Help! Newbie in the Diamond world

[englandinoz]

Hi All,

My partner and I are looking for a ring! Hurray! And it's quite daunting. We have been to some wholesalers in Sydney, who whilst are very nice and appear to offer reasonable price. I have been told that we will get a better price online and I have found one which appears to be okay which I quite like and I am not sure whether it is good or not. Please could you possibly pass your words of wisdom as to whether it would be a good buy?

http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.70-carat-F-color-VS2-clarity-Excellent-cut-sku-188436

It's within budget and is the size that I am looking for. Have I missed the mark or is there anyway to get better value for money? Or can anyone recommend a better stone within a similar price range?

The only issue that I have when looking online is that the pictures all seem to be very similar and it's so hard to pick out when you don't know what you are doing!

Thank you so much in advance.

Hayley

 

[JulieN]

What is the price of that one?

http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.70-carat-F-color-VS2-clarity-sku-194818

If you want better value for the money, look into G-I SI1

 

[englandinoz]

Thanks for the quick response.

The price is $3180 but quoted $2970 with pricescope discount. So $100 difference between the two. I've placed it on hold for 24 hours. The other one is nice too. Does going to a G in colour make much difference? Is it a good diamond based on the dimensions?

I sort of want to get the best that I can within the budget and I am not looking to go any larger than that. When I put the dimensions into the HCS thing it came back as 0.9. I know its guidance only but I thought that it seemed okay.

However, I am pretty clueless and that would be the first one (apart from ones that I have been quoted for here) that I have seen.

Thanks again

Hayley

 

[katrinab]

Hi englandinoz, welcome to PS!

I speak solely from my own experiences in hunting for the perfect stone/engagement ring. I'm based in NZ so it might be slightly different for you in Australia. However, I found that the stones online from most of the big companies are usually cheaper than they are here, but by the time you add 15% for GST and then another 5% for import duties it becomes cheaper/only a little more to buy from someone here. In the end we paid much less for my engagement ring (or rather my partner did ) because we went with someone we trusted to do a good job and who made it completely by hand for way less than it would have been from a B&M store. I did do a lot of shopping around though. The range of quotes I got was huge! But as I said, this is just what I experienced, I haven't researched tax rates in Aussie or anything.

I'm by no means an expert but after plugging the details in the HCA tool it comes out as a 0.9 Excellent grade, so safe to say that this diamond will outshine 99% of stones bought in Michael Hill or similar stores

 

[JulieN]

For 100, I like the one I linked better, but get Ideal Scopes for both.

In this size, G-I will appear colorless, or at least very, very white from the top. From the side, G color will have very, very light tint compared to a higher color against a white background in certain lights.

If you aren't looking to go any larger, F VS2 is nice.

 

[englandinoz]

Hi Katrinab,

I have been to one store and I think that you are right that we will not get one for that price, we have been quoted almost $1000 more for that size and the characteristics are not as good. I confirmed with James Allen that in Australia the GST is 10% and there is a USA/AUS trade agreement which means that there is no 5% import duty (another bonus)

JulieN

I agree that the stone that you put up is nicer, and I did look at that one originally, but when I span the diamond around on the view thing I noticed a black mark near the top on the surface. Would this make any difference visually? And are they good diamonds or just 'okay''?

 

[JulieN]

Yes, I see it, too. Need to ask them if it is 100% eye-clean, which is what I would want in a VS2.

 

[JulieN]

One more if that F doesn't check out: http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.73-carat-G-color-VS2-clarity-Excellent-cut-sku-184741