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Why won't a jewelry store give me a GIA cert number?

T

toaster

Rough_Rock
Joined
Feb 12, 2014
Messages
47
I was planning on upgrading my ring since I need to get an adjustable shank put it... Because I'm upgrading I need to spend twice as much (store's policy) as the original.

I already resigned myself that I would have to get something less than ideal or pay a HUGE mark up over what I can get at Whiteflash. I gave my parameters and asked for the GIA numbers prior to them wasting their time bringing the diamonds into the store.... They are telling me they can't give me the numbers until I put down a deposit or buy the diamond!?

What's their reasoning for refusing to give me the cert number!? I truly thought I was making it easier on them not to bring in diamonds that are a hard NO!

At this point I'm so angry that I think I'm just going to keep my original rings and get the new shank put on those! UGH!
 
They dont want you to find the stone for 20-50% less online before they have your money held hostage.
 
You can have them send photos of the certs with the number blanked out if they absolutely must withhold that.

Ditto Karl, they don't want you googling the GIA ID and finding virtual listings of the stone for less than they'll quote.
 
You have to be real careful with upgrades.
The resale value of your trade might be less than your trade up allowance so they crank up the price on the new stone.
Bringing in stones with big discounts for issues and charging top prices.
Being able to keep your old stone plus buy the new stone someplace else might be real close or less than the cash part of the upgrade in some cases.
 
Yes i bet they are underwater on your trade in and it's uneconomic to upgrade you to a market price diamond (even with their margin/upcharge) this explains why they were trying to upgrade you to that Non GIA / DeBeers Certificate 1.5ct I VS1 that you asked about in the other thread...
 
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freddyboston said:
Yes i bet they are underwater on your trade in and it's uneconomic to upgrade you to a market price diamond (even with their margin/upcharge) this explains why they were trying to upgrade you to that Non GIA / DeBeers Certificate 1.5ct I VS1 that you asked about in the other thread...
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I actually selected that from three they showed me in the store. I had seen the GIA for on (which is why i'm really baffled because she originally offered up the number for one. I did exactly what people upthread said and saw their horrible mark up and IMO it was not a great diamond. GIA 7476225557

In the store she showed me three diamonds. the GIA, the debeers and another. I had already decided from the cert I didn't want the original one she gave me the cert for over the phone, based on their price and the inclusions. (and she was actually pushing that one more than the debeers). Ultimately I chose the debeers while still in the store thinking it was the "better" of the 3 because... debeers.... and paid a refundable deposit to hold it. I also snapped a pic of the info (and because I made the deposit, she sent me a link with the number not realizing I already had the info.) In the meantime I started researching more and realized that the whole debeers thing with their own grading isn't all it's cracked up to be.....

FF a could of weeks and yesterday asked for her to get different diamonds... I no longer want the debeers and the "debeers markup" and gave her some stats. that's when she all the sudden decided I couldn't have GIA certs til I paid a deposit/paid for the diamond. UGH!

The "funny" thing is... like I stated... I had already resigned myself to a lesser quality for a higher price... and now i'm pretty much just not going to get a new ring... so no sale at all for her! when all she had to do was give me GIA! Ya... I'd find out the large mark up... but I was still going to buy and pay WAY too much! Now I'm almost positive I'll just keep mine and get the CLIQ on it... so no sale at all for her! or maybe look into selling it (have no idea how to go about that!? I've always heard you take it in the shorts selling used jewelry) and buy an ideal whiteflash!

My original is a 3 stone. center is a .51 F VS2. with a GIA cert. the side are .46TW, and 8 little surprise diamonds,not GIA. We paid $6599 12 years ago. (it was discounted from $7499.). Platinum.
 
Oh well thats a bit confusing.... It's not a loose diamond for another loose diamond upgrade it's a pre-set finished ring upgrade ??? And the cost basis for the 2x $ spend is the total orig finished ring cost of $6,599 not the center diamond cost ?
1725101968635.png
 
freddyboston said:
Oh well thats a bit confusing.... It's not a loose diamond for another loose diamond upgrade it's a pre-set finished ring upgrade ??? And the cost basis for the 2x $ spend is the total orig finished ring cost of $6,599 not the center diamond cost ?
1725101968635.png
Click to expand...

Correct. The whole ring trade in. The original ring was purchased as is, already set. The trade in/up cost goes to a while ring. I had picked out the ring setting (actually both) and they are/were going to put the Cliq shank on it. That is all included in the trade final price.

Editting to add: but what she’s showing me are loose diamonds. And that is what she was supposed to bring into the store…. Loose diamonds that they would set into the setting I picked out.
 
So you need to buy new setting AND a loose diamond @ total cost $13,200 or more and they will give you a credit of $6,599.... And the new setting cost is how much ??? leaving how much $$$ for the new loose center stone ???
 
freddyboston said:
So you need to buy new setting AND a loose diamond @ total cost $13,200 or more and they will give you a credit of $6,599.... And the new setting cost is how much ??? leaving how much $$$ for the new loose center stone ???
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the new setting I chose is $3400. i was actually planning on trading in both rings since i didn't like how my current band looked with the new setting i had picked out. so the actual price of the two rings i am/was trading in is $10,000.

(I originally thought I'd need to buy a $15000 diamond from them because I expected the new setting/ring to be about $5000. i was surprised that the rings with the cliq shank was only 3400.....)
 
so the proposed exchange is you give them the $6,599 orig cost old preset E ring AND a $3,500 orig cost wedding band - (total cost $10,000)

And you also pay them new money cash $$$ in the amount of ????
And they give you a credit in the amount of $$$ ??

