Has anyone bought a diamond online
 

What were your experiences? What company(s) have you bought from and what was your level of confidence that you are getting the diamond you specified. Also, are the saving to be made from buying online worth it - I'm guessing the usual savings apply (i.e. online = no fancy showroom or premium location).

I'm looking for about a 0.4-0.7ct brilliant round diamond that is colourless or near-colourless (D-H roughly), has no naked eye inclusions and preferably only minimal 10x magnification inclusions - probably no worse than VS1. I also want a near perfect cut and finish. I have no problem in leaning towards the smaller weight to increase the quality - I want a diamond that literally explodes with brilliance when light falls on it and I'll be tension mounting it to maximise light exposure. Is this the sort of thing I can confidently buy online? Should I get it idependently verified thereafter even if it comes with certification (which I'd insist on!)

We bought our wedding rings from here

HomePage - Rings By Design Ltd

Excellent service & very keen prices. May want to try them as they come to your home to discuss your needs, including the shape etc. of the diamond so they may be able to help you mate.

Typical SB, cant just buy a ring, has to wallow in the lingo and detail first !

I fully exepct a thread worring about some near visible 10x inclusions and a refractive comparison chart of various gemstones.

Just get down to H Samuel.

My advice they won't wear them (I assume it is for your lady, no I hope it is for your lady) if they are too valuable, it bumps your house insurance up as well, in fact spend all the money on your house.

I am quite happy with my ring, it was prised off my dead grandad, which was nice !

LOL, it's funny you should say that :D My mate and I were discussing how he finds it amusing the level of research I put into any purchase costing more than about £50. I guess it's because I know/have seen the money that uninformed people can pay for stuff. This morning for example I paid £2220 for high quality kitchen units that would cost a dopy punter off the street walking into an MFI (for example) with no intention to haggle or question, £8,000!

We've clashed on this issue before Jacko but the bottom line is my incesent research and questioning has resulted in me making purchases I've been over the moon with. My S2000 was an excellent purchase for the money as was my Holiday and a recent weekend break - all of which I could have just bought in 10 minutes online without much research such is the availability.

Besides I spared SN my A/V set up research and limited that to the AV Forum and S2ki but I'm now satisfied that there is no better way to spend £2,500 to meet my audio-visual requirements.

I guess its the Jock (tight) in me :D

By the way the last purchase I can remember making slightly with the heart was my scooby and it turned out to have paintwork history that made it a nightmare to sell and was very obvious in certain lights. If you've got the time and resolve I'd recommend anyone spends time researching big purchases on the net and talking to people in the know - it is crazy how much free information is out there if you are willing to pour through forums/google and websites :thumb:

Oh and I've ordered a 14x Magnification Loupe just to be on the safe side. Industry grading is done at 10x - pah, I wanna see what I'm buying :D:p

GO TO NEW YORK FOE CHEAP DIAMONDS

There is the whole £100s for a flight issue!!! :eek: Besides I'm just back from Paris - lol!

odds on you will get divorced and she will keep the ring so go to argos instead

Lord Shrek.....the b1tch can have the 39 pound diamond ring :thumb:

I wonder if she could tell the difference between a diamond and well cut glass ;):D

Yep, those bloody Jocks are always tight Kenny ! I take it this is for the wee blonde in the S2000 ? Just make sure you don't buy it from one of the crappy shopping channels on Freeview !! :lol1:

Yeah, I took her to Paris at the weekend and we got engaged :) Oh, and that wee blonde is 6'2" and taller than me :D

As a related question does anyone know what you'd pay if you bought a $2000 diamond from the US of A when it hit UK shores. I presume you'd get nailed for 17.5% VAT but what else do they get you with?

If you knew what the "bid-offer spread" on a diamond is, it'd stop you being a such a mug and buying one. Ask the dealer how much he'd be prepared to pay to buy back a stone he sold you for a grand. I'd be surprised if he gives you 200 quid. :nono:

No really, don't do it, it's an utter, utter waste of money. Put the cash in an investment fund instead and you can both thank me later.

6'2" :eek2: That's the same as me !! (difficult to tell, she was sitting down !)
~ Many congratulations by the way Kenny !

Re the import, I looked into importing a Cannondale road-bike
last year - as far as i could gather it was just the VAT that you
paid.

