Archive for Blog
Looking for a large round diamond for $8000.
Posted by: | CommentsRandy,
Looking for 1 to 2 ct. round diamond. My lady says quality is most important not
size. She has picked out a classic Tiffany setting six prong. My budget is $6000
J,
Its going to be pretty tight finding a 1 to 2 carat diamond in that budget that the quality you are looking for. Here are 2 diamonds just under a carat that you should
look at. Both are excellent quality in terms of cut and are eye clean:
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/G-VS1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1418809.asp?a_aid=4d4527e041e66
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-VS1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1437853.asp?a_aid=4d4527e041e66
Let me know what you think.
Randy
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Helping Out Our Men in Uniform – Mission Accomplished!
Posted by: | CommentsThe amazing thing about the Internet is that you never know where your readers will be coming from.
I have learned of literally hundreds of cities across the US from all questions readers send in.
This time I was honored to have been of assistance to J, who while hailing from Arkansas City was serving
his country in Afghanistan and wanted to surprise his wife with a ring upon his return states side. With a little
help from the guys over at James Allen I am proud to have helped make this happen.
Randy,
Hello, I’m currently serving in the US Army on tour in Afghanistan. My
5 year anniversary is on September 2nd and I will not be there for the
special day. I will be home in November for mid tour leave. I am
writing because I never bought my wife a proper diamond engagement
ring. I bought a cheaper solitaire sapphire. I want to surprise her
with a beautiful diamond solitaire but I’m on a budget constraint. I
really don’t want to spend $1500 but that would be my absolute limit. I
don’t want to get scammed and I want the most bang for my buck. Any
suggestions?
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An interview with Pam Scott, CEO DiamondWave
Posted by: | CommentsWhile I am a big fan of of James Allen on the site I am always looking for other reliable and honest vendors I feel comfortable recommending to my readers, one such company is DiamondWave. DiamondWave is a smaller family run business that prides itself on the individual attention they provide their customers.
Recently I had the chance to chat with Pam Scott from DiamondWave and wanted to share with you some f the topics we spoke about.
Randy:
Can you tell me a little about your background before coming to DiamondWave?
Pam:
I worked for Costco Wholesale for 18 years and was in the buying dept. I started the Special Order Diamond Program and purchased all high end GIA diamonds and set the standards for diamond clarity, quality and cut that they are still using today.
I have been taught by the best in the industry on what characteristics of the diamond are, what is important.
I left Costco in 2005 for Amazon.com to be the Senior diamond buyer but the fit was not a good fit for me, I like quality merchandise and had a hard time buying cubic zirconium and 10k so we had a parting of the ways.
2006 I took a position with a top diamond site holder in NY and with the crash of the economy I left in 2007
2007 I was hired as the diamond buyer for DiamondWave which had not yet launched. I did all the diamond jewelry buying for the site as I still do today.
2008 The site sold, the new owners made me CEO and I continue to do all the diamond buying and the consulting. We are a small family owned company and take pride in our personal attention we can give each customer.
We launched in April of 2008 and have been building the business ever since.
We have access to many castings that are not seen on the site and we have our own designer for one of kinds, if we are able to do it.
50.24 carat round VS1 diamond for “only” $10 Million!
Posted by: | CommentsFor all you guys who write in asking for the ultimate diamond for the one you love, here is a great opportunity. Rappaport has reported that Ritchies Auction house in Toronto will be putting up an amazing 50.24 Carat round brilliant cut diamond. The diamond is a VS1 clarity (amazing for a stone this size) and is expected to sell for at least 10 Million!
If this is a just a bit too rich for you blood they have many other items up for sale including a 78 carat Fancy Yellow diamond necklace and an 18 carat Fancy Yellow diamond which was appraised at “only” million!
For those of you looking for diamonds at a slightly lower price point check out my Deals section on the right sidebar or browse for yourself at James Allen
See more of what’s going up for sale here.
Why Diamond Photos Are Key to Great Looking Diamonds
Posted by: | CommentsI am sometimes asked why I recommend James Allen over other vendors, is it because I am an affiliate of theirs? Of course not. I work with many quality, honest, and reliable companies and depending on the needs of a particular person I will always send them to who I feel is the best match. The reason I promote James Allen so much on this site is because for someone who is not an expert in diamonds there is no better place to start looking then James Allen. Why? Actual diamond photos!
To understand why photos are so important take a look at my diamond clarity page and then head over to the diamond clarity chart page. After reading those pages you will understand that diamond grading is not an exact science and often a diamond will be certified at an I1 or SI2 and still be a great value. On the other hand, the diamond may have a nasty black dot smack center of the table and should be avoided. Without diamond photos there is no way of knowing!
