12 replies to this topic

[corby44]

Hello

I am thinking of buying a ring from Dara's diamonds in Culver City Ca
Any thing good or bad about the company an the quality of the diamonds
The cert they use is GGC an an independient store I cannot find any info out on GGC os GGS grading lab/service was looking for some help
in makeing my decision trying to not get taken

thanks in advance

[davidelevi]

Avoid. Read here for some threads on the "dangers" of non-reliable grading. In particular the last one: the question is why should you trust an unknown lab any more that you trust the vendor?

http://www.diamondre...appraisal-firm/
http://www.diamondre...l-value-in-egl/
http://www.diamondre...-round-diamond/

[LaurieH]

DEFINITELY only deal with someone who can and will sell you a diamond certified by GIA or AGS (or EGL, but they're less stringent and reliable) so that you can actually properly compare them, know what you're getting, and compare asking price to make sure you're being asked to pay a fair amount for the diamond.

[denverappraiser]

If you find that someone is asking you to rely on grading that you find later is unreliable, don't just hold it against the lab, hold against the dealer. Is an unknown and uncontactable lab unreliable? Yes. Absolutely. They aren't necessarily wrong, and it doesn't even matter either way. The burden is on them to convince you that their opinions have merit and if they don't do this task successfuly, DON'T assign them credibility just because they call themselves 'independent' or a 'lab'. Anyone with a computer and a printer can call themselves a lab and it's not a second opinion if it comes from the same source as the first.

[Michelle1971]

I was looking for a coupon code to make a 2nd purchase and came across this forum. I made a purchase from them about 3 months ago since they had a great price on the earrings I was looking for. I received good service so i was made the purchase. I was impressed by the diamond after i received it. I still went and had it appraised by my own jeweler and they appraised it at $8,750. I only paid $6,800 for it so I was thrilled.

On another note, anyone have any feedback on a great deal on earrings to purchase for my daughters 16th bday? I was thinking:

0.50 ct D color VS 2 clarity at daradiamond for $462.99? Is that a good deal? thoughts?

Does anyone know of a coupon code for them?

[denverappraiser]

Michelle1971, on 26 September 2011 - 07:56 PM, said:

0.50 ct D color VS 2 clarity at daradiamond for $462.99? Is that a good deal? thoughts?

Maybe. Maybe not. Diamonds are all about the details and you've got none. D/VS2 according to whom? What sort of cutting (and again, according to whom)? Is this a loose stone or is it in a mounting of some sort?

Did you actually read the discussion that preceded your question?

Edited by denverappraiser, 27 September 2011 - 06:28 AM.

[Tommy212]

It is incredible how unknowledgeable people are about the diamond industry. It is very frustrating to read comments and blogs from people who don’t know anything about the diamond industry. First thing let’s break down GIA for these people who thrive on their name to make money. Then let’s talk about EGL and how scam artist use their name to make money. Then let’s talk about GGS the European company that is very similar to HRD and how it is kept a secret in america by jewelers.

GIA recently had a class action lawsuit and blamed everything on their CEO and fired him. Look up GIA scandal on google ([url="http://www.diamondcuttersintl.com/gias-bribery-scandal/"][url]http://www.diamondcuttersintl.com/gias-bribery-scandal/[/url][/url]). Common game played by GIA. Just because GIA spends millions of dollars on advertizing does not make them honest. All GIA has done is made their name by doing a lot of advertizing. The reason why people feel that they can trust GIA is because of all the advertizing they do. Jewelers have to pay hundreds of dollars per stone to get GIA’s name to sell their stones because of the amount of advertizing they do. Don’t fall for the BS stories of GIA the bubble will burst soon.

EGL is the biggest scam. Internationally even in Europe people don’t even look at EGL. Only people in the USA don’t know the history of EGL. EGL was created in Downtown Los Angeles about 25 years ago. This company will never give you the same grade on a stone twice. The trick with EGL is keep sending the stone for recheck. Every time you pay EGL for a recheck they will bump up the grade on the diamond up to three times. They have to figure out how to make money from all the advertizing they have done to get known in the retail market.

