11 replies to this topic

[tatum]

I have scoured the internet and been to many local jewelry stores. I have found a few rings I like with the diamond already included, but the price of the rings seem expensive for the quality of the diamond. I found a cushion cut diamond ring from Costco with what seems to be a reasonable price and pretty good with the size, clarity, and color. I do not know about the cut from what I could research is best for a cushion. The only issue I can tell from an untrained eye is possible the depth. I have a picture and a GIA report. Can someone who knows more than me tell me if it is worth that cost, considering I will be getting it reset. They do allow me to order it and come in and see it in person at the store before buying. Any thoughts on the purchase and/or purchasing from Costco?

The price is 16, 199 and I would end up resetting it. It comes with a GIA and EGL report. EGL appraised @ 30,000.
7.29X6.70X4.50
Cushion-1.82 Modified Brilliant
Color: D
Clarity: VS1
Polish and Symmetry: Very good and Very good
Girdle: Medium to thick (faceted)
Flour: None
Cutlet: very small

Attached Thumbnails

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[diamondsbylauren]

HI Tatum,
Congrats!
IN terms of value, throw the $30k figure in the garbage, as it's totally meaningless in this situation.
The price is certainly reasonable if we ignore what the stone might look like. which of course makes no sense.


There are various types of cushion diamonds that vary from more antique looking stones to more "sparkly" ones with smaller flashes of light.
I have seen many stones which I considered unattractive cushions which had a splotchy appearance as opposed to a glittery one.

Have you looked at many cushion diamonds?

The photo gives extremely limited information.

[tatum]

diamondsbylauren, on Tuesday, May 4 2010, 09:35 PM, said:

HI Tatum,
Congrats!
IN terms of value, throw the $30k figure in the garbage, as it's totally meaningless in this situation.
The price is certainly reasonable if we ignore what the stone might look like. which of course makes no sense.


There are various types of cushion diamonds that vary from more antique looking stones to more "sparkly" ones with smaller flashes of light.
I have seen many stones which I considered unattractive cushions which had a splotchy appearance as opposed to a glittery one.

Have you looked at many cushion diamonds?

The photo gives extremely limited information.

Hi there,
I have looked at many cushion cuts gut typically I am looking at them already in the setting. Is there anyway to tell anything about the cut by the reports provided-the table to depth, girdle, proportions, small cutlet? I buy tenderloins from Costco and they are always pretty darn good, but can you rely on them for a diamond?

[diamondsbylauren]

Unfortunately, the most vital aspects of how good the cut is are not possible to ascertain form any report.
The diamond must be visually examined.
Have you seen the diamond? I'd really be interested in your reaction if yo uhave

One thing's for sure, it must have a reasonable money back based on my experience with Costco.

When I think of more detailed items I've purchased at Costco, heres' where I feel they are lacking.... .
Fr example,I bought an SLR camera for about $800.
Turned out it didn't have the features that I needed- but there's not a whole lot of info you're going to get from the really nice people at Costco. Returned.

Video monitor- same thing. it was cheap, but I have a multi monitor system, and the Costco one was blown away by my Dell monitors.

If I'm going to buy an SLR, I'm going to one of the specialty stores.
I returned the Costco monitor and bought two Dell monitors.
Called up Dell and spoke to someone very familiar with the specs, and what might satisfy me.

A diamond is even more of a personal type of purchase.
That's where I think I find a lack considering a Costco Diamond Purchase.

If you develop a relationship with a dealer, they will explain options, and possibly show you multiple stones to choose from. A good dealer will point out positive aspects- as well as negative ones.

Edited by diamondsbylauren, 04 May 2010 - 06:31 PM.

[denverappraiser]

Costco is a reputable company and yes, you can rely on them for a diamond. The problem is in choosing the RIGHT diamond. The sales staff there generally knows less than nothing (unlike the folks in the meat department by the way) and so having a conversation with them about the details is basically pointless. You have to figure it out yourself. You can tell quite a bit by actually looking at the stone although their viewing environment is terrible but no, there’s not much to be learned about the cutting from the information on the lab report. A bright side of buying from them is that they have an extremely generous return policy so if you see one you like, you can buy it, show it to your friends, neighbor and appraiser and if you decide that you’re unhappy for whatever reason, they’ll cheerfully give you a refund.

I agree with David that the EGL price estimation is utterly useless and, to the extent that it encourages you to rely on it as part of a shopping decision, it's actually worth less than zero. A much better approach to deciding if the price is right is to look at real competitive offers and a good place to start is to use the button at the top of the page called 'find online jeweler' and look up some competitive offers. Even if you have no intention of shopping online, this is a helpful pricing tool.

