only one stone being offered by jeweller

[The sun is shining]

A jeweller in Melbourne, Australia is wanting a friend of mine to purchase a princess cut diamond, 1.25, F, VS2, sight unseen, she was given the certificate number nly because she pushed the sales assistant. After searching on Pricescope, I have discovered it is this stone. the certificate doen''t have a cut grade, although the seller on that website says the cut grade is premium. I have never heard such a thing.

I have enquired around, and many people (jewellery shops) seem to ask for deposits for the stones they bring in, however, if no-one is eye-balling the stones, how can she be sure the stone will be brilliant in terms of fire and scintialltion? What is they best way to pick a ideal cut princess? The only solution I can think of is to purchase and AGS0 ideal.

Can someone chime in with an opinion?

Many thanks!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 2/9/2010 10:18:34 PM
Author:The sun is shining
A jeweller in Melbourne, Australia is wanting a friend of mine to purchase a princess cut diamond, 1.25, F, VS2, sight unseen, she was given the certificate number nly because she pushed the sales assistant. After searching on Pricescope, I have discovered it is this stone. the certificate doen''t have a cut grade, although the seller on that website says the cut grade is premium. I have never heard such a thing.

I have enquired around, and many people (jewellery shops) seem to ask for deposits for the stones they bring in, however, if no-one is eye-balling the stones, how can she be sure the stone will be brilliant in terms of fire and scintialltion? What is they best way to pick a ideal cut princess? The only solution I can think of is to purchase and AGS0 ideal.

Can someone chime in with an opinion?

Many thanks!

This is what I would do. Or else work with a trusted vendor overseas who has many diamonds in stock and will take pictures and provide ASET images that will allow you to assess cut quality remotely. Many Aussies have bought diamonds from the US and been very happy. Try a search, I think there was a recent thread by a posted named Lestat that talked about duty free importing to AU from US.

 

[The sun is shining]

That''s what I said. However, my friend has her heart set on a specific design by a certain jeweller. I suggested if they cant provide an AGS0 stone, I would suggest going elsewhere and have the design replicated. She seems so concerned they replication wont be right though.

I''ll tell her to be firm. Thank!

 

[pancake]

Which jeweller is it?

I''m in Melbourne too and found the number of jewellers who refuse to set stones sourced elsewhere quite surprising.

 

[The sun is shining]

It''s not that she wants someone else to set the stone - she doesn''t have one. She is looking for one, and the one they have offered her is the same as the stone listed. Another jeweller has said they will replicate the design but that is not what she wants.

The company is Canturi. I wouldn''t expect them to set a stone not purchased from the - their prices are quite reasonable. I just cant get my head around only offering one stone without an official cut grading.

 

[pancake]

In which case, buying an AGS0 princess is going to be her only option in as much as it gives her some degree of "guarantee" that the performance will be good.

I love Canturi''s designs, they are so contemporary and original.

 

[The sun is shining]

Their designs are great. She''s in love with the regal design - it''s a beautiful knife edge design.

The sales assistant is leaving much to be desired though. Her boyf. has said she''s a glorified car dealer! It''s such a shame the rep is treating her so badly. She''s almost thinking she might use a different sales rep who gives her the attention she deserves. After two emails to her boy, the rep said it was nearly time to break out the moet!

 

[pancake]

We sourced our stone ourselves, so Canturi was never an option for us after that decision, but beforehand we had done the rounds of a lot of reputable Melbourne jewellers. The guy who helped us in Canturi was fabulous - he really "got" me and my style, was dynamic and enthusiastic without being pushy, and was really patient and helpful.

I would have thought that the Regal design would be very easy to replicate. For a while I was considering getting the Cubism band (no solitaire on it - too much!) as my combined engagement/wedding ring, and I wouldn''t go elsewhere for that. But I would have thought that the simpler solitaire settings would be easy to have made elsewhere, of course with the requisite tweaks to make it acceptable in copyright terms.

But I know your friend is Canturi all the way and that is totally her prerogative!

 

[Gypsy]

Canturi has lovely designs. I wouldn''t want a replica plus, most replica''s AREN''T exact from reputable jewelers because of copyright laws.

Here are some suggestions. Do some basic sleuthing. Just call them out of the blue and tell them you *or if you are a guy, your wife* are in love with one of their designs and you are thinking about having your OWN stone reset in that design for an anniversary. See what they say. If they say no problem. Get your friend an AGS 0 stone. If that doesn''t work, call around to other Canturi''s... try the one in Vegas. Honestly since the customers in the US are (maybe a little more) pushy, maybe they have different policies in different countries. You never know until you ask.

As for stones. I would get an ideal scope... purchase one. Find out what a good IS looks like. Take it in to see the stone. A certificate is a great way to tell how the stone will perform, but with some education you can figure it out yourself.

Third option, and probably one of the easiest. FIND A LOCAL INDEPENDANT APPRAISER. Have the princess sent to them. Ask them their opinion. If it''s a good performer. Buy it. If it''s not... tell them what you want and make them get it. Tell them "I want an AGS 0 princess or you don''t get the sale".... at least here, you''d be surprised at how well that can work.

 

[Lestat]

Date: 2/10/2010 2:44:20 AM
Author: Gypsy
As for stones. I would get an ideal scope... purchase one. Find out what a good IS looks like. Take it in to see the stone. A certificate is a great way to tell how the stone will perform, but with some education you can figure it out yourself.

If you're looking for a princess cut stone, I'd recommend going with an ASET scope instead of an Idealscope, it will give you more useful information for fancy shapes like princess cut (and an ASET scope is cheaper than an expert Idealscope). You'll find them in Australia here along with instructions. It might be the best solution if she absolutely HAS to buy the diamond from them without the vendor providing her decent information.

I agree with others though that it would be better to try and see if they will set a stone from elsewhere, or try to have another company duplicate the setting. If the service is terrible when you're about to spend thousands of dollars, imagine what it would be if you went in to have something fixed, or for regular cleaning etc...

 

[pancake]

Canturi definitely doesn''t set stones they haven''t sourced themselves - we asked them.

I think they are pretty good to their customers and I am pretty sure that they are a "we''ll look after you for life" type place. I remember reading on another forum - although this was a couple of years ago - that customers were having problems with their central stones coming loose +/- falling out, and I don''t think there was any trouble with Canturi repairing or servicing. I hope the concerns about the security of their solitaires has been addressed though! (and I''m sure it has as I haven''t read any bad reviews at all recently)

 

[The sun is shining]

Thanks for all of your replies.

I actually have an idealscope and a good loup which can be used to view the diamonds with. She spoke to the Sydeny shop who have said they have a 1.2 E VS2 in their store which they are sendin over, which I beleive we will be looking at on Thursday.

Gypsy, I think having it sent to an independant appraiser sounds like a great idea - although I cant help but think the purchase if an AGS0 would be the best, especially when you consider the cut grading has been done entirely independant. We''ll see how the stone goes that they have to show her,m and work from there.

Thanks for all your replies. You really are a great source of information and ideas!

 

[Lestat]

An idealscope will not provide as much information as an ASET for fancy shapes like princess cut diamonds. Here''s a web link showing what I mean: http://www.jogiadiamonds.com.au/blog/ideal-scope-vs-ags-aset-for-fancy-shapes/

As you can see, there''s huge amounts of green on the ASET which is better than leakage or obstruction, but still not great, but in the idealscope, it shows as red everywhere. With the ASET image you can see that this stone isn''t cut so well so you can keep looking.