Prices going up, again!

[WinkHPD]

Hmm. So prices go up rapidly, some people buy in a panic thinking they will go up even more, and they do for a time. (Then, all of a sudden, it goes back down). That story sounds familiar I know metals (gold) have had bubbles in the past, just like the housing market. Does anyone know if diamonds have had a bubble, and will it collapse?

When supply is higher than demand, prices go up. The two largest countries in the world have ever growing wealth. Diamond prices are going up and will continue to go up for the foreseeable future because of demand in emerging markets. This isn't the highest diamonds have ever been. I also don't believe it is a bubble. Its demand in emerging markets and a seriously weak dollar.

If you are betting on waiting for diamond prices to go down, its a losing bet unless China and India collapse and the US dollar magically recovers.

I believe what you meant to say, when demand is higher than supply, prices go up.

Not only is demand rising in China and India, but supply is drastically diminishing. There have been no new mines discovered for some years and when new finds are discovered they take from five to fifteen years to bring fully on line.

I believe that Paul Slegers is correct, in that barring a major collapse of the world economy, say brought on perhaps by the collapse of the Greek economy and their default on their debt, we could easily see another twenty percent increase by the end of this year.

I would hope that he is wrong, but I am not going to bet on it!

Wink

 

[WinkHPD]

Imagine the impact on RT and SMTB threads. It can be a very different place- more EGL, smaller stones, less purchasing.

I hope that you are wrong about more EGL. They will continue to represent a lower value than a properly documented diamond and I hope that we never fail at Pricescope in continuing to drive that basic market truth home to those who come here to seek knowledge.

Wink

 

[Amys Bling]

Another 20% increase!!!!!

 

[wreckem]

Woops didnt notice I wrote that backwards. Thanks for catching that.

Its simple economics. Just like with oil and gas and all commodities.

Emerging markets creating demand that outstrips supply and to a lesser extent a weak dollar is why most commodities have skyrocketed.

 

[WinkHPD]

Buy em off Ebay and get them recut. Still plenty of bargains there.

Sheesh! I was wondering if it was finally time when one could resell a diamond, but I guess not! Too bad. I'd be willing to unload a few if I could get back what I paid. And if prices have actually gone up several times and it's not all hype one would think I could do that. My diamonds have hardly been touched, after all. But somehow I know that if I were to try to resell them, I'd get half of what I spent. Years ago. I wonder what that means?

Deb/AGBF

I would venture that there are several vendors here who could assist you on a consignment basis to do just that. Ebay is NOT the venue for the average person to sell in and realize a fair price. It is a dangerous and wild place with tons of fraud, both on the vendor and the buyer sides!

Wink

 

[Amys Bling]

Wink- EGL is certainly not the same quality. I'm afraid that many newbies here will see they can get "more", in their perception at least, in EGL stones.....

 

[WinkHPD]

Woops didnt notice I wrote that backwards. Thanks for catching that.

Its simple economics. Just like with oil and gas and all commodities.

Emerging markets creating demand that outstrips supply and to a lesser extent a weak dollar is why most commodities have skyrocketed.

My friend, NOTHING about economics is simple, especially that which looks simple! Frankly, with our total lack of financial responsibility over the last fifty years or so, I am surprised the dollar is still as strong as it is. I fear that it will get MUCH weaker in the years to come.

Wink

 

[WinkHPD]

Wink- EGL is certainly not the same quality. I'm afraid that many newbies here will see they can get "more", in their perception at least, in EGL stones.....

True. Though if they spend even a minor amount of time in research here they will be quickly disillusioned of that falsehood.

Wink

 

[wreckem]

Woops didnt notice I wrote that backwards. Thanks for catching that.

Its simple economics. Just like with oil and gas and all commodities.

Emerging markets creating demand that outstrips supply and to a lesser extent a weak dollar is why most commodities have skyrocketed.

My friend, NOTHING about economics is simple, especially that which looks simple! Frankly, with our total lack of financial responsibility over the last fifty years or so, I am surprised the dollar is still as strong as it is. I fear that it will get MUCH weaker in the years to come.