Slightly off thread - how much quicker is your S2000 than your
mate's CTR ?

Andy

But I'm not buying one as an investment suresh. I want to buy a diamond that looks dazzling and brilliant in a ring that my lass will enjoy for many years. I can't imagine we'd ever need or want to sell it so retained value isn't that important although I'd obvoiusly prefer if it didn't become worthless. Besides, in the time between arranging the trip to Paris (August 2006) and having the finished ring on her finger (November 2006) my S2000 will probably have depreciated by the whole value of the diamond. Sort of puts it in perspective :)

Enough that I can start from behind him at 10mph rolling in 1st and be past, back in and a few car lengths ahead by 100mph. If we were to dial up 150mph I can be considerably ahead but the majority of the damage is done at mental speeds. Up to 100mph and its a crawling process to get past or pull away from them.

Cheers :)

Laura slouches in the seat when I go fast - I think it makes her feel safer :D

I know it's not an investment chap. Earlier on in this thread you boasted that you never pay huge mark-ups unlike other dopey mugs... The mark-up on diamonds are shocking. You'll be making someone rich in return for a worthless little sparkly bauble.

If you want to give her something priceless that she'll treasure for years, why not just knock her up! ;)

LOL, ah I see your point. I selectively leak money :D For years I've funded my cars with a personal loan. I always try to ensure that the loan value and the car value come down at the same rate. Right now the unsecured loan I bought the S2000 with is worth about the same as the S2000 so the £330 I pay a month is 'lost' for the pleasure of owning it. Good business sense - no. Worth it when you hit vtec on a country road with the roof down and get a wiggle from the back - hell yeah :D

Congrats young man.

I bought mine on the high streets of our fair city, and knocked £3k off by haggling for her VVS1 F 1.07ct emerald cut. It certainly sparkles!! Emerald cut a good sparkler due to there being lots of long lines in it to refract the light.

Deffo agree that weight is not everything. The bigger you get, the price just gets stoopid for VVS1 or D-H anyway....

My research leads me to believe there is a certain kudos in having 1ct or bigger. Sort of like it's 'whole'. However, neither Laura or I are particularly bothered by such bragging rights and we intend to go for a very open tension setting where the diamond is only just pressure grasped at two points. It should be possible to see the whole diamond clearly and therefore a smaller size would probably look larger anyway. Besides she works with animals and can't have a monster rock getting in the way.

That's quite a haggle you have :D

Initial impressions of this site are very good. They seem to provide lots of images, scans and information relating to all aspects of the diamond you are buying. Will dig around some more and check out there returns policy.

PS Diamonds are an artificially high priced commodity, mainly controlled by DeBeers of SA. Prices are pumped up, but one has to live with that in the market right now.

Perfect manmades are now perfectly feasible, so in time, it may become more fashionable to have flawed diamonds anyway :) :D

It wasn't really what I went out looking for in terms of >1.0ct, but out of all the choices in the jeweller, it looked the nicest! Honest!!! Wasn't fussed about this 'kudos' really.

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that was your specific goal - it was just my general observation. I suspect in the right setting and cut a 1-2ct diamond could look fantastic given its bigger overall size :)

Err...they also sell an "X-factor" cut :nono: :nono: :D :D

Personally, I think anything above 1.5ct prob starts to look a bit vulgar....

The only one I liked in Hamilton & Inches on George St was £27k!!! I told her to shove it and quickly left....:norty:

PS Best to dress like a scaff for Hamilton & Inches etc....more amusing :D :D

PS I dress like a scaff anyway, so no change there!!

Cant beat Hatton Garden for diamonds!!!

Went down just to buy a diamond and theres about a billion shops all trying to get the same punters. You pick the diamond you want and they get it cut to make sure its a good quality diamond and the shape you want.

I ended up getting a 3.82ct VVS1 d diamond for less than 12k!!!

Did cost me another grand to get it mounted into the ring that my wife had designed but it was well worth it.

3.82ct in a ring!!!!! Jeeeezus!! Got any pics of that? It must be like one of those oversized christmas cracker jobs :D

When I can get it off her finger Ill take a pic of it!!!

Try Amsterdam, they sell just diamonds at the Airport, I guess as its EU no import tax either.