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Is ShaneCo a good place to shop for diamonds?

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evoguy

Rough_Rock
Joined
Feb 8, 2011
Messages
16
Hi,

I've been lurking around quite a bit and reaping in tons of great information about diamonds. Me and my gf visited a local Shane Co store just the other day and she fell in love with the what seemed like the perfect ring and diamond (Cut: AGS0 - Clarity: VS1 - Color: E). She was dead set on that pairing.

Now I'm looking online at all the e-ring sites (Jamesallen, GoG, WhiteFlash and etc.) and comparing to the Shane Co diamonds at the store. It looks like to me one can get a higher (better) quality diamonds at a same or better price than the ones at Shane Co. Is anyone familiar with ShaneCo diamonds? The diamond we looked at was supposedly a Shane Classic Cut... Is that equivalent to H&A cut or GIA Excellent cut? I ran some numbers through HCA and got a 1.5 - Excellent rating on it. I also noticed that ShaneCo doesn't provide me the actual photos of the diamonds.

Are store diamonds always more expensive than online ones? I'm paying almost 9k for a .91 ct diamond so any suggestions are welcome...
 
I am new to the diamond search as well.
From my own local experiences, Shane Co, and Jared have been great places for me to go get a hands on look at different diamond colors, cut grades, shapes, settings etc.
I used the "in house "search on Pricescope, with the same diamond specs I had from a few Jared diamonds. The prices from online vendors are cheaper, anywhere from $500 to over $1500. On top of that, no taxes, which saves another few hundred dollars.
 
$9K for a 0.91ct diamond sounds EXTREMELY overpriced ...

can you post your preferences on a diamond so that we can help out ?

shape
carat
color
clarity
budget
 
I am not sure if their diamonds are H&A, do they have hearts image? If the one you looked at is AGS0 then it is probably very nice :) is 9k just for the diamond??? if you are open to shopping online you can get at least a 1 carat with very nice specs

online vendors don't have to pay all of the costs associated with having a physical store presence, so prices are often cheaper.
 
just for kicks ...

1.17ct G VS2 Hearts & Arrows $8670 pricescope discounted price, cheaper (additional 1.5% off) if you use wire transfer :

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/G-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1353284.asp

1.12ct F VS2 AGS 000 Ideal cut $8570 pricescope discounted price, cheaper (additional 1.5% off) if you use wire transfer :

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/F-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1353281.asp

both diamonds are AGS graded, superb light performance.

tax free as well if you're out of state (MD and NY) ...
 
frankiextah|1297403838|2849100 said:
$9K for a 0.91ct diamond sounds EXTREMELY overpriced ...

can you post your preferences on a diamond so that we can help out ?

shape
carat
color
clarity
budget
Click to expand...

shape: brilliant round
cut: AGS0/best cut available
carat: 1-1.25
color E-G
clarity: VS1
budget: 8,000-8,500
 
just so you know, VS1 and VS2 are both equally eye-clean so there is no need to sacrifice size / color for the VS1 quality.

i encourage you to check out the 2 diamonds i found for you - they are very much the best deal out there for this size/quality stones.
 
[ETA: agree with frankie] It seems a little strange to just arbitrarily decide that you need a VS1. If you were willing to jump down a couple clarity grades, you could easily end up with a stone equally eye-clean and would be able to go up somewhat significantly in size. I know when you first start looking at diamonds, it's easy to make the jump that clarity = quality, however, I think it's important to realize that all diamonds have flaws. Even IF stones are only internally flawless at 10x magnification. Jump up to 30 or 40x and it's possible to see the imperfections. That was a piece of knowledge that really helped to put the whole clarity thing into perspective for me.
 
I am open to VS2 clarity as well. How much does mounting cost? I already placed a special order on the ring but I can always get my refund on the diamond. I'm just trying to get the best value out there knowing online prices beat local shop prices hands down...
 
frankiextah|1297407767|2849114 said:
jackpot !

1.25ct G VS2 $8730 pricescope discounted price, cheaper (additional 1.5% off = $8599) with wire transfer :

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/G-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1334121.asp

HCA 1.4 , GIA TRIPLE EX , nice clean crisp arrows !

if i were you i would immediately put this stone on hold and inquire idealscope images !
Click to expand...

I noticed you included HCA rating. How important is that? And this ring has some flourescence in it?
 
