Is this diamond ring worth it?

[devientmelody]

I found a GIA certified diamond ring, 1Ct, H, VS, EX/EX/EX, round brilliant cut. I always wanted a diamond 1ct or over, and I was planning on spending approximately 6000 for it.
Seller claims the ring is from Tiffany Co., he also has a certificate, no price evaluation however, so I do not know its appraisal value.
Is it worth $6000? Or should I wait for something better?

 

[Rhea]

You will probably get more replies if you have this moved to Rocky Talk. You can do that by reporting the post and requesting that the mods move it for you.

 

[devientmelody]

thanks

 

[Gypsy]

Here's what I would do. Call Tiffany and ask how much their authentication costs. Make a contract with the seller that they will send the ring to get authenticated. If the ring comes back as genuine, you will pay the $6000 asking price plus actual authentication costs ONLY. If the ring doesn't come back as authentic, then you are not obligated to buy or reimburse for anything.

GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING. Be direct, clear and concise. I used very specific language above for a reason. Feel free to use it. Both of you should sign the contract if you can do so in person.

 

[devientmelody]

great suggestion. That way i will be safe from counterfeit
I still wonder whether $6000 + fee is a good price for a ring of that quality? Even though i want something big and shiny (and hopefully brand named), I still have to watch out not to overspend for this. Considering this is the last big diamond purchase I will make. Hopefully the next one will be for my engagement from a special guy. hahaha.

 

[Gypsy]

Ok. So here are my thoughts.

TIffany does not send their stones to GIA. They grade in house. So I have my doubts about authenticity. If it IS an authentic Tiffany, then yes. It is worth the price. But I don't think it is going to an authentic piece.

But I have a feeling that the minute you mention authentication fees, the buyer is going to disclose that it's not REALLY an authentic Tiffany.

In which case. You need the GIA report number before I can tell you if it's worth it or not. Or alternately I specifically need the depth and table percentages and the crown and pavillion angles from the lab report.

GIA Triple Ex is VERY broad. And depending on what the angles are the stone could be worth significantly more or less. Cut, specifically how well those angles work together has a HUGE impact on price.

So get me more information. And preferrably a picture and I'll tell you what it would cost TODAY new. And then you can have the information you need to decide whether it is worth it to you.

 

[Sunstorm]

Welcome OP, Gypsy gave you wonderful advice, do as she suggested. If it is indeed a Tiffany ring, it is very well worth it but I too have doubts about authenticity, first off I think the price is too low for a genuine Tiffany. If you make the sale contingent on authentication, the seller will likely either not respond or say something about why not to do that. In that case I would doubt the other claims made about the ring too so then you would be better off finding something with the help of this forum that is really worth the asking price and has the specs stated guaranteed. In this case you can even have a beautiful diamond ring custom made if you like. Keep us posted about how it goes.

 

[Lorelei]

Hi Melody,

I agree with the ladies above, I would be extremely cautious here...Various scenarios are possible such as the stone being switched to a non Tiffany with lower colour and clarity than they permit, even if it is an authentic Tiffany setting....Does the seller state that the stone is also from Tiffany? I am also wary with the GIA report, as far as I am aware too, Tiffany grades in house and as such grading reports from other labs do not normally come with their diamonds.

Gypsy's excellent suggestion on how to proceed with this ring should you wish, is the only way I would personally feel comfortable trying to buy this ring, otherwise it's such a lot of money to risk, best to protect yourself. Gypsy knows what she is talking about.

If having a Tiffany ring is important to you, how about buying a ring from there with a smaller stone then upgrading as finances permit? That way you would get the whole experience. Alternatively, you could check out places like the preloved section here, www.signedpieces.com or www.pearlmansjewelers.com or www.goodoldgold.com to name a few, to see if any Tiffany rings come in on consignment.

I hope this helps, please keep us updated!

 

[TC1987]

A search of in-house stones in the Pricescope database shows GIA 3X .99-1.05ct, H, VS1 & VS2 has price range $6600 to $7750 with B2C Jewels lowest and Good Old Gold highest. Depending on what that $6000 ring really is, and whether or not you want upgrade or buyback options, it might be more worthwhile to look into the $7000 "new" stones from B2C Jewels. Those prices are stone only, not a complete ring.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Ok. So here are my thoughts.

TIffany does not send their stones to GIA. They grade in house. So I have my doubts about authenticity. If it IS an authentic Tiffany, then yes. It is worth the price. But I don't think it is going to an authentic piece.

Didn't they used to?... maybe be like 15 yrs ago or so??

 

[Sunstorm]

DF, I was thinking about the same, which is why I did not mention that as a definite concern as depening on the age of the piece I was wondering if it could potentially be GIA certified, that is a possibility but the price was what alerted me, I definitely think that a genuine Tiffany piece with these specs would go for a lot more; after all if the seller could make more money they would, the reason they do not want to is that they are potentially making a false claim on the brand.

 

[teobdl]

I was just at Tiffany last week. Every diamond I looked at was graded by GIA (about a dozen diamonds). Tiffany also in house grades but my understanding is that all diamonds also have third party reports.

But more to the point, who cares if the diamond is tiffany or not? There is nothing inherently different about their diamonds. Just see if it's beautiful or not. 1 ct G for $6k is great. Get it appraised and be done. Unless there is a marking on the diamond it will be impossible to know if Tiffany sold it.

The only thing you should worry about is whether the setting is from Tiffany. Just bring it to a store and ask an SA if it looks real. If it passes that test it's good enough for me. Do a platinum test.