Wink

When I said simple economics, I was referring to supply/demand. Supply/demand is a simple/basic economic principle. It more or less the first thing taught in any macroeconomics course.

An increase in demand with supply remaining constant will almost always result in price increases.

Economics is complicated subject and a lot of it is theory that requires a perfect world to work. But supply/demand is one of the simplest economic concepts. China/India are emerging markets, more or less, they are probably well beyond that now, but China and India are accumulating wealth. They are also growing rapidly. They've increased demand for most commodities. Supply hasn't kept up with demand. The weak dollar doesn't help. Nor does China playing games with their currency.

Over the long term the US economy and US dollar will only continue to decline as local governments are over-leveraged with bonds, states are over-leveraged with debt and/or bonds, as well as unfunded/underfunded pensions, and the Fed has a $35-50trillion unfunded albatross in medicare. US economic policy is and has always been shortsighted and eventually it will catch up to us unless something is done(raising taxes and cutting spending, while turning off the printing press and stopping borrowing)

 

[WinkHPD]

Woops didnt notice I wrote that backwards. Thanks for catching that.

Its simple economics. Just like with oil and gas and all commodities.

Emerging markets creating demand that outstrips supply and to a lesser extent a weak dollar is why most commodities have skyrocketed.

My friend, NOTHING about economics is simple, especially that which looks simple! Frankly, with our total lack of financial responsibility over the last fifty years or so, I am surprised the dollar is still as strong as it is. I fear that it will get MUCH weaker in the years to come.

Wink

When I said simple economics, I was referring to supply/demand. Supply/demand is a simple/basic economic principle. It more or less the first thing taught in any macroeconomics course.

An increase in demand with supply remaining constant will almost always result in price increases.

Economics is complicated subject and a lot of it is theory that requires a perfect world to work. But supply/demand is one of the simplest economic concepts. China/India are emerging markets, more or less, they are probably well beyond that now, but China and India are accumulating wealth. They are also growing rapidly. They've increased demand for most commodities. Supply hasn't kept up with demand. The weak dollar doesn't help. Nor does China playing games with their currency.

Over the long term the US economy and US dollar will only continue to decline as local governments are over-leveraged with bonds, states are over-leveraged with debt and/or bonds, as well as unfunded/underfunded pensions, and the Fed has a $35-50trillion unfunded albatross in medicare. US economic policy is and has always been shortsighted and eventually it will catch up to us unless something is done(raising taxes and cutting spending, while turning off the printing press and stopping borrowing)

Since we seem to agree on so much, may I also think we agree on the likely hood of that happening?

Wink

 

[wreckem]

Well my eyeballs are still on the floor after them popping out from the shock of price increases on settings.

I am kicking myself now. I had a diamond shipped loose intending to send it back and have it set next week. Looked at BGD's website and most of their pave and diamond side stone settings went up ~$1000.

This is just becoming a nightmare and I don't know what I am going to do.

 

[Lula]

Well my eyeballs are still on the floor after them popping out from the shock of price increases on settings.

I am kicking myself now. I had a diamond shipped loose intending to send it back and have it set next week. Looked at BGD's website and most of their pave and diamond side stone settings went up ~$1000.

This is just becoming a nightmare and I don't know what I am going to do.

The first thing I'd do is give BGD a call and ask if they can work with you on the price of the setting, given that you've already purchased your stone from them. You never know.

If you can't work something out with BGD on the price, start a new thread asking for help on finding a new setting in your budget. Many of the posters here are very good at finding great settings in a variety of price ranges.

Best of luck to you!

 

[wreckem]

Well my eyeballs are still on the floor after them popping out from the shock of price increases on settings.

I am kicking myself now. I had a diamond shipped loose intending to send it back and have it set next week. Looked at BGD's website and most of their pave and diamond side stone settings went up ~$1000.

This is just becoming a nightmare and I don't know what I am going to do.

The first thing I'd do is give BGD a call and ask if they can work with you on the price of the setting, given that you've already purchased your stone from them. You never know.

If you can't work something out with BGD on the price, start a new thread asking for help on finding a new setting in your budget. Many of the posters here are very good at finding great settings in a variety of price ranges.

