99blancoSS

iTrader: (115)

Wifey wants diamond studs for xmas, looking for a good deal

GEARHED

iTrader: (5)

In Portland, no clue but steer clear of "mall" stores.
Figure it this way: if they are 1/2 off regular price every 4 weeks, what is the real mark up? (A: 900% is standard).

Try to find a jeweler who does custom work or small store with a GIA cert on all their stones. Only GIA is true certified standard throughout the world, the rest are "in house" acronyms that are worthless.

FWIW - you may find your budget only affords a 1/3 carat set of GIA stones in a solid gold settings (not hollow or plated). They will shine brighter and be more noticable for decades than crappy Y color half carat each stones from a lesser source.

Fulton 1

iTrader: (9)

If you're willing to order diamonds online definitely check out blue nile -customer service is excellent and you will generally find that their stuff appraises for at least 50% more than what you paid.

http://www.bluenile.com/design_bridg...line&elem=link

GEARHED

iTrader: (5)

Checking old name lists, found one of a few still in Portland in business. Check out the difference between this local store Tradeshop compared to Blue Nile:

http://search.tradeshop.com/cgi-bin/...fs=1&prestock=
(or stock #7019039)
matching half carat each, round brilliant cut, VS2, H color
$687.96 each, no tax
standard set mounts for half a carat usually cost $250 for a pair made in 14K yellow or white gold
(their 'tech' write up on more than you want to know but will get you some for a full year at least) http://www.tradeshop.com/master/ideal.shtml

Blue Nile:
http://www.bluenile.com/product_deta...ng_channel.asp
round brilliant cut, SI2, I color, "good" cut (means cut is off center with smaller table)
$2,100


soooooooooo....$1600 for custom made and fully certified almost perfect cut half carat, higher quality she will notice each compared to $2,100 not including tax lesser quality diamonds and standard cage mount.

You don't need to go that large of course and can chose smaller stones with a really nice cage (mount) that is custom made. You can also look at them first and they will show you the difference between an H color vs I color and so on, SI=small inclusions, 2 you can see with the naked eye vs VS2=very small inclusions, 2 you can barely see with the naked eye but if they are on your wife's ears, it better be a really close family member!

This is an argument many will lose with me, I worked for a private gemstone dealer for over 20 years. Passed the GIA test and certified but didn't keep up on my cert annually.

GEARHED

iTrader: (5)

Oh, Tradeshop diamond prices are very close to Rapport price this quarter, Blue Nile is somewhere around 400% higher than actual "value".

99blancoSS

iTrader: (115)

Thx for the help. She already has some really nice studs .33 each (vvs1 I think) that I had bought 8 years ago for her. She wants to do the 2 in one ear one in the other thing but I cant just get her a smaller single stud, that wouldnt be me. SO I'm looking to go .50 to .80 (wont find that big) in each ear and then she can move the .33 up and have one spare. I thought about trading up the pair she already has but she doesnt want to give them up and they are very nice.

Blue nile has some really nice stuff but they are on the upper end. I've been searching online for 5 days and have seen many diamonds. I dont want anything less than a vs2 and I in color, big fat table, ideal cut.. you know ... the biggest and best for the least amount...lol

I did find and ad on craigslist of all places for a cutter in downtown Portland. Miller International so I'm going to see what he can do for me. Should wack about 30-40% off the price, it leaves out the middle man.

Thanx for all your advise Amy, I love shopping for diamonds. They really are so freaking cool. Arkansas has a mine I might take a trip to one day and do digging. Oregon has sme gems as well. Its good to dump money into something besides my car and diamonds retain value a little better. My max budget for the studs is 2400, I should be able to get her a pair to blow her socks off. Its our ten year as well.

NWDragRacer

Costco actually has some great deals on quality gems.

These are close http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...rodid=10031484

GEARHED

iTrader: (5)

I knew you weren't cheap!
Some people don't know there are diamond districts in all major cities - since you do know then go and get some good ones. The Canadian Polar's used to be really inexpensive until DeBeers bought it out

A client did pretty good quite a few decades back in Akansas on his own. I still don't think many know about it though so there should be some good bits here and there but wouldn't tell us exactly where.

I got the chance to see actual 'sunken treasue' from a client who spent a couple of decades and tons of money off the coast of Florida. He brought in things that looked like barnacles and others cleaned up. They were pure old lopped gemstones, one they knew was from a priest due to its bent but still holding a 6+carat Emerald in almost pure gold setting. The best guess anyone had was c.1460 and to this day, he is still fighting for the rights to everything he found. It's worth billions of course but amazing to see true old mined stones that you don't even see in museums today.
The stories I got from years of seeing what came through a non-descript office...blow your mind but really fun

CW00BlackTA

iTrader: (31)

Go to Chinatown! They usually only deal in the best stuff. You'll notice the gold items they carry are a funny color compared to what you see in the mall--because is all at least 18K or better. I found the diamonds there were roughly the same price as at the mall stores for a given carat weight but the quality was way better. My wife's diamond appraised for over twice what we paid for it and the jeweler at the mall store asked where we got it because he hadn't seen a stone that nice in a very long time.