Is a D color what you're looking for or just what they happen to have?

Neil

Edited by denverappraiser, 04 May 2010 - 06:44 PM.

[tatum]

denverappraiser, on Tuesday, May 4 2010, 10:33 PM, said:

Costco is a reputable company and yes, you can rely on them for a diamond. The problem is in choosing the RIGHT diamond. The sales staff there generally knows less than nothing (unlike the folks in the meat department by the way) and so having a conversation with them about the details is basically pointless. You have to figure it out yourself. You can tell quite a bit by actually looking at the stone although their viewing environment is terrible but no, there’s not much to be learned about the cutting from the information on the lab report. A bright side of buying from them is that they have an extremely generous return policy so if you see one you like, you can buy it, show it to your friends, neighbor and appraiser and if you decide that you’re unhappy for whatever reason, they’ll cheerfully give you a refund.

I agree with David that the EGL price estimation is utterly useless and, to the extent that it encourages you to rely on it as part of a shopping decision, it's actually worth less than zero. A much better approach to deciding if the price is right is to look at real competitive offers and a good place to start is to use the button at the top of the page called 'find online jeweler' and look up some competitive offers. Even if you have no intention of shopping online, this is a helpful pricing tool.

Is a D color what you're looking for or just what they happen to have?

Neil

Thanks to the both of you for great feedback! I have looked online at similar specs and the price per carat is about the same of less at Costco. I did look at it at Costco and I thought the diamond itself looked very good, but I hate the setting. The experience was true to interent stories and Neil's comments. I was in a break room with bad light, stuff all around me, and three very nice gentelman staring at me in silence. They let me look at the two reports and the diamond to the eye looked nice. It was hard for my brain to just see the diamond itself without the setting. When I try on rings I usually go to the store window to get natural light, but I had to stay in the small room. I was looking for the colorless range, it just so happen that was the diamond that they had available via special order. The employee with the special diamond order program is extremley helpful and answers any questions I have. We are leaning on purchasing it and then taking it to a local appraiser as Neil noted and if it we find we don't like, we can march on back to Costco and hand it back with no problems.

The only other ring I found I like is at a local store here in Orlando, its an Oval Diamond set in a Cristopher Design setting that you would typically see a cushion cut diamond in, micropave halo and split shank micropave band with a solid platinum band in the center. The diamond is a 2 carat Oval, D color, SI1, it was very sparly and looked bigger than a 2 carat face up. They say it is an Ideal cut and let me look at the diamond on a loop and also with one of those large microscope devices and all I could see was a small inclusion in the lower right hand corner. The entire ring was priced at 28,000 but they said they would sell if for 20,000. I never thought I would buy a SI1 diamond but they spent alot of time with me discussing the beauty of the diamond. I may go back and look at it and ask to see the reports to learn more about the diamond itself. I am more worried about clouds and any inclusions visible to the naked eye. Thanks for all your help, you guys are the best!

[davidelevi]

If the report is from GIA or AGSL, you aren't learning much more by seeing the report than you are by seeing the stone - what I mean is: you are buying a diamond that comes with a report; you need to like the diamond, not the report.

If the report is by another lab, beware. You may not be comparing like-for-like either with CostCo or with other diamonds that have apparently the same grades.

[diamondsbylauren]

tatum, on Wednesday, May 5 2010, 07:43 AM, said:

denverappraiser, on Tuesday, May 4 2010, 10:33 PM, said:

Costco is a reputable company and yes, you can rely on them for a diamond. The problem is in choosing the RIGHT diamond. The sales staff there generally knows less than nothing (unlike the folks in the meat department by the way) and so having a conversation with them about the details is basically pointless. You have to figure it out yourself. You can tell quite a bit by actually looking at the stone although their viewing environment is terrible but no, there’s not much to be learned about the cutting from the information on the lab report. A bright side of buying from them is that they have an extremely generous return policy so if you see one you like, you can buy it, show it to your friends, neighbor and appraiser and if you decide that you’re unhappy for whatever reason, they’ll cheerfully give you a refund.

I agree with David that the EGL price estimation is utterly useless and, to the extent that it encourages you to rely on it as part of a shopping decision, it's actually worth less than zero. A much better approach to deciding if the price is right is to look at real competitive offers and a good place to start is to use the button at the top of the page called 'find online jeweler' and look up some competitive offers. Even if you have no intention of shopping online, this is a helpful pricing tool.