I think I have read that Shane Co charges a lot to mount outside diamonds, but you could ask. Also it is possible that they ordered the setting for your size diamond, so another diamond might not work
 
if you are asking what the fee is for the process of setting a diamond into a ring, most local jewelers can do it for a small fee and should take about 1 hour, if the mounting is a simple solitaire.
 
re : fluorescence . this diamond has "faint" fluorescence which does NOT affect the color or performance of the diamond in ANY way. "faint" is near NONE. even with UV lighting situation where the fluor usually shows the most, it still has the weakest reaction. no worries there at all.

btw feel free to search my threads for my G with faint fluor ... it's ice white, no visual problems at all. my appraiser confirmed that the fluor was so weak that it's not even visible under UV lighting.
 
HCA 1.4 means that the diamond is well within ideal light performance range according to its cut proportions. diamonds with scores under 2 means that it has great potential to be an ideal stone. HCA scores are an effective way to weed out inferior performing diamonds.
 
evoguy|1297408495|2849120 said:
slg47|1297408026|2849117 said:
I think I have read that Shane Co charges a lot to mount outside diamonds, but you could ask. Also it is possible that they ordered the setting for your size diamond, so another diamond might not work
Click to expand...

This is the setting I got... http://www.shaneco.com/Catalog/ProductDetail.aspx?O=PRODSEARCH&X=41046820Is this not adjustable to any type of round diamond?
Click to expand...

that one looks like it might be adjustable since the head is not integrated, but others know a lot more than I do.
 
evoguy, i do know for a fact that shane can SWITCH a larger head (the entire 4-prong part can be "snipped off" and replace with a bigger sized head) for this particular ring setting, it shouldn't be a problem at all. there might be a fee, but in return for a MUCH LARGER and EQUALLY BEAUTIFUL diamond, i would jump on it !

even IF changing the head part is impossible, this is a ShaneCo stock ring so the can just simply UNMOUNT the smaller diamond, and accommodate the larger stone with a larger head with the same band. i am 100% sure that something can be worked out, since they have a "60 day refund" policy, i'm sure people have changed minds about the diamond for another diamond, within ShaneCo's inventory or not, when they want to stick with the same setting.
 
frankiextah|1297408857|2849123 said:
evoguy, i do know for a fact that shane can SWITCH a larger head (the entire 4-prong part can be "snipped off" and replace with a bigger sized head) for this particular ring setting, it shouldn't be a problem at all. there might be a fee, but in return for a MUCH LARGER and EQUALLY BEAUTIFUL diamond, i would jump on it !
Click to expand...

But how do I know if it needs to be snipped off for let's say a 1.0 stone vs a 1.2 stone? What's the cutoff ct sz? The ring had to be specially ordered because they could not resize it down to sz. 4 and I can't return it for a refund as its a special order...

I thank everyone for their suggestions btw :)
 
evoguy|1297409047|2849124 said:
frankiextah|1297408857|2849123 said:
evoguy, i do know for a fact that shane can SWITCH a larger head (the entire 4-prong part can be "snipped off" and replace with a bigger sized head) for this particular ring setting, it shouldn't be a problem at all. there might be a fee, but in return for a MUCH LARGER and EQUALLY BEAUTIFUL diamond, i would jump on it !
Click to expand...

But how do I know if it needs to be snipped off for let's say a 1.0 stone vs a 1.2 stone? What's the cutoff ct sz? The ring had to be specially ordered because they could not resize it down to sz. 4 and I can't return it for a refund as its a special order...

I thank everyone for their suggestions btw :)
Click to expand...

I'm not sure about the 'cutoff' size but I think you could switch the head out. It would probably cost a few hundred, and it would void any warranties with Shane Co-ultimately you have to decide whether or not that is worth it to you.
 
slg47|1297409178|2849125 said:
I'm not sure about the 'cutoff' size but I think you could switch the head out. It would probably cost a few hundred, and it would void any warranties with Shane Co-ultimately you have to decide whether or not that is worth it to you.
Click to expand...

