What causes such a wide swing in prices for stones of otherwise similar characteristics?

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

Helping a friend pick an engagement ring and after seeing a couple of stones he picked one and asked me to figure out if the price was fair. I decided to look up stones of similar characteristics on the PS search to see what the price range was, to help him determine a price.

I looked up 4-4.1ct emerald cut I VS1 (I didn’t specify Fluor) on the search; to get as close to his picked out stone (I forget the exact caratage but it’s between 4-4.1, I VS1, N Fluor) but the price range is wild - the cheapest is $41896 and the most expensive $69968! That’s a difference of $28k!! The cheaper stone has N Fluor and AGS cert, while the pricier one has S Fluor and GIA. Those were the only two discernable differences to my eye.

What gives??

 

[Tonks]

Helping a friend pick an engagement ring and after seeing a couple of stones he picked one and asked me to figure out if the price was fair. I decided to look up stones of similar characteristics on the PS search to see what the price range was, to help him determine a price.

I looked up 4-4.1ct emerald cut I VS1 (I didn’t specify Fluor) on the search; to get as close to his picked out stone (I forget the exact caratage but it’s between 4-4.1, I VS1, N Fluor) but the price range is wild - the cheapest is $41896 and the most expensive $69968! That’s a difference of $28k!! The cheaper stone has N Fluor and AGS cert, while the pricier one has S Fluor and GIA. Those were the only two discernable differences to my eye.

What gives??

With rounds, I would have said the price difference probably comes down to cut quality, whether they are H&A, etc. But with emerald cuts? I am much less sure. Maybe different vendor markups are playing into it as well as cut quality.

Are the dimensions of the stones the same? I could see someone pricing a shallower cut stone higher because the dimensions were bigger at the same weight.

 

[MissGotRocks]

It could also depend on when the vendor purchased a diamond and how much he paid for it. If he bought when prices were high, he can't budge much on the price.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

With rounds, I would have said the price difference probably comes down to cut quality, whether they are H&A, etc. But with emerald cuts? I am much less sure. Maybe different vendor markups are playing into it as well as cut quality.

Are the dimensions of the stones the same? I could see someone pricing a shallower cut stone higher because the dimensions were bigger at the same weight.

The dimensions of both stones were nearly the same:

I VS1 4.06 ~$42k: 10.77x7.64x5.47mm (WF)
I VS1 4.05 ~$70k: 10.67x7.38x5.07mm (BN)

I don’t see this as an appreciable difference - the 4.06 actually has a slightly better spread because the latter has a thick to very thick girdle.

Having not seen both stones I can’t really comment on the cut quality (the WF one only has a stock picture) but I do find the price difference itself quite insane - $28k is a LOT! Hard to believe vendor markups or even cut quality make so much of a difference. Maybe it’s then what @MissGotRocks said, that it’s dependent on the price of rough etc.

 

[Tonks]

The dimensions of both stones were nearly the same:

I VS1 4.06 ~$42k: 10.77x7.64x5.47mm (WF)
I VS1 4.05 ~$70k: 10.67x7.38x5.07mm (BN)

I don’t see this as an appreciable difference - the 4.06 actually has a slightly better spread because the latter has a thick to very thick girdle.

Having not seen both stones I can’t really comment on the cut quality (the WF one only has a stock picture) but I do find the price difference itself quite insane - $28k is a LOT! Hard to believe vendor markups or even cut quality make so much of a difference. Maybe it’s then what @MissGotRocks said, that it’s dependent on the price of rough etc.

Ok, then I’m guessing MGR is correct and it’s the price of rough or the prices at which the stones were acquired.

I don’t know if upgrade policies exist with respect to emerald cuts (would really be curious), but I could also see benefits like that bumping up price. But not 28k.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

Ok, then I’m guessing MGR is correct and it’s the price of rough or the prices at which the stones were acquired.

I don’t know if upgrade policies exist with respect to emerald cuts (would really be curious), but I could also see benefits like that bumping up price. But not 28k.

I’m not sure what Blue Nile’s policies are for upgrade - I think it’s spend twice to qualify for an upgrade?

For my friend’s jeweller the upgrade policy applies for the first year, I think? And afterwards he performs consignment services at an extremely low rate. That’s pretty much the gold standard here. But the price, like I said, is quite low.