Towards a new $3400 setting and a new band (how much cost for the band) and the leftover $$ is how much for the new loose diamond ????

i'm just trying to isolate the $ amt they have to work with for the new main stone - As a standalone a DeBeers Cert 1.5 I VS1 isn't too compelling but at the right price it may not actually be a bad deal..
 
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freddyboston said:
so the proposed exchange is you give them the $6,599 orig cost old preset E ring AND a $3,500 orig cost wedding band - (total cost $10,000)

And you also pay them new money cash $$$ in the amount of ????
And they give you a credit in the amount of $$$ ??

Towards a new $3400 setting and a new band (how much cost for the band) and the leftover $$ is how much for the new loose diamond ????

i'm just trying to isolate the $ amt they have to work with for the new main stone - As a standalone a DeBeers Cert 1.5 I VS1 isn't too compelling but at the right price it may not actually be a bad deal..
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I give them both rings (total of $10,000. I need to spend a total of $20,000. Now that we have the cost of the settings ($3400 we actually all thought it was going to a higher cost than that with the cliq... The original stone she was pushing was $12,000 but we now know that wouldn't have worked for the trad in..... but i digress).... I need a diamond from them that costs $16,600. I get nothing extra back from them.

the debeers they showed me is $17,799..... so price-wise it works. but ya.... i felt that it was even way more overpriced once i started looking more online. (i found a really pretty A Cut Above from whiteflash for the $15,000 range that in my amateur opinion is way better!)

I assume the debeers is overprices because of the name which is why I asked her to go back and find me something GIA that's not branded... hoping I'd get something better....

It really stinks with the whole upgrade....... it's like being "stuck" in the apple eco-system.... not that I mind that! lol! but it feels like once your in... you almost can't afford to get out! I won't get anywhere's near $10,000 for my rings outside of their trade in... but then I'm overpaying them for the diamond..... but I'm not sure i'm overpaying by $10,000. UGH UGH UGH

(after finding out the price of the setting.... i ended up telling her to find a diamond up to $22,000..... of course just typing that and knowing it's not going to be a WF or BN or JA just sounds insane!)
 
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ok well you're really not actually stuck... the credit for upgrade is mostly an illusion....

i would figure the 2 trade in rings (unless they can reuse them as is) would be something like $500 or so for the .5 GIA F and the two 1/4 stones and then melt and melee for the rings so probably under $1k value in trade plus the new $10k so they are working with $11k less the new setting $3,400 (their cost $$ is obviously less) leaving them $9 k or so for the diamond and store margin/profit.... So you're not really getting a 17k or a 22k diamond

personally i would try to keep the rings and use the 10k or less towards nice WF or JA stone at the real market price and find a jeweler to swap out the .51 center.....
 
freddyboston said:
ok so at least it sounds like you know what you're dealing with...

i would figure the 2 trade in rings (unless they can reuse them as is) would be something like $500 or so for the .5 GIA F and the two 1/4 stones and then melt and melee for the rings so probably under $1k value in trade plus the new $10k so they are working with $11k less the new setting $3,400 (their cost $$ is obviously less) leaving them $9 k or so for the diamond and store margin/profit.... So you're not really getting a 17k or a 22k diamond

personally i would try to keep the rings and use the 10k or less towards nice WF or JA stone at the real market price and find a jeweler to swap out the .51 center.....
Click to expand...

This
 
freddyboston said:
ok well you're really not actually stuck... the credit for upgrade is mostly an illusion....

i would figure the 2 trade in rings (unless they can reuse them as is) would be something like $500 or so for the .5 GIA F and the two 1/4 stones and then melt and melee for the rings so probably under $1k value in trade plus the new $10k so they are working with $11k less the new setting $3,400 (their cost $$ is obviously less) leaving them $9 k or so for the diamond and store margin/profit.... So you're not really getting a 17k or a 22k diamond

personally i would try to keep the rings and use the 10k or less towards nice WF or JA stone at the real market price and find a jeweler to swap out the .51 center.....
Click to expand...

Hubby had mentioned the same thing about just changing the center….but the setting is my least favorite part of my current rings…. (and no matter what I decide on…. I still need the cliq shank! Even when the current rings come back fixed after having to get them cut off…… thanx knuckle!….. I can’t wear them!)
 
toaster said:
Hubby had mentioned the same thing about just changing the center….but the setting is my least favorite part of my current rings…. (and no matter what I decide on…. I still need the cliq shank! Even when the current rings come back fixed after having to get them cut off…… thanx knuckle!….. I can’t wear them!)
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just so you have a point of reference - this JA GIA is probably better but might be comparable to the DeBeers Cert @ 17k

1725125567824.png
 
Are you wanting another 3 stone? What is the current setting that you don’t like and what were you hoping to get for the new ring? I’m just wondering if you can buy a new center and use your current sides and go custom on the setting? Hard to tell without knowing what you want. Then you could just keep your existing center for a pendant or something else.
 
Lookinagain said:
Are you wanting another 3 stone? What is the current setting that you don’t like and what were you hoping to get for the new ring? I’m just wondering if you can buy a new center and use your current sides and go custom on the setting? Hard to tell without knowing what you want. Then you could just keep your existing center for a pendant or something else.
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No.... not really. I want a solitaire. I chose a setting with a partially hidden halo (which surprised me because I was anti-halo until I saw this one in the store!

If I didn't already have studs (close in size to the 2 sides) and 2 different solitaire pendants... that would actually be perfect!

I really tried to convince myself I just wanted to take the three diamonds nd rest them in a different setting... but I'd be settling....
 
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