Best of luck to you!

I've been exchanging emails with them because I am at work but it doesn't look positive.

I have asked Whiteflash for a new quote on the same type of setting. Hopefully theirs hasn't changed since their prices on their website hasn't changed yet. But then there is the issue of 1. they require an outside stone to be insured for them to set it 2. the stone I have is a gorgeous stone and they don't have something as good for the same price 3. By time I get a refund from BGD they will have likely gone up as well.

Its just hard to believe the setting went up 65% overnight. And I had asked them while they were waiting on the wire transfer for the diamond what the chances of the prices of settings going up before next week were and they said minimal. Its just frustrating. A small price increase wouldn't have mattered, but 65% probably puts the setting at over $3k if not before taxes, certainly after it. I say probably because I don't have a current quote. Its not a custom piece but the ring size is 9.75/10. So if the stock went up close to $1k there is no doubt that a 9.75 size one would go up more because it requires more diamonds.

 

[Lovinggems]

Well my eyeballs are still on the floor after them popping out from the shock of price increases on settings.

I am kicking myself now. I had a diamond shipped loose intending to send it back and have it set next week. Looked at BGD's website and most of their pave and diamond side stone settings went up ~$1000.

This is just becoming a nightmare and I don't know what I am going to do.

Are you sure it went up that much?

 

[wreckem]

Well my eyeballs are still on the floor after them popping out from the shock of price increases on settings.

I am kicking myself now. I had a diamond shipped loose intending to send it back and have it set next week. Looked at BGD's website and most of their pave and diamond side stone settings went up ~$1000.

This is just becoming a nightmare and I don't know what I am going to do.

Are you sure it went up that much?

I was looking at the Gina setting. It was $1350 in wg(my quote for size 10 was $1800 in wg).It now lists for $2230 in wg, thats a 65% increase but not quite $1000 on the stock setting, but I would bet that it would be atleast $1000 on the price of a size 10.

The truth micro pave now lists for $2475 in wg. I forgot what it listed for, but WF is still listed at $1175, and BGD was cheaper than WF.

The classic truth micro pave lists for $1750 in wg. I forgot what it listed for, but WF is still listed at $1095, and BGD was cheaper than WF.

Not all of their prices have gone up yet, why I don't know but they should really fix that. The novela in platinum still lists for $2250.

I thought there could have been a price increase on settings but I never anticipated such a huge price increase. So anyone looking at buying a pricier setting at BGD might want to do it TONIGHT, or expect to see a huge increase on it tomorrow. I can only imagine what some of their halos will be going for tomorrow.

 

[Lula]

Well my eyeballs are still on the floor after them popping out from the shock of price increases on settings.

I am kicking myself now. I had a diamond shipped loose intending to send it back and have it set next week. Looked at BGD's website and most of their pave and diamond side stone settings went up ~$1000.

This is just becoming a nightmare and I don't know what I am going to do.

The first thing I'd do is give BGD a call and ask if they can work with you on the price of the setting, given that you've already purchased your stone from them. You never know.

If you can't work something out with BGD on the price, start a new thread asking for help on finding a new setting in your budget. Many of the posters here are very good at finding great settings in a variety of price ranges.

Best of luck to you!

I've been exchanging emails with them because I am at work but it doesn't look positive.

I have asked Whiteflash for a new quote on the same type of setting. Hopefully theirs hasn't changed since their prices on their website hasn't changed yet. But then there is the issue of 1. they require an outside stone to be insured for them to set it 2. the stone I have is a gorgeous stone and they don't have something as good for the same price 3. By time I get a refund from BGD they will have likely gone up as well.

Its just hard to believe the setting went up 65% overnight. And I had asked them while they were waiting on the wire transfer for the diamond what the chances of the prices of settings going up before next week were and they said minimal. Its just frustrating. A small price increase wouldn't have mattered, but 65% probably puts the setting at over $3k if not before taxes, certainly after it. I say probably because I don't have a current quote. Its not a custom piece but the ring size is 9.75/10. So if the stock went up close to $1k there is no doubt that a 9.75 size one would go up more because it requires more diamonds.