And here I was thinking the prong setting could accomodate a range of several carat sizes... :(
 
seeing the photo of the mounting online - these are ShaneCo's stock rings which means that they have a ton of these pre-made and simply waiting for a certain size HEAD to solder on. there really shouldn't be a problem for them to fit your stone to one of their rings of the exact same design.

here is what i would do

1) put the 1.25ct james allen stone on hold immediately (don't worry, doing so you are not committed to purchase or pay for the stone at all)

2) call ShaneCo asap to ask if you can get a FULL REFUND on the diamond AND ring mounting. according to the online site, there is a 60-day full refund policy which i don't see a problem asking for one

2a) if ShaneCo cannot refund you on the mounting, ask them to get you another stock mounting of the exact design that can accommodate the larger stone and go from there.

3) once you get your (full) refund, if you still love the ShaneCo setting then go ahead and purchase the 1.25ct diamond (if you very much so love it), and have it set for a fee on that particular mounting. otherwise, there are many amazing settings out there !

such as Brian Gavin (prices are reasonable and great craftsmanship, you know you're getting top notch quality on the tiny melee diamonds on the band, and the ring is made to order to fit the exact measurements of your diamond... ShaneCo's mounting is definitely not custom made to your size.

here's one:

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/home/ring-details/?product_id=5354

solitare with pave band :

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/engagement-rings/side-stones/?page=all
 
evoguy|1297409321|2849126 said:
slg47|1297409178|2849125 said:
I'm not sure about the 'cutoff' size but I think you could switch the head out. It would probably cost a few hundred, and it would void any warranties with Shane Co-ultimately you have to decide whether or not that is worth it to you.
Click to expand...

And here I was thinking the prong setting could accomodate a range of several carat sizes... :(
Click to expand...

up to a certain point ... perhaps 0.10ct up or down ... but if you switch from a 0.91 to a 1.25, that's a lot of size change (in a good way, trust me, your GF will really appreciate this) !
 
thanks for the suggestion. I'll give ShaneCo a call tmr and see what they can work with me.
 
We spent a lot of time at Shane Co., and they are great! Their warranty was so tempting, and they were so patient with us, they showed us tons of diamonds and we really were able to learn a lot about diamonds in general with them. However - their prices for diamonds are on the higher side. We ended up getting a bigger, better diamond for 75% of the cost that Shane Co. would offer us at a local jeweler.

My recommendation is to go there, check out what they have, ask all the questions you can think of, but then to also keep looking, because you might be able to find better deals once you know what you're looking for.
 
Just read more of your post - and yes they can definitely accommodate changing out the head for your stone. They obviously wouldn't warranty the center stone if it wasn't theirs.

At the time, I'd asked the question if I brought in an outside stone, and they confirmed they could mount that in one of their settings. We were also playing with the idea of swapping out a head I liked into a setting I liked, they 100% can do all of that.
 
Shane Co.warranty is a useless gimeck. You.miss one check in and boom, no warranty. That's why you have insurance. Save your money, buy somewhere else, and insure your rings properly and you'll be fine. Any good.local jeweler will give you free cleanings and prong checks.

As for thier stock. Good for browsing. I've never liked thier settings. Too many of them have cheap peg heads and poor melee quality.

As for setting outside stones. As a general rule when you get a setting and a stone.from different places, you give the setting vendor the stones measurements and you send the setting to the stone vendor to set. Not the other way around. This does not apply to fancy shaped stones in bezel settings however. That is the exception.
 
elisagrace|1448345383|3953471 said:
If it seems to you that particular qualities in the ring is liked by your spouse, first and the foremost thing before purchasing is that you must get it checked from other jewelers also to see whether it is upto standard or not. It is also to be seen whether it is having GIA stamped. You can get rings from jtelsen also as they also have different varieties of rings. Online shopping from reputed jewelers is not bad.
Click to expand...
There is no GIA stamp.
 
The reasons to shop at Shaneco are simple enough.

They're familiar.
They have a large inventory to browse through.
They have 'in person' sales presentations.
They have a pretty good warranty.
For many the locations are convenient.
They're neighbors.
It's easy to go back if you have a problem.
They offer financing.

The reasons not to are actually pretty similar.

They may have a lot, but they don't have everything.
Sometimes sales people don't click well with customers and in-person education isn't always better.
The warranty and tradeup programs have some significant loopholes.
Their store locations may not be convenient.
Prices.

In the end, a lot of people seem to like them and they have legions of happy customers. It's a good store. It boils down to what is important to YOU in a jeweler. Not everyone agrees.
 
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