By the way, for a genuine Tiffany's, Cartier's or other name brand jewelry piece, check out Signed Pieces (www.signedpieces.com). You can get name brand jewelry at a rather substantial discount there.

I believe that Tiffany's offers a lifetime upgrade program, so if you want a brand new Tiffany's piece but don't want to pay a retail price, see if you can purchase a Tiffany's piece at Signed Pieces and then go through Tiffany's upgrade program and only pay the difference between the two. If this works, you should be able to save a fairly substantial amount. This is just an idea, which I have not properly investigated since I have no interest in Tiffany's.

CROM said:All places offer a "lifetime upgrade plan." If they aren't then there is something wrong.With all due respect, not all credible places offer a lifetime upgrade plan and, regardless, the details of such plans vary widely. For instance, some places will offer 100% credit towards the purchase of any jewelry piece from them. Others will offer 75%-80% credit and/or require you to purchase another item that is at least 150% more expensive than the original item. The cost of the "lifetime upgrade plan" is usually passed on to the purchasers, so those people who don't care about the plan can often save money by going with a reputable retailer who does not offer it.

You drive a BMW....this makes you special how? Unless it's a 6 or 7 series, stop trying to impress the teenage girls on this board.I am not sure that I should even dignify this portion of the post with a response except to advise you to read posts carefully before you take the time to attack posters. My reference to some of the higher end items I happen to enjoy simply highlighted the fact that not all such high end items are unique and, therefore, some items command an unavoidable premium (I cannot find another car with BMW's cachet, sheer driving enjoyment and performance at a lower price, for instance) while other premiums can be avoided (Tiffany's diamond premiums can be avoided by purchasing an ever better diamond without the markup).

psychoanalyst said:I think they have a very nice selection of inventory and the diamonds on their website (at least the one I purchased) are exactly the way they look in person. Any info not on the website I received through their phone number (800 number). Also EGL a 2nd tier lab??? You should read this article http://www.rss-jewelry.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=73 I don't think any labs are 100% trustworthy. Just my opinion but I will be going back to DBS again.Psychoanalyst, I am glad that you received great service from those folks and that you enjoy the diamond. If you don't like the look of the diamond, no certifications or advanced tests make any difference.

As for the trustworthiness of the labs, no lab is 100% accurate and consistent. What makes IGI and EGL (particularly Israeli and other non-US EGL offices) 2nd tier is not my opinion but that of the diamond market -- IGI and EGL certified stones sell at an often substantial discount to their GIA and AGS certified counterparts because, in part, the market deems the former less reliable and less constistent than the latter. An explanation regarding the way dealers choose certifying labs can be found in one of my posts above.

I am still quite troubled by the unavailability of the cut information on the Diamonds Blue Source's website. If the stones really are cut ideally, the retailers would advertise that information and post it on the website. The fact that no such information is posted and no other advanced tests are shown on the website (this is HIGHLY unusual for in-house diamonds) raises a lot of very serious concerns in my mind.

I do not, however, want to improperly criticize a retailer if such criticism is underserved or is otherwise unwarranted. Would you mind posting links to at least a couple of stones that you feel are cheaper at Diamonds Blue Source than comparable stones at reputable competing retailers so we can see it for ourselves. So far, I have yet to see any.

P.S.
By the way, what do you mean when you say "the diamonds on their website (at least the one I purchased) are exactly the way they look in person?" The website does not offer magnified or even regular pictures of the stones, so I am not sure that I understand your post.

Wouls someone please tell me if this diamond below is good or not and is it a good deal?

Round Brilliant(GIA)
Carat: 0.74
Color: D
Clarity: VVS1
Cut Grade: Excellent
Polish/Sym: Excellent
Clarity Characteristic: Pinpoint
Measurements: 5.80x5.83x3.59

Price: $5146

Please any expert let me know what you think about this diamond. Thankyou very much.

Think about this "investment purchase" for a moment. They are making diamonds so good that you need a special electronic devise to determine if its real or not. Where is the "you just can't go wrong buying this or that ring"? Save the money buy a solid 22kt gold wedding bands and put the extra cash towards something you can use like a house or pay off those credit cards. Makes a hell of a lot more sense than buying a diamond for a min of a 100% markup. Think your getting a great deal on a diamond ring, call your insurance claims adjuster and find out exactly what that diamond is worth if something happens to it. I strongly suggest you do this before you buy not after the fact.

pictures online are nothing like what you see in real life. they photo the diamonds face down with no setting. thats totally different from what you'll see face up in a setting.

plus of course they use optimal lighting versus real life lighting.


you really need to look at them in your various lighting conditions to see what you like.

and once they get dirty they tend to not bling as much so you have to take care of cleaning it like anything else

DamnoIT said:Nope,

Get a lower color grade (g-i)
Get around an SI2 clarity
Keep other aspects the same and it should be around $2500 WITH greater weight (around 1 ct)
You are paying for paper specs with the vvs1 and D color - is your lady goging to be looking through a loope and have a color grading machine with her ring at all times? If no then save those extra thousands and put in your house or babys college tuition.Although I agree with you, certain cultures think of high color and high clarity as "purity" and do not put nearly as much emphasis on size as we do. Trav7414 has already privately explained to me that purity is important to him, which is certainly understandable. I've already told him that we would be more than happy to try to help him but first need know the cut characteristics of the stone (I explained it in several posts above), so we can more or less tell him how visually appealing the stone will be and can assess the market value of the stone (cut quality greatly affects the value of the stone).

Congratulations, Scott, this is very exciting! I'm very happy to hear that you got a very sparkly, well cut and a rather unique stone at a great price. When is the big day?

P.S.
Just out of curiosity, did the new AGS certificate with DQD arrive as well? What's the cut rating under the new system (it's of purely academic interest at this point, obviously)?

Trav, there is no such thing as "AGL. Do you mean AGS or EGL? A brief explanation regarding the importance of certifications and the reasons that diamond values are greatly affected by the quality of the certifying lab is contained in a couple of my posts above. As I also explained in a couple of posts, several labs now provide cut ratings on their certificates, which can help you a great deal.

After you've reviewed the posts in this thread, please let us know if you have any specific questions that are not addressed in the posts and somebody will try to help you.

geo123 said:Congratulations, Scott, this is very exciting! I'm very happy to hear that you got a very sparkly, well cut and a rather unique stone at a great price. When is the big day?

P.S.
Just out of curiosity, did the new AGS certificate with DQD arrive as well? What's the cut rating under the new system (it's of purely academic interest at this point, obviously)?

it was the same AGS grading. It looks like they just verified the stone and then engraved it. They didn't even change the serial #. I asked today(I am impatient and horrible at secrets!). She said yes, whew. Got the stone already set. I will post pics early next week. I am preparing to leave for the weekend.