I'm hoping you get some good news from BGD on the setting price. But whatever you do, don't send the BGD diamond back if you think it's gorgeous! You are probably right that the price would be higher for something different from Whiteflash that you may not like as much. It's very easy to get your stone insured. You'll need an appraisal for the stone from BGD or an appraiser of your choosing. Contact Jewelers Mutual -- that's the company many of us use to insure our stones/rings. They will insure a loose stone -- many insurance companies won't. Their prices are reasonable, and the application process can be done on line or by fax. And again, I'd encourage you to post a separate thread asking for setting help -- you'll get lots of suggestions.

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

Buy em off Ebay and get them recut. Still plenty of bargains there. I am glad I bought the ones I did in the '08-'09 period.

Funny thing, I too bought a lot of diamond rings from the second hand market during that time. I bought a diamond, ruby and sapphire ring in 11 grams of 14K for $80, a .6o VS RB diamond in 7 grams of 14k for $233, and a 7 gram platinum, sapphire and ruby ring for $237. The very best find was an ideal cut 1.24 RB J VS2 for a little over 2K. Those were the days.... : ) I stopped buying second hand over a year ago because the prices got too high. My husband breathed a deep sigh of relief.

 

[Lovinggems]

Well my eyeballs are still on the floor after them popping out from the shock of price increases on settings.

I am kicking myself now. I had a diamond shipped loose intending to send it back and have it set next week. Looked at BGD's website and most of their pave and diamond side stone settings went up ~$1000.

This is just becoming a nightmare and I don't know what I am going to do.

The first thing I'd do is give BGD a call and ask if they can work with you on the price of the setting, given that you've already purchased your stone from them. You never know.

If you can't work something out with BGD on the price, start a new thread asking for help on finding a new setting in your budget. Many of the posters here are very good at finding great settings in a variety of price ranges.

Best of luck to you!

I've been exchanging emails with them because I am at work but it doesn't look positive.

I have asked Whiteflash for a new quote on the same type of setting. Hopefully theirs hasn't changed since their prices on their website hasn't changed yet. But then there is the issue of 1. they require an outside stone to be insured for them to set it 2. the stone I have is a gorgeous stone and they don't have something as good for the same price 3. By time I get a refund from BGD they will have likely gone up as well.

Its just hard to believe the setting went up 65% overnight. And I had asked them while they were waiting on the wire transfer for the diamond what the chances of the prices of settings going up before next week were and they said minimal. Its just frustrating. A small price increase wouldn't have mattered, but 65% probably puts the setting at over $3k if not before taxes, certainly after it. I say probably because I don't have a current quote. Its not a custom piece but the ring size is 9.75/10. So if the stock went up close to $1k there is no doubt that a 9.75 size one would go up more because it requires more diamonds.

I'm hoping you get some good news from BGD on the setting price. But whatever you do, don't send the BGD diamond back if you think it's gorgeous! You are probably right that the price would be higher for something different from Whiteflash that you may not like as much. It's very easy to get your stone insured. You'll need an appraisal for the stone from BGD or an appraiser of your choosing. Contact Jewelers Mutual -- that's the company many of us use to insure our stones/rings. They will insure a loose stone -- many insurance companies won't. Their prices are reasonable, and the application process can be done on line or by fax. And again, I'd encourage you to post a separate thread asking for setting help -- you'll get lots of suggestions.

I agree with Lula you should keep the diamond, prices have gone up at least 6% since you bought.

 

[wreckem]

 

[that_someone_special]

ugh. This makes me sick to my stomach. I wanted to do a few projects this last winter (and attempted them with bad luck).. so I gave up and put all of that cash on house stuff..... thinking... I'd get something next year! Seriously, this is not funny anymore

 

[JaymeC]

ARG! These prices increases are very disheartening. I am doing research for my dream stone that is likely about 6 months-1 year away. It seem like the wait may be longer as I am unwilling to make concessions on the stone, therefore will have to wait for more funds. Yikes! Congrats to all of you who have scored a prize or 2 prior to the price jump!