Only two certificates and grading scales that I trust is GGS and HRD. They are both just not known here in America. GGS is strictly a company that companies who import and export use to be able to communicate and let the company on the other end of the phone know what the exact color and quality of a diamond is. I need people to thank me for helping the world become more knowledgeable about the diamond industry and spending so much time writing this blog.

[denverappraiser]

Hi Tommy,

Welcome to the forum and thank you for your post. I disagree with most but not all of what you wrote but just so we know where you sit now that we know where you stand: Are you affiliated with, employed by, or otherwise a representative of either GGS or Dora's Diamonds?

I'll let stand your preference of labs. That's your call but you've made some serious factual misstatements in the post above.

The scandal at GIA did not involve a class action suit, they did not blame it all on their CEO,and most stones don't cost hundreds of dollars to get their stamp of approval. 2005 isn't really so recent, and several significant changes have been made since then as a result of exactly that scandal. It never was suggested that the problem was widespread and the MAX number of people directly affected was in the dozens. It was probably well under 10 (we'll never know for sure, which was part of the scandal). They did fire a fair number of people but this did not include the CEO although he resigned a few months later and I agree that it WAS surely related. At the end of the day the boss is responsible for what happens under their watch and this was the biggest problem in their 80 year history. GIA doesn't advertise anything like as much as most of their competition like IGI and EGL unless you count their education program for jewelers to be 'advertising' but yes, even at that they spend millions. Incidentally, NONE of what you say in your summary is inclulded in the article you linked to. Did you actually read it?

Is it a bubble? No, but their reputation is high right now and it's certainly possible that favor will change to somewhere else at some point. They DO have competitors who do some things better than them and sooner or later their attitude is going to bite them in the rear. Sooner or later, but not today.

OK, so make your case about why we should rely on GGL. Start with a link to their website since this vast American conspiracy that you're seeing to keep them out of the limelight apparently includes Google. HRD is an arm of the government of Belgium and they're pretty up and up about who they are, what they're doing, and how they're doing it. Both I and Google HAVE heard of them and, frankly I have very little complaint about them. Others can speak for themselves but I've heard rather little criticizing their grading skills. It's your link between them and these other guys that I'm questioning. Other than possibly sharing the same continent, what do these two outfits have in common?

Edited by denverappraiser, 28 September 2011 - 07:46 AM.

[Michelle1971]

I dont know what you guys are talking about, but just to keep everyone posted I went ahead and made my second purchase from Dara. I decided to spend a couple hundred dollars more and get my daughter something bigger. I could not find a coupon code, but I called them and they said if I like them on Facebook they will give me a $50 off coupon code. Really nice people over there. I will keep everyone posted after I receive the earrings. I might go ahead and get this new pair appraised, from my own jeweler.

[Michelle1971]

Just wanted to update this webpage, I received my order about 2 or 3 days after i placed it (I paid extra for overnight shipping).

I gave them to my daughter for her 16th Birthday and she loved them!

I trusted Dara's Diamonds after my first purchase but I wanted to get the 2nd pair appraised too since "devanreappraiser" kinda scared me. The appraisal came back as described. The diamonds details were almost identical. The second pair was valued at $980 I paid $799.

Now i just have to get my daughter to stop asking me if she can wear them to school. Anyone have thoughts on a 16 year old girl wearing diamonds to high school?

[denverappraiser]

I'm glad to hear you had a happy second purchase. Congratulations. It's alway a good way to wrap up these discussions with pictures of what you bought.

Heck, I thought I was being nice to explain what the problem was rather than just saying to avoid them. I'm still holding out a faint hope that Tommy212 will come back and tell us why he's so happy with GGL.

[Michelle1971]

I will take pictures tonight of my pair and my daughters when I get home. Hopefully I can figure out how to put them up here. It will be with a camera phone so don't expect amazing quality.

I think daras uses GGS, but ill have to confirm when I see the paperwork at home. I was happy with the appraisal accuracy.

[davidelevi]

Thanks for the report!