For those buying diamonds online, is it worth it with the current economy market??

[PKR]

hey all, let me say this site has been a wonderful resource for me!

My partner and I are in the marke for a diamond and have been looking at B&M Jewellers for 6 months in Sydney Australia and we just cant get over how expensive the diamonds are. A 1.43 RB, G, SI1, Ex Vg Vg was quoted to us as 19000AUD (13 458 USD). We regret not buying online when the dollar was good. Now he says its not worth it buying a stone from GOG or Whiteflash and other trusted sources because once the Aussie dollar gets converted, taxes, custom duties, insurance etc etc it becomes way too expensive, even more so than buying retail.
But I really want to buy from Whiteflash or GOG. I do not like any of the stones I have seen here and know that GOG will be able to source me a nice stone.

Any thoughts or opininions??
Any help will be much appreciated.

 

[oldmancoyote]

Have you looked at Holloway DIamonds? While they may be in Melbourse, so not too handy for a visit from Sidney, at least you avoid the issues with taxes/customs...

 

[mjlover]

hello fellow aussie!
my boy got my diamond from diamond exchange ... have you tried them? Yes, he got it at a better price because our $ was stronger back then but i know that i was surprised at how good the price were ... i then got my diamond set at King St jewellers and am going back there to get our wedding bands done.

 

[PKR]

Thanks guys, I''ll check out Diamond Exchange and Holloway.

did you like your experiences with King St Jewellers?

 

[arjunajane]

Hi PKR, welcome to PS!
I am also Aussie (Perth), and we did get my ring from GOG (diamond) and WF (setting) earlier this year.
I can feel your pain about the exchange rate,

although it is improving.

I also second checking out Holloways. Also in Perth is Jogia Diamonds - they have their own brand of ideal cut stones, plus import from the same online databases as US vendors. There have been a number of PS'ers who have purchased from them recently and all have been very happy. They all lived in the Eastern States, so I wouldn't worry about the distance.

http://www.jogiadiamonds.com.au/

Personally, I have heard a number of negative things about D. Exchange and also had my own unpleasant experience, so I can't reccomend them - but of course everyone is different

You can do a search here on both Jogia and D. Exchange and decide for yourself based on consumer reviews

If you still have no love with those places, then I wouldn't be deterred from buying O/S. In my experience, even after taxes etc often it still works out cheaper, plus of course you may get a higher quality product. I am a big proponent on buying from GOG/WF and other PS vendors due to my own great experience.

Here is a link explaining how to work out how much GST/import you have to pay - it may help with your budget decisions.
It will probably cost ~USD$100 to ship, plus your shipping Co will also charge you another ~$100AUD in customs processing fees.
http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=5549

Apart from that, I would just suggest doing your due dilligence - find a couple stones and settings you like at GOG and WF, price them out, convert to AUD and add GST etc. Then you will have some idea how they stack up against the Aussie vendors.

Please let us know if you have any other questions !

 

[Imdanny]

You could go down in size from 1.43. Then perhaps you could get those other attributes in a GOG or Whiteflash diamond for your budget. Personally, I''d rather have a higher quality stone, than a larger one.

 

[sydney80]

Hey PKR,

I thought I''d put in my two cents, as I was in the exact same position as you and your fiance! I live in Sydney, and was in the market for an e-ring over the last 6 months, with research extending back much further.

I also regret not purchasing online from the US 6 months ago when our dollar was at ~95cents (a small understatement... I was pretty p*ssed off with myself!). After it dropped to ~60cents and looked like going further South I started investigating local web and B&M retailers as the price differential didn''t seem great enough to still purchase online overseas (after you add in GST, customs duty, shipping, insurance and quantify hassle, risk etc)

If you want to read a bit on my thoughts as to the pros and cons of a PS vendor vs B&M likeTiffany:
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/b-m-tiffany-vs-ps-vendor-but-for-an-aussie-and-in-context-of-declining-fx-rate.100820/

A quick summary of what I found:
Tiffany - 1.07 carat I VS2 ~$16 - in stock - this one didn''t score well on HCA
Tiffany - 1.07 carat I VS1 ~$17,400 - this one scored well on HCA but had to be called in from overseas. The SA was not helpful which was offputting. She kept telling me that all Tiffany cuts are Excellent and only provided the specs are I really pushed.
Holloway - 1.01 carat H SI1 (Tiffany style plat setting) - ~$16k. Response fast and efficient
Jogia diamonds - prices/specs are online, but not that many Crossfire diamonds to choose from. Prices seem reasonable, response fast and efficient

In comparison, a 1 carat WF ACA (H / VS2) is US ~$7k. Add $1300 for a platinum Tiffany style setting and $130 for shipping and insurance = US$8450. This converts to roughly AUD$12k. Add in a further 10% GST and 5% customs duty = ~$14k.

So buying from overseas was still about 15% cheaper - as to whether this is worth the risk/hassle in purchasing overseas is up to you. I was ready to call in the other I/VS1 from Tiffany and purchase upon seeing the stone... But then our dollar spiked up to 65 cents+ after the US cut interest rates. And then it surged again with all the trouble in the Middle East - it''s now at a 4 month high of 71cents.

Anyway, I finally bought a diamond last week from WF as I don''t think exhange rates will be getting much better - our reserve will probably be cutting rates again when they resume in early Feb. In fact there are a few predictions out there of sub 50cents if you choose to believe it. One other thing - when I did a Telegraphic Transfer through WEstpac it looked like they clipped the ticket by 1 cent in each dollar on the exchange as well as charging $30.

For the record, here is the diamond I bought:
http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/Whiteflash-ACA-cut-diamond-1844706.htm

in this setting:

http://www.whiteflash.com/Engagement-Rings/Styles/Solitaire/Classic-tiffany-style-Knife-Edge_1137.htm


Ok I''m done. and PS - it may help to work Aussie/Australia into the subject line - there are quite a few more experienced Aussie PS''ers who will be happy to help you out.

 

[ksyd]

Hi, another sydney sider here! I have spent endless hours comparing online asscher diamonds both in australia and overseas and I finally settled on buying from Jogia Diamonds in Perth as well. I did also speak with Diamond Exchange but felt more comfortable with Yogesh at Jogia who actually had the diamonds in stock and was very transparent with all the information I needed ie. reports, photos, videos all available online. I may have gotten a better deal overseas, but for me personally, I wanted someone local in case there were any issues.

After getting a few quotes from local wholesalers and retailers, I felt that his pricing was also very good.

Having said that, GOG etc were fantastic for learning more about what to look for!

 

[kat6]

Date: 1/3/2009 7:19:59 PM
Author: mjlover
hello fellow aussie!

my boy got my diamond from diamond exchange ... have you tried them? Yes, he got it at a better price because our $ was stronger back then but i know that i was surprised at how good the price were ... i then got my diamond set at King St jewellers and am going back there to get our wedding bands done.

We got ours from Diamond Exchange too and were very happy with it. We didn''t use King st jewellers though, we used another Sydney jeweller recommended by mdx. I haven''t seen it yet but am confident it will be perfect.