 

[Lorelei]

I was just at Tiffany last week. Every diamond I looked at was graded by GIA (about a dozen diamonds). Tiffany also in house grades but my understanding is that all diamonds also have third party reports.

Good info, thank you Teo.

 

[Dancing Fire]

I was just at Tiffany last week. Every diamond I looked at was graded by GIA (about a dozen diamonds). Tiffany also in house grades but my understanding is that all diamonds also have third party reports.

I was at Tiff last week too (in San Jose, Ca) their stones only come with a in-house Tiff reports no GIA.

 

[Sunstorm]

Wow, now this is making visit their store in Vienna, Austria next week, I am very curious now whether the diamonds do come with GIA reports here in addition to in-house grading. I am also wondering if there is a way to tell if a diamond is from Tiffany; could they be girdle inscribed for example?

My major concern here as I stated is that if the seller makes false claims about authenticity, he could also make false claims about the diamond in question; it could have been swapped, there is no way to tell unless it is inscribed and/or an appraiser appraises the piece. At this point we do not even know if it is a diamond in the ring; a professional has to inspect this ring.

 

[teobdl]

I was just at Tiffany last week. Every diamond I looked at was graded by GIA (about a dozen diamonds). Tiffany also in house grades but my understanding is that all diamonds also have third party reports.

I was at Tiff last week too (in San Jose, Ca) their stones only come with a in-house Tiff reports no GIA.

Interesting. I certainly don’t want to give false information, so let me just recount my conversation (downtown Boston Tiffany):

Me: Do you have the reports on these?
SA: All of these are GIA Excellents. Do you want more specific information?
Me: Yes, please, could you tell me the proportions?
SA pulls up the computer from under the desk and rattles off numbers on the diamonds in the rings in front of me. He did the same for other diamonds that were not physically in the store but at other Tiffany’s locations.

So my assumption was that all of the diamonds had GIA reports because he volunteered that they are all GIA Ex. I did not see the computer screen or the physical reports myself (Tiffany's or GIA's), so I can't know for sure that they did, in fact, have GIA reports. He also referenced GIA Ex as a general measure of quality assurance for Tiffany's diamonds and actually didn't even mention the in house grading. From this conversation, I assumed that all the diamonds I looked at were graded by GIA.

If someone is really interested, s/he can probably just call a store and ask how many diamonds are also graded by GIA or another third party lab. They're very nice.

 

[Sunstorm]

From what I understand and others have stated in other threads and what I have seen in their stores locally before, Tiffany does not use GIA reports only in-house, so it sort of shocked me also. In my opinion just because the SA said their stones were GIA triple EX does not mean that they are accompanied by GIA reports or were graded by GIA at all. Actually, this was not very professional from the SA to state their stones are GIA triple EX if they were never seen by GIA but the SA may have just meant that based on the specs of the stones, they would qualify as GIA triple EX. You have raised important points Theo because I would also like to find out if their stones are inscribed since swapping can occur otherwise. It is important if someone wants to have a piece authenticated. Ok, we have talked about their diamonds not being superiod to non-Tiffany diamonds all other things being equal but it still is an important consideration for people who do want to be sure they are getting a 100% Tiffany piece preowned or if I came across preloved pieces from them.

 

[teobdl]

And just an addendum, my SA corrected himself from saying "GIA triple excellent" to "GIA excellent cut" later on, meaning he knew they were not all Ex polish and symmetry (not that it matters much anyway).

You're right, OV, that I shouldn't have ass-u-me'd about the GIA reports, but boy is that some tricky language if they weren't.

 

[Gypsy]

I was just at Tiffany last week. Every diamond I looked at was graded by GIA (about a dozen diamonds). Tiffany also in house grades but my understanding is that all diamonds also have third party reports.

But more to the point, who cares if the diamond is tiffany or not?

I didn't know that Tiffany was sending stones to GIA? That's great information. And that means the ring may be authentic.

As for who cares whether or not it is Tiffany? It makes a big difference in the price if it is. And that's what the poster was asking about. That's the only reason why I care.

 

[Sunstorm]

This is an interesting thread to me and I was just concerned that if one day someone offered me a Tiffany piece for sale, I would want to make sure the entire piece is authentic because was I ever to resell it then I would not want to make false claims. That said, however, I realize that most likely one can tell about the prongs whether the center stone was ever swapped but again hence OP should have it authenticated. It is not because I would necessarily care if it was a non-Tiff stone since and I can grade the diamond but if I was the seller I would only want to make claims that I can guarantee and I am sure a customer wanting to buy Tiffany want the entire piece to be intact Tiffany. Things like this can happen as a lot of pieces are offered for sale where I live and that was how I got my Wempe bracelet; now granted I did keep it because I liked it and had it authenticated although I was already sure that it was authentic but it is very important to know as many facts about the brands as possible so we do not run into a potential problem.

 

[teobdl]

This may (or may not) be helpful:
http://www.ebay.com/gds/How-to-spot-fake-Tiffany-Co-diamond-rings-/10000000014837928/g.html
Looks like it should have an etching on the girdle if it's real, but I don't know when they started doing this.

Still, I think the best thing is for someone (not it!) to just call Tiffany and ask how many of their diamonds also have GIA reports. Deviantmelody--this seems like a logical next step for you. And also ask if they keep GIA report numbers of the diamonds that they've sold on file. Then ask if they can check this one for you.