Ladies (and gents), I need some help buying diamonds.

[LMingrone]

So my tenth anniversary is coming up, and I was thinking about buying some black diamond jewelry. But I have no clue about buying this stuff. I think I spent way too much buying the engagement ring in the first place. I found some damn good pricing online, but don't trust them, even though they have a good return policy.

Here's what I was thinking of, 3 karats total for a good price. Help me out. Am I stupid for even thinking of buying off the net?:

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/5044/rda017483bl14caratblack.jpg
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/1338/eds100218bl12caratprinc.jpg
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/6637/bdy102124bl1caratblacka.jpg

[Tsa`ah]

Am I stupid for even thinking of buying off the net?:



I learned the hard way with computer components ... meaning unless the company you're buying from has a rock solid and well known rep, the posted policies really mean dick.

I'd be more weary buying jewelry on-line. You can't even inspect or get a second opinion/appraisal ... not to mention, in the event of getting hosed, you're going to spend as much or more getting things set straight.

Stick to something local or within decent driving distances.

[Beguiler]

Tsa'ah made some good points.

However, if you're planning on using a credit card, and if your CC company policy allows for you stopping the payment for 'bad' merchandise, you might get away with it. If the vendor online has a Customer Service link, I'd call them and see what their return policy is, and if they have references that you could check first.

That stuff is damned neat, and you have good taste in baubles, Larry!

[Drew]

Ask Belnia.

[Celephais]

Have you thought about buying her a big screen TV?

[Drisco]

Put the Website Name + Scam into google and see if anything shows up. If someone got burned it bound to be in a forum or a blog.

[Hips]

If you're buying online, be careful about buying from big name companies like Zales or whatever. They usually have shitty clarity in their diamonds... I1 to I3. But if you're going for colored gemstones (in your case, black diamonds) it's not as noticeable, so you should be okay. Just make sure there's some sort of return policy in case the gems look at all cloudy or included in sunlight.

[Mighty Nikkisaurus]

You may check out bluenile.com, too.. I dunno if they have black diamonds but I know they have a really good reputation.

[CrystalTears]

Have you thought about buying her a big screen TV?
This x 100000

[Allereli]

went searching for jewelry sites and ended up buying one of these. Thanks PC!

http://www.thechaingang.com/images/1/GRP-Small.jpg

[LMingrone]

Thanks for the advice everyone. And I think she's buying me a big screen (or hopefully the projector I want). We'll see.

[Kitsun]

I check the Better Business Bureau (http://www.bbb.org/) for any site before buying. Saved my ass from getting hosed on some knife purchases. Oddly there's an inverse relationship between how good the site is and how likely they are to scam you; the site I really wanted to buy from because it had all the information detailed, good pictures of the product, best prices etc was the one with 7398629864 complaints on the BBB.

I've got no experience purchasing jewelry but it just seems like one of those items that you wouldn't want to screw around with online. I'd pay a little more for a reputable storefront and knowing who I could find and kick if they sold some bad rocks.

[CrystalTears]

When it came to stones (diamonds, rubies, sapphires, etc). I'd rather see them live in a store than to see the image in a catalog. Regular rings made of a metal with no stones is fine IMO. Stones though? Doesn't hurt to go to a local store.

[LMingrone]

Yeah, I'll be checking the BBB. Sites that have all five star reviews on jewelry seem kind of shady.

[waywardgs]

Anything can be made to look nice in a photo. No image you see on the internet will mean as much as looking at it in your hands. Even then it's hard enough with gemstones and jewelry. Look around for styles you're interested in, but when it comes to purchasing, seems like going local is the only (relatively) safe way.

[Aysha]

I'm sorry to spout up, but I have to say something.........or it will kill me. Do you HAVE to buy a diamond? Unless it is part of the new trend of man-made diamonds, (I have no idea if there are man-made black diamonds of not) do you have any idea how many lives are sacrificed for a worthless rock?

In case you don't know about DeBeers, they are not only the biggest diamond brokers in the world, they are the biggest violaters of the fair trade act in the WORLD! (OK that might be a bit much considering some other companies I know of, but they are one of the leaders)

In fact, DeBeers reps are not allowed in the US under threat of arrest for unfair trade practices. Every DeBeers diamond is brokered in Europe and then sent to the US.

And by the way, diamonds have insanely inflated prices. Anytime another company releases quality diamonds, DeBeers floods the market to change the price, then pulls the merchandise once the competing company gives up, inflating the price again. Over the course of many decades, estimates show that the "true" worth of a diamond is roughly around 1/3 of what the common price is.

I don't blame anyone if they want to :club: me, but if you do a little research, you'll find I'm not lying. This is especially problematic in terms on online jewelry, which rarely has source and mine documentation. Mine documentation is one of the only ways you can know that your not dealing with "blood diamonds." And even then it's far from foolproof.

So if you want to buy her a diamond, please research man-made diamonds! Again, my apologies, but this is a HUGE pet peeve of mine. I'm sure whatever jewelry you get her, she will be overjoyed at having such a loving spouse. But just maybe you could think about looking into man-made diamonds?

[LMingrone]

I actually hate the diamond trade. And the woman isn't one of those bitches that NEEDS diamonds. She hates the trade too. But I just think they look pimpin' (the earrings are for me)! Really, googling has got me started, I will never buy something without seeing it with my own eyes. Was just seeing if anyone knew a legit site. Local stuff is way overpriced.

[Celephais]

You know what would look pimpin'? ... Two bigscreen TVs.

[Aysha]

I actually hate the diamond trade. And the woman isn't one of those bitches that NEEDS diamonds. She hates the trade too. But I just think they look pimpin' (the earrings are for me)! Really, googling has got me started, I will never buy something without seeing it with my own eyes. Was just seeing if anyone knew a legit site. Local stuff is way overpriced.

Err, let me see if I understand this. You both hate the diamond trade and don't feel like you a need a diamond, but your buying them anyway?

Hmm,.....:club:

Well, hell, at least yer honest about it!

[AestheticDeath]

http://www.ehow.com/how_2102787_choose-black-diamond.html

In case you didn't google it already yourself.

And you could probably get insanely cheaper prices off of ebay, whether you buy jewelry or just the gem itself. If you go for gems, which would be cheaper I think, you could get a local store to just make a band however you want, which shouldn't cost as much as the mark up on the stores own diamonds.

But I am just guessing on store prices etc..

[AestheticDeath]

sample diamond (http://cgi.ebay.com/BLACK-DIAMOND-GENUINE-BRILLIANT-ROUND-CUT-8-39ct-L-K_W0QQitemZ280338419226QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_Defau ltDomain_0?hash=item414578ce1a&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14)

Notice how many specs you can see through just the picture on this one? And it's still damn expensive.

Black diamonds are made up of occlusions and whatnot... I thought they were cool at one time too, but you might have a hard time finding a black diamond that actually looks nice.

[Doughboy]

Have you thought about buying her a big screen TV?

So full of win.

[Belnia]

Looking through the Gems and Findings 2010 from my supplier, they have synthetic black diamonds listed at $300 per carat, price goes down a bit if it's a ton of tiny stones. Largest they offer are .25 carat round-cuts and .5 carat square-cuts.

Then you'll need to factor in the cost of the metal in the jewelry, and after that anything else is fabrication cost.