Question about diamond earrings - did I get ripped off?

[aph7649]

I will preface this by saying that I am woefully uneducated about diamonds, how to shop for them, what to look for, etc. I thought I was a somewhat educated consumer until I stumbled across this website / forum. Wish I had found this 6 years ago when I bought my wife's engagement ring...

To the point of this post, I just bought stud earrings for my wife. I got these from the same jeweler who sold me the engagement ring - from people that know more about jewelry than I do, the jeweler has a good reputation here in Dallas. I thought I was getting a pretty good deal on the earrings - checked against online prices for similar stats, etc. However, I did not realize until this most recent web search and finding this site that there is some concern and discount for EGL (USA) certified diamonds compared to GIA and AGSL. Now that I am aware of that difference, I am concerned that I paid too high of a price for these earrings. Even more so, I am concerned about the bigger stones I bought for her ring several years ago - can't recall if they are EGL or not but will definitely be looking when I get home.

Stats on the earrings:
Round Brilliant
.97 ctw
E, F
SI2, SI3
14k white gold setting
Paid $1,650

To my naked eye, these earrings are really pretty - color looks great and give amazing sparkle. But I am facing some buyer's remorse, particularly now that I understand EGL diamonds can always be had for less than the comparable GIA/AGSL prices I researched. I'm also a little unnerved that the jeweler did not explain the difference to me - feel like they were trying to pull one over on me.

Any thoughts from folks more knowledgeable than me? Thanks!

 

[Rockdiamond]

HI aph7649

I have a personal campaign to educate consumers about stones being sold with grades that are known to be "generous"- and EGL is at the center of this.
BUT- based on what you've written, I don't see any problem whatsoever.
The reason is that a pair of almost one carat total weight earrings for $1650 is a farily "promotional" pair.
Generally speaking top quality half carat diamonds go for a lot more.
BUT- in earrings, a lot of folks don't spend for super top quality stones.

If you're second guessing yourself that you should spend more, the way you seem to like them, and the price seems to indicate to me you've made a good purchase.

I'll bet they go over very well.

 

[04diamond<3]

well JA has GIA certified H Si studs 1 ctw for 3k....So no, I don't think you over spent. My center stone is EGL USA certified and GIA just graded it giving it the same stats as EGL. the biggest difference (I think) is in what part of EGL certified them. There's EGL Isreal, International, Hong Kong...these tend to be worse in grading. EGL USA tends to be the best. Do you have a picture? If you think they're gorgeous, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

To my naked eye, these earrings are really pretty - color looks great and give amazing sparkle. But I am facing some buyer's remorse, !

They have amazing sparkle? That would be the main goal! As long as they are not cloudy or have visable inclusions, you should be okay. That is a great price for that size, but if you can see visable inclusions, then I would be concerned (and maybe go down in size to get clear diamonds), but if all you see is sparkle, then they should be perfect!

 

[aph7649]

Thanks for your response. For earrings - especially at this size - I'm perfectly ok with stones that don't grade out to perfection. I was targeting something around $1500-1800. I was not able to really find anything else at this size and within that price range (blue nile and other online sources). I don't really want to "upgrade" and pay more - I guess my lingering concern is since these are EGL, did I overpay? Sounds like you all think it's a fair price and that does make me feel better.

Should I be concerned about dealing with this jeweler in the future if they weren't upfront with me about the cert and implications thereof? I guess if the price I paid is reasonable then they dealt with me fairly, although I would have appreciated a little more education.

 

[aph7649]

To my naked eye, these earrings are really pretty - color looks great and give amazing sparkle. But I am facing some buyer's remorse, !

They have amazing sparkle? That would be the main goal! As long as they are not cloudy or have visable inclusions, you should be okay. That is a great price for that size, but if you can see visable inclusions, then I would be concerned (and maybe go down in size to get clear diamonds), but if all you see is sparkle, then they should be perfect!

Amazing sparkle to my VERY untrained eye

 

[Rockdiamond]

I have no doubt that if you held them right next to a higher quality pair, you would see the difference- but you would have to shell out a lot more dough.
Plus, I'm not suggesting that trained eyes aren't better at picking the best stones, but if you've examined them closely, and still like them- for the price- I think you did OK.

 

[distracts]

What store in Dallas?

 

[aph7649]

What store in Dallas?

On second thought, I'd rather not say since I may have unfairly raised concerns about them

Thank you all for your input - I feel better about my purchase and excited to present to the wife.