Help a NOOB: This looks

[Ice Noob]

Hi Guys,

I''m a grad student who is looking to pop the question soon and since finding PriceScope, I''ve been devouring as many posts as I can! I do genuinely want to say THANK YOU to everyone here... tons of practical information and helpful people who take the time to help others out.

Now, on to the nitty gritty: I have been looking for a ~1.5ct princess shape ring with a reasonable color and clarity and of course EXCELLENT cut. Now I found this on WF and for the price, it looks like a steal!!

Carat: 1.44
Color: J
Clarity: VS2
Cut: Very Good
Shape: Princess
Depth %: 73.2
Table %: 70.0
Polish: Excellent
Symmetry: Very Good
Fluorescence: None
Measurements: 6.30*6.24*4.51
Length To Width Ratio: 1.00
Lab: GIA
WF: 4/5 stars rating
Price: $4,970


Now, I know a lot of people would recommend a better color but here''s the TWIST: I actually have seen this loose diamond in harsh white light next to a G and it still looks great (I guess I''m not that color sensitive)!

Okay, now to explain: You see, I live in NYC and my friend recommended a private dealer who works in the infamous Diamond District but not in a B&M - he is from a family diamond wholesale business who sells to regular customers based on personal referrals. He pulled this diamond for me and offered to sell it to me for $5,620. Initially, I felt that for the size and quality, it was great but something seemed familiar. Then I got home and found the EXACT same diamond (down to every spec and 1/100''s of a millimeter) on WF. Sadly, the link is now gone since WF can''t list it if this dealer has pulled it out of the shared national inventory that a lot of these guys all share (this was according to the nice lady at WF that I spoke to).

Soooo... my question is besides confronting the dealer on the mark-up (he claimed he was giving to me ''at cost''), do you think this 1.44 princess is worth getting?

I know everyone here loves ACA Princess but honestly, I''m looking to spend $6k plus probably another $2k for setting and matching band for a total budget of $8k. My fiancee wears a 6.5 size ring and although I know she would love any size ring that I get, I also know her personal preferences and this poor Grad student is trying his best to meet them without sacrificing too much quality.

Thanks for reading through this....

Ice Noob

 

[CharmyPoo]

There are lots of horror stories around deals with family friends. It is up to you if you want to take the risk or not. At the end of the day, I guess it is a business and they all need to make money. Some markup is probably expected.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

You know what? I wouldn''t spend another minute with that man because you cannot trust him. He lied to you essentially.

Instead, if you get WF to call in some stones for you and they evaluate which ones are best overall, they can make recommendations to you. They stand by those recommendations because they allow trade-ins for the full purchase price in the event you ever wanted to upgrade the stone.

Seriously, we hear about these "private referrals" for wholesale stones all the time. If they are selling to you and me, they aren''t whoelsale. Why deal with someone you can''t trust?

 

[Lorelei]

Welcome Noob!

We just need one thread if that is ok, otherwise people will be answering both and it gets confusing, that way you won''t have all the info you want to hand, so it is easier to stick to the one then all the info is in the same place.

 

[Ice Noob]

Hi Lorelei - totally my bad! I totally agree and emailed the Admin through the "msg admin" button as soon as I realized what I did.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 12/22/2008 4:57:53 PM
Author: Ice Noob
Hi Lorelei - totally my bad! I totally agree and emailed the Admin through the ''msg admin'' button as soon as I realized what I did.

No worries! I just want to see you get the help you need - welcome to Pricescope!

 

[Ice Noob]

Thanks everyone for the advice - I didn''t realize this ''private referrals'' deal was such bad business. I did wonder why a wholesaler would take the time to visit with me but he said some story about doing this for fun because he helps out people he knows and their acquaintances. I''ve only met with him in his offices in a heavily secured building he shares with other diamond wholesalers and in the vault basement of that building. So I figured he was legit.

I called him today and said I saw this same diamond online and he acted confused/surprised. I don''t mind a mark-up but just be up-front about it. I will definitely get in touch with the good people at WF - the young lady I spoke to earlier today was very pleasant and helpful.

Out of curiosity, would that 1.44 ct for $4,970 have been a great deal?

Ice Noob

 

[stone-cold11]

Depends on the cut.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I''d say that you''d probably want excellent cut on a princess stone, but I''d trust WF to narrow down a selection of stones for you. The price was probably okay. The only thing you might consider is that princess cuts supposedly show a little more color than a well-cut round, so you might want to look at H-I color. But again, ask WF what they''d recommend.