Suggestions on Where to Buy Good Value Diamond Ring

shockrave on 06/03/2016 - 00:06

Hi all,

Given Ozbargains have helped me save heaps of money on all sort of items, I am hoping I can enlist fellow ozbargainers in saving me money for a diamond engagement ring. Am looking for something of decent quality (>1ct, excellent cut, D-G colour, no fluorescence and VS1 upwards)

Any suggestions on which (physical) retailer in Melbourne provides good value? I am also willing to buy it online if it is significantly cheaper - any suggestions for which website I should check out? If buying online, would it be better to buy from an Australian company, or an overseas one?

Thanks.

Find Me A Bargain

Comments

  • mskeggs on 06/03/2016 - 00:22
    +5

    Assuming you genuinely want some OzB input, I would ask you to reconsider your specification.
    You are looking for a quite high quality gem, which isn't going to make your love any more or less.
    I remember seeking a similar quality stone, though smaller as I was poorer (I hope!) and I can definitely say nobody has asked or been interested in hearing about the gems clarity or fluorescence in the last 20 years.
    So if you must have a diamond of a certain size, I would definitely try and ratchet down the quality of the stone and put the savings toward your honey moon.
    But do you really need this big chunk of clear coal?
    I know my wife would now say no, even though she wouldn't have considered no for a moment when we were young. On the bright side it meant a holiday in Hong Kong instead of an eternity ring!
    You know your partner better than anyone, maybe it is possible to discuss how best to commemorate your occasion, and whether a smaller ring or whatever plus accompanying holidays/house deposits etc might be the best way to spend your cash?

    • coin saver on 06/03/2016 - 11:37

      Remember you will be paying for this ring for the rest of your life, even after you finish paying the store.
      …Seriously i totally agree with mskeggs there are a lot more important thing in life and relationships than a expensive ring.(can the average person even tell the difference)

  • whooah1979 on 06/03/2016 - 00:29

    Anything less than a month's salary is cheap.

    May be consider a trip to HK or the usa. Or even the ad that's been feed to me right now on this page. Blue Nile.

    • scrimshaw on 06/03/2016 - 01:05
      +10

      Anything less than a month's salary is cheap.

      A month's salary!?

      Try three months, peasant.

      Regards,

      De Beers.

    • whooah1979 on 06/03/2016 - 08:06

      @scrimshaw:

      op is looking for

      (>1ct, excellent cut, D-G colour, no fluorescence and VS1 upwards)

      a stone that may meet op's needs starts from au$7.1k.

      the abs says that the average earnings for 12 months leading to november 2015 is u$1.5k. so one month or three months will depend on ones salary.
      http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/mf/6302.0/

      • whooah1979 on 06/03/2016 - 12:04

        it should be au$1.5k per week.

  • altomic on 06/03/2016 - 00:43
    +1

    bluenile (in the US) has had some positive feedback from ozbargainers.

    • Flowerbomb on 06/03/2016 - 10:57

      Yep, heard good things about Blue Nile. I got a free ring finger size measurer from them before. Havent ordered from them though

  • Donaldhump on 06/03/2016 - 03:01

    get gst refund at airport on way out
    this guy in qld but was awesome
    http://diamondqueensland.com.au/our-cleveland-jewellery-shop…

    pick a diamond online

    whats ur budget

  • jagboy on 06/03/2016 - 09:41
    +1

    No such thing as a 'good value diamond ring'. Mark ups are astronomical.

  • ms_caz on 06/03/2016 - 10:21

    Not that I subscribe in the least to fancy engagement/wedding rings, some people on another board I frequent have been recently discussing Liebish http://www.leibish.com/ Looking through their site, I'm completely wowed by all the pretty sparklies. They are US based but I believe do operate online. So that's a suggestion - might not be relevant - but gee there sure are some beautiful gems!

  • tinx on 06/03/2016 - 10:54

    Try costco if you have to buy in Au. Limited selection though.

    Otherwise check pricescope forum to buy from USA, but with the exchange rate as now, not sure how much saving you get.

    Bought from jamesallen.com before.

  • Bonsaichop on 06/03/2016 - 12:15
    +3

    Bought my fiancée's engagement ring from www.bluenile.com

    Was speculative at first but they have a great range and you can select exactly what diamond you want. Apparently the value of the diamond is partly decided on the original stone it comes from. Managed to get an exceptional diamond for a really good price. VS-1, G colour, .61 carat cut was nearly spot on as well as symetry, stone was around $2k AUD, setting was a trio micropave with 68 diamonds and was another $1000 AUD.

