of say $20,000.
That doesn’t mean it’s worth $20,000 and if you buy it for $15,000 you’ve saved money.
You as a buyer have to get online and start looking at comparable stones. You are likely to discover that you could buy one from an online diamond vendor for say $10,000.
In addition, an online vendor might offer free shipping, they might offer a ”7 day look” period, they might have a jewellery partner who can provide a well priced mount AND set it for you. Some even have “Trade up” Policies.
Buying at Auction you get none of that.
So before you buy at Auction you have to calculate what “all those things you won’t get” are worth to you.
Lets say $1,500.
So to “buy at a good price” in my example here you only want to pay, hammer price $7,000.
I have been buying jewellery via auction / online over 30 years. If you are new to such activity it does come with some risks.
You need to be fully up to date with what comparable prices are for a similar diamond. And even the smallest difference in cut or inclusion plot can change the $$$ considerably.
An Auction lot may have an appraisal document included (usually supplied by the vendor). It might say “retail replacement” or “for insurance purposes” and a “value” indicated of say $20,000.
That doesn’t mean it’s worth $20,000 and if you buy it for $15,000 you’ve saved money.
You as a buyer have to get online and start looking at comparable stones. You are likely to discover that you could buy one from an online diamond vendor for say $10,000.
In addition, an online vendor might offer free shipping, they might offer a ”7 day look” period, they might have a jewellery partner who can provide a well priced mount AND set it for you. Some even have “Trade up” Policies.
Buying at Auction you get none of that.
So before you buy at Auction you have to calculate what “all those things you won’t get” are worth to you.
Lets say $1,500.
So to “buy at a good price” in my example here you only want to pay, hammer price $7,000.
That's likely to be a difficult stone to find comparable offers but call up your favorite diamond dealer and see what they can get you. Most will be willing to give it a shot.
A reminder on auctions. There's usually a buyer's premium or words to that effect. It's a fee that gets added to the hammer price at the end. Sometimes it can be quite a bit, like 25% or more so make sure to bear it in mind when you are contemplating your bid. A bid of $1 doesn't mean that $1 is what you will pay if you win.
Thank you very much for your reply. I never thought about asking local reputable jeweler to see if they can match the price. I’ve done a lot of price comparison via the internet, and feel that the starting price (with buyer premium added) looks to be cheaper than what I can find on the internet; I understand the final sold price may be higher than the starting price, but I think I won’t pay much higher than the starting price anyways. My primary concern is authenticity (whether the stone received is the stone advertised on the auction, and GIA report). Thank you again for the advice.
Get an independent appraisal when you're done. Usually matching it to pre-existing GIA paperwork isn't all that difficult and delivery of a product OTHER than the one described in the advertising is one of few reasons to undo an auction. There are FTC rules about that. Condition can be an issue, especially on an IF and especially if the GIA inspection has been a while and the stone has been set in the meantime.
The auctioneer's appraiser is not the same as YOUR appraiser. There is a huge conflict of interest here.
Sending it back to GIA, or having the auction house send it back on your behalf will most directly answer your questions. Is it the correct stone and has it been damaged or altered. Given the 6 week old inspection, these both seem unlikely, by the way. GIA will want to see it loose if they're involved. What you do from there depends on your trust in the auction house, their setter, and your objectives. GIA will send it to them, to you, to your appraiser, or a setter you choose.
A few other things.
The designation of “Fancy Pink” will add many dollars to the price as will the IF clarity.
Buying a Light Fancy Pink is subjective, how pink will the diamond actually be in normal lighting situations and is the premium worth it?
if you are considering a possible “investment” component to this purchase, a Fancy Pink needs Argyle Certification to be in considered an “investment” proposition.
Likewise an IF clarity adds plenty to the price.
Unless you have a cultural reason or definite personal preference for IF you are paying extra dollars for an appearance that isn’t visually exclusive. By this I mean, normal eyesight at polite viewing distance is unlikely to see inclusions from a VVS diamond. Even some SI diamonds can be eye clean. So the visual difference between an IF down to an SI isnt necessarily apparent.
I think at the price point you will be paying you need an ASSET report. That’s an interpretation of how the diamond has been cut and how it refracts light.
To many Cut is the No 1 important factor,
if a diamond isn’t well cut it won’t sparkle well so the paying of a premium for a fancy colour designation and IF clarity becomes a moot point if the diamond under performs as a diamond.
Bron357. 'Faint pink' is a specific grade. With colors other than yellow and brown, the scale goes Faint, Very Light, Light, Fancy Light, Fancy, Fancy Intense, Fancy Vivid, Fancy Dark. 'Fancy' is a specific grade in the middle of the scale.
They don't have cut grades on fancies because cutting fancies is a whole different science. The cutter wants the light path through the stone to be as long as possible while with D-Z diamonds they want it as short as possible. That's how they make the saturation darker. It's different objectives. An ASET wouldn't be useful in this situation.
The auctioneer's appraiser is not the same as YOUR appraiser. There is a huge conflict of interest here.
Sending it back to GIA, or having the auction house send it back on your behalf will most directly answer your questions. Is it the correct stone and has it been damaged or altered. Given the 6 week old inspection, these both seem unlikely, by the way. GIA will want to see it loose if they're involved. What you do from there depends on your trust in the auction house, their setter, and your objectives. GIA will send it to them, to you, to your appraiser, or a setter you choose.