 

[wreckem]

So just to double check.

To insure I just need to get the diamond appraised and get an estimate from say Whiteflash for the setting?

I have estimated the insurance. How much should it cost to appraise a loose diamond? I guess I'll call around and try and get the diamond appraised tomorrow and call Whiteflash on Monday to get a quote/estimate for a size 9.75 legato sleek line pave. Its not the setting we wanted but its one we looked at and liked. Hopefully they don't go up in price over the weekend.

 

[vanderaf]

Wow! Thank goodness my DH proposed to me back in 1996!!! We could not even afford to purchase my diamond today at these prices. I now feel like I have a lot of ring for the money.

 

[IbrahimSS]

Looks like this is an ongoing thread. I was just about to ask about this. I was going to buy this diamond here https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2372478.htm... I moved to slow it it was gone but now I can't find anything similar at that price.

A friend of mine even tried to get me some quotes from his uncle at cost like the below examples:
2.18ct/G/vs2/Cut excellent/Finish excellent/round brilliant/GIA = $32,900
2.11ct/H/vs1/Cut excellent/ Finish excellent/round brilliant/GIA= $32,900

That's an extra $3k for a smaller diamond in the same color and clarity in maybe a matter of 2 weeks! The killer is he's trying to do it at cost so I'm sure retail is higher. I'm still hunting...

 

[SFGuy]

So just to double check.

To insure I just need to get the diamond appraised and get an estimate from say Whiteflash for the setting?

I have estimated the insurance. How much should it cost to appraise a loose diamond? I guess I'll call around and try and get the diamond appraised tomorrow and call Whiteflash on Monday to get a quote/estimate for a size 9.75 legato sleek line pave. Its not the setting we wanted but its one we looked at and liked. Hopefully they don't go up in price over the weekend.

So, I just went through this process myself. I purchased a loose diamond from GOG and had it set in a custom setting by a local jeweler. All JM needs is:

1) a written estimate on the setting (describing it and giving an estimated value)
2) a written appraisal on the diamond
3) a statement by you that you will have them set together and reappraised after the setting

WF should easily be able to provide you with a written estimate for any work you are considering undertaking. And your original diamond vendor should be able to provide you with a written appraisal for the diamond that they just sold you. They shouldn't even charge you for it. As the seller of a documented stone, they should have what they need to write the appraisal for you.

Hope this helps.

 

[jaebond]

Is there any chance of them going back down or leveling off? Or will we likely have to wait until after V Day? Or will they be even higher around this time next year?

 

[Amzizzle]

I am in the middle of some stuff with BGD right now, they have my old damaged ring and am waiting for the insurance to give them the go ahead. I chose them based on there old prices.I hope they will honor some of the old setting prices for me....

 

[Circe]

Is there any chance of them going back down or leveling off? Or will we likely have to wait until after V Day? Or will they be even higher around this time next year?

This is a VERY good question:my husband and I were planning our big 5 year upgrade for this fall, but at this rate, I'm wondering if I should just get a good watch (hellooo, Cartier!), and just wait for prices to level off for the 10 or 20 year for more diamonds ....

 

[motherof3inct]

I feel so lucky. I upgraded to a 2.01 RB diamond in November. It is a beautiful GIA triple ex, but I questioned whether I really wanted a 60/60 cut. It was priced under 18k. I debated if I should return it and take my time to look for another diamond. Thank goodness I decided to keep my diamond. I don't think i would have been able to justify buying in this market. Now that I have found PriceScope, I am addicted to diamonds and can't wait for studs. I would like 2 ctw, but with the price increases this seems very unlikely in the near future. I purchased these small earrings with diamond chips (that barely sparkle) to tide me over. I wish I had bought the BGD huggies before the increase!

 

[lorimiow]

I'm so sad to learn that BGD's eternity bands have been priced up significantly, even though they are not yet reflected on the website.
With the popular dream half eternity band, it's now $25xx even though the website still advertises it as $18xx. That's a HUGE increase! And I even thought I was smart to be getting it before an increase in price... turns out I'm still too late