    Shipping was fast from Seattle, I did the final order on the phone when I knew which diamond we wanted and confirmed with the consultants there about the price (it had seemed to be almost too good to be true, they were also surprised but then explained about how the bulk price they pay for the stone has a great deal to do with the price) and was delivered 3 days later by fedex international express.

    Things I did learn about diamonds after looking at hundreds if not thousands of stones!
    - Cut is most important! If the cut is wrong, it will not sparkle. I asked my fiancée if she wanted a giant stone or a sparkly one, she said sparkly and it was the right choice. It's not the biggest but when you compare it to bigger ones that are not cut properly it looks so much bigger and really sparkles like crazy. It also doesn't look like a piece of glass or costume jewellery which i've noticed from a lot of the larger stones.. Now I always take notice of women's engagement/wedding rings and compare! There are a few online calculators which will tell you based on the depth/table/ratio/girdle thickness of the diamond if its cut correctly and will sparkle.

    • Inclusions, tiny ones like feathers you can't really see. Don't be so fussed about it, unless your other half plans to bring an microscope around with her for everyone to inspect it. Even under my lab 20x microscope the tiny inclusions were a task to pick out. If you have gotten the correct cut, they'll be too dazzled to notice.

    • Colour only matters significantly if you're working off the lower end when they yellow. The middle ground (F-I, even J) all look great as long as you have a good cut. If it is set in a gold setting it's going to have a little yellow flow through the diamond anyway! Most retail places have J and onwards anyway.

    • Get the GIA report! It'll have all the details you need to know, don't go by what anyone says especially if you're in a retail store!

    Hope that helps! Her diamond was valued by bluenile for insurance at around $5k USD. Locally valued at about $7-8k. Like I said, wasn't the biggest by far, but specs were spot on and it looks fantastic compared to most of the larger ones we have seen.

    Don't forget! Diamonds are a con! A socially acceptable way of propositions forced upon us by diamond dealers early in the 20th Century! Brick and mortar stores will try and offload lower graded diamonds to the unsuspecting, higher end stores will make you think that all these little intricacies matter and will make you pay for a premium you will never notice outside of a diamond sorting facility!

  • captobvious on 06/03/2016 - 13:32

    cash converters!!!
    I'm not serious.

  • Janko on 06/03/2016 - 14:30

    You could check out Holloway Diamonds in Melbourne - Garry Holloway is one of the world's foremost authorities on cut, having produced cheap, portable tools for cut quality such as the Idealscope (which I have). Not sure how cheap he is, but he'll stop you paying for specs that really don't mean much to the receiver.

  • Cluelessness11 on 06/03/2016 - 16:36

    I am in the process of looking for one too!!!
    I have similar characteristics except, I want larger carat (1.5+), best cut possible, can go down to H colour maybe even I colour & VS2/SI1 in Clarity.

    I had a look at Arman in Doncaster Westfield, they only do colourless diamonds. Friends have good reviews from them.

    I also had a look at Anton in Chadstone.

    To be honest, these two stores prices I found were quite similar to Blue Nile after the tax paid for the diamond entering Australia.

    I am stuck though, either need to up my budget or lower my diamond requirements haha. GOOD LUCK!!!

  • [Deactivated] on 06/03/2016 - 17:49

    My wife supports the concept that diamonds are over marketed and overrated. Man made stones look the same and cost a fraction of the money.

    My wife took me to Secret Shhh and picked her own wedding ring for around $400 and we spent the "ring money" on a trip to Cairns and Hawaii

    • scrimshaw on 06/03/2016 - 18:04

      Some women still prefer to have a diamond ring because it shows the man is serious about settling down and starting a family.

      In Aussie and USA culture (and countries touched by westernisation, e.g China) have been conditioned to think that buying an expensive diamond ring is the best way to show you're committed to your partner. You can also blame advertising and the diamond cartel.

      On the contrary, the trend of buying expensive rings in Japan is dying off as their economy starts to shrink and there are many older-gens selling off their used diamonds for cash.

      As a man sometimes, you really have no choice but to bend to the whims of your wife-to-be and to splash out $800 ~ $4k if she really wants one. just don't go into debt for the sake of having a grand wedding though — it's estimated 1/3rd of US people put weddings on credit. If your wedding debt lasts longer than your marriage itself… well somethings gone horribly wrong :(

  • realsniper09 on 07/03/2016 - 20:53
    +1

    I went to a few appointments around Melbourne CBD, and from speaking to many of them, most impressive were DiamondLine and Janai. Both were extremely good. I was looking