Here is a great example. This 0.80 carat E-I1 is a great find- http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/E-I1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1406117.asp . Take a close look at the diamond as it appears on this page. Can you see any problems? Now use the James Allen virtual loupe and get an even closer look at the diamond clarity. Can you see any problems now? Even I had a hard time finding the inclusion (between 6 and 7 o’clock) using the virtual loupe. What this means is that even under 20X magnification the diamond appears very clean. To the naked eye this will be a clean diamond at an I1 price! This diamond was listed at $3290. Compare to this 0.79 Carat E-SI1 diamond which is listed at $4640 http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/E-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1396509.asp and this 0.80 E-VS1 diamond listed at $6210 http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/E-VS1-Premium-Cut-Round-Diamond-1378789.asp . In other words the guy who bought that I1 clarity diamond saved himself between 30% and 48% for a diamond that nobody will be able to distinguish from the higher priced diamonds! This type of sale would not have been possible without being able to see the actual diamond photos as provided by James Allen. This is what bang for the buck is all about.
If you want a recommendation for a diamond that meets your needs at a great price – feel free to contact me and I will be happy to help.
Diamonds As An Investment
Posted by: | CommentsSeems every year or so someone (usually Rapaport of Rap List fame) tries to introduce an way that diamonds can be traded as a commodity. Once again Martin Rapaport has announced his intention of publishing a daily diamond price list aimed at investors. The price list will highlight current prices for diamonds being offered for trade on the B2B Rapnet diamond trading network.
The problem with this approach is that each diamond is unique and while the 4Cs try and standardize the grading there is still way too much leeway in what the actual diamond looks like. For example (and as I point out in my diamond clarity page) you can have an SI1 diamond that is eye clean and an SI1 diamond that has a nasty black inclusion on the table. Depending on the size of the stones there could be a several hundred dollar difference in price between them. If all you have to go by is the diamond certification and not the actual diamond photographs you can’t commoditize the prices.
In my opinion this is bound to fail as it has done many times in the past.
RapNet: Diamond Prices Soften in July
Posted by: | CommentsAccording to a press release issued by RapNet, diamond prices at retailers softened during the month of July. “Certified polished diamond prices were stable in July as the prevalent seller’s market softened through the summer months. There was some price resistance from buyers, who avoided making large inventory purchases.”
However RapNet does expect the market to remain string heading into the holiday season and sees additional price increases on the horizon. “The outlook for the second half of 2011 remains strong. Growth will continue to be driven by retail expansion in China and India, and modest stability in the U.S., despite lingering economic concerns there”. Given the dramatic downturn in the US economy it will be interesting to see if this forecast remains strong or will we see the numbers slip to levels of 2 years ago.
For a more complete understanding of how diamond pricing “works” see my Guide to Diamond Pricing.
Will De Beers Shortfall Impact Diamond Prices?
Posted by: | CommentsDe Beers recently reported that they are planning on cutting back on the total supply of rough diamonds to the market in the 2nd half of 2011. Originally De Bers expected to ship 38 million carats but are now lowering that forecast to 35 million. Whether this effects diamond prices is yet to be seen.
When budgeting for your diamond dont forget the setting
Posted by: | CommentsOne of the first questions I ask people who write in to me for help finding a diamond is if the budget they give me is for the diamond or diamond and setting. This may seem like a strange question as most people figure that setting is insignificant compared to the price of the diamond. With the prices of gold where they are this can be a big mistake.
JCK is reporting that gold can hit an all time high as early as October and they are predicting prices as high as $1900 an ounce (it is now about $1600 an ounce. Depending on the type of setting you are looking at you should budget between $500 and $1500 for the setting alone.
So next time someone tries to tell you that yellow makes the price of a diamond go down understand that there is more then just yellow in diamond color – there is yellow in the setting as well (ok, gold) and in this case it drives the price up!
Rapaport Holding International Diamond Conference in September
Posted by: | CommentsRapaport Diamonds has announced that it will be holding its 2011 International Diamond Conference on September 12, 2011. For those of you who are not familiar with Rapaport, they are the company that distributes the Rapaport Diamond Price Sheets that the entire retail diamond industry pricing is based on (read more on diamond pricing). One of the sessions that seems of interest is ““Diamonds and Social Responsibility – Real Solutions to Real Problems.”” that deals with the issues of ethical souring. This is most related to my article on Brilliant Earth diamonds. I am curious to see how Rapaport spins this. In general these sessions tend to be very fluffy and back patting to the industry as a whole for having taken a tough stance on the issue of conflict diamonds.
Should I attend? Registration is only 50$ but not really sure there is much to gain here.