Is a D color what you're looking for or just what they happen to have?

Neil

Thanks to the both of you for great feedback! I have looked online at similar specs and the price per carat is about the same of less at Costco. I did look at it at Costco and I thought the diamond itself looked very good, but I hate the setting. The experience was true to interent stories and Neil's comments. I was in a break room with bad light, stuff all around me, and three very nice gentelman staring at me in silence. They let me look at the two reports and the diamond to the eye looked nice. It was hard for my brain to just see the diamond itself without the setting. When I try on rings I usually go to the store window to get natural light, but I had to stay in the small room. I was looking for the colorless range, it just so happen that was the diamond that they had available via special order. The employee with the special diamond order program is extremley helpful and answers any questions I have. We are leaning on purchasing it and then taking it to a local appraiser as Neil noted and if it we find we don't like, we can march on back to Costco and hand it back with no problems.

The only other ring I found I like is at a local store here in Orlando, its an Oval Diamond set in a Cristopher Design setting that you would typically see a cushion cut diamond in, micropave halo and split shank micropave band with a solid platinum band in the center. The diamond is a 2 carat Oval, D color, SI1, it was very sparly and looked bigger than a 2 carat face up. They say it is an Ideal cut and let me look at the diamond on a loop and also with one of those large microscope devices and all I could see was a small inclusion in the lower right hand corner. The entire ring was priced at 28,000 but they said they would sell if for 20,000. I never thought I would buy a SI1 diamond but they spent alot of time with me discussing the beauty of the diamond. I may go back and look at it and ask to see the reports to learn more about the diamond itself. I am more worried about clouds and any inclusions visible to the naked eye. Thanks for all your help, you guys are the best!

You're welcome!
A few points I noticed:
1) there's no such thing as an "Ideal Oval"- or, there is actually an AGSL cut grade for ovals, but it's virtually never seen.
More likely is that the seller assigned their own "Ideal" rating to the oval.
I'm not implying it's anything less than a really well cut stone- it might be very well cut- but in all likelihood, calling it "Ideal" is fostering a mis-impression.

2) Regarding the Costco ring- it might be worth buying just so you can look at it under a better variety of lighting environments. My advice , if you do that, would be not to have it appraised until you've looked at very well yourself, and decided if you love it.
An appraiser can verify that the diamond matches the GIA report, and that it's not damaged...but they can't tell you what YOU love.....so if you're not wowed by it's looks, no need to throw good money after bad by hiring an appraiser.

[Britani17]

Hi Tatum! I noticed you were browsing in Orlando. If you are still looking, we are only an hour away from there in West Melbourne. We have a couple of cushion diamonds in stock and can get some in for you to look at in person. With the expertise and advice from Jan or Brad I'm sure they can find you a great stone at a great value. Here are two examples of well cut cushions that we have in stock.

GIA Cushion 1.51 I VS2 $8,395.00 View Details GIA Cushion 1.20 D VS1 $8,985.00 View Details
You can also check out our website at www.dbof.com and/or email us, at info@dbof.com, with the specifics of what you are looking for .

[HeartAndStone]

@tatum, how's it going?

and I think you should really check out Brit's cushion cuts,

@Britani17- the first one has more 'hypnotic' appeal to me., $8395..
just curious, why the other cushion cut is more expensive?
I kept on comparing though..

Cheers!

[davidelevi]

HeartAndStone, on Thursday, May 13 2010, 02:58 PM, said:

[snip]
just curious, why the other cushion cut is more expensive?
[snip]

It's 50% larger, it goes above 1.50 ct. (which means a jump in $/ct) and it includes what seems to be a reasonably substantial ring with gold over $1200/oz.

[Britani17]

HeartAndStone, on Thursday, May 13 2010, 09:58 AM, said:

@tatum, how's it going?

and I think you should really check out Brit's cushion cuts,

@Britani17- the first one has more 'hypnotic' appeal to me., $8395..
just curious, why the other cushion cut is more expensive?
I kept on comparing though..

Cheers!

The second diamond is more expensive because it is a D color versus an I color. The closer a diamond gets to colorless, the more rare and the higher per-carat price as far as the normal (D-Z) color range diamonds are concerned.

GIA Cushion 1.51 I VS2 $8,395.00 View Details GIA Cushion 1.20 D VS1 $8,985.00 View Details

Edited by Britani17, 17 May 2010 - 07:15 AM.