Learn about diamonds before you go. It's not that difficult to discern between the good, the bad and the ugly. Go to the malls just to get a good look and use the magnifying equipment. Practice until you can see the defects and the color differences (they will teach you). Then go to Chinatown and buy a nice stone for what the mall stores charge for low quality stuff.

99blancoSS

iTrader: (115)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...:X:AAQ:US:1123

What are your thought about these Amy? Not the greatest quality but not the worst either. Wrong color setting but the jeweler will do them in yellow gold. Price isnt bad for the quality I was thinking. I'll be going to the cutters this week or next but I'm looking for good deal to compare them against. These arent bad for si1 g in color at 1.42 cts

GEARHED

iTrader: (5)

The only red flag from the ebay listing are the numerous "refunds/returns" they have given to buyers.
If you are looking for a good comparison this would be tough to qualify since you haven't really seen them.

Usually once you are in the door of a cutters office, they will have sets or stones someone ordered but decided against. Those are ones you can get a pretty good discount on since they can't return them and have to sell them anyway.

99blancoSS

iTrader: (115)

So I finally went to the cutter. It was a good learning experience. He does it all right there in his office. Pretty cool. He had 5.3 ct rock he was working on for a customer. Said it would be a 3.0 when he done with it. It was going to be inclusive though it wasn’t a hi quality one by any means. The finished stone would be about 2k in value he said.

SO he explained the whole certification thing and how it adds to the cost of the diamonds and of course that gets passed long. He buys from the mine and cut them and sells them to stores who then have them certified and sell them to customers for the inflated price. He had some stones that were his that he could get me a great deal on or he had some that he got knowing I was looking for higher quality that weren’t as good a deal but were certainly a good deal.

I'm going with 3 studs altogether. I traded her current pair in for a single one to match the pair I bought. 1220 for 1ct si1/2 and one .25 ct same quality. turn out the pair I got her weren’t .61 like I was told they were more like .44 and not of the quality either they were supposed to be either. So when you match them up against what I bought her new ones are twice as big and better quality. BUT the pair he picked up were vs1 1.50 ct total weight and they were absolutely stunning. They were $2550. I had a tough choice at that point my budget was 22-2400 so they weren’t out of the question. But on the way down there I was thinking that she knows what she's getting and that’s just not fair to me, this is xmas and its supposed to be a surprise. SOOO I’m having him make an anniversary band for around 1000. He use either 7 or 5 stones si2 quality maybe .25 pts, he needs her ring to make the wax mold. Custom stuff all the way here. That hits my budget and she wont be expecting it. It was out 10 yr this past October.

SO it’s a good deal. The ones I’m getting would be about 3200 in a store he said I’ve seen similar for 25-2600 so he estimates a little high but he also sells to the jewelry stores so he knows cost. The 1.50ct vs1 are easily 4000 in a store. Anyone wants a great deal on those 1.5’s for $2550 I can probably get them for you. This guy will let me trade up when ever I want as well and these are his cut so he knows the quality. He was an honest genuine kid. 23 yrs old..lol. His grandfather started the business and had 108 stores all over the country at one time. This kid dropped out of high school and never wanted to be part of the family business but it was a craft so he went to school for it and then started his own business using the families good name. There are only 10 diamond cutters on the west coast. He’s one of them. He said there’s like 400 in New York. Anyway got a good education on diamonds too and looking for gold in Oregon as well. LOL he was regular people, just had a cool job and lots of diamonds..lol

GEARHED

iTrader: (5)

Diamond cutters crack me up - did he tell you why there are so many in New York?

Sorry I didn't see the pm sooner but you did good

99blancoSS

iTrader: (115)

Heavy jewish population and trade

GEARHED

iTrader: (5)

Not to mention it is where DeBeers has their annual Lot Show.

Cutters are allowed in a room to themselves and presented a "lot" of stones (usually 144 total). There can be some real duds in it but if they don't buy the ones they are shown, they won't be asked to come back again to buy at wholesale.

The whole Tom Shane thing makes me cringe every time I hear it on the radio. He's been dead since 1997 and has never gone to Antwerp or any place else to buy anything but left overs from the cutting room floors in New York

99blancoSS

iTrader: (115)

Hahahaha ya its pretty funny. Thats what he said you have to take the bad with the good, the trick is to not pay to much for it. When he gets lots it has everything from industrial to the finer stuff.
We talked about the arkansas diamonds as well. All the diamonds that are going to ever be are formed already and waiting to be found he said. You either mine for them or find them in old river beds.

GEARHED

iTrader: (5)

I'd be up for a trip like that too - you do know there are some Emeralds there too, right?

I suppose you don't want to know what I paid for a marquise EU bow cut, .99 ct, D color VV1 - do you?
hahahahhahahha


um...it was in 1988, were you born yet?

99blancoSS

iTrader: (115)

errr ya, I had been out of HS for 4 years by then..lol

Oregon also has a sunstone that is gathering big interest. Eastern side. The gold though is all over the place. I seriously wanr to explore more of that as well. Start doing a little prospecting.. eh what the heck, you never know.

GEARHED

iTrader: (5)

Throw in going to the crystal caves and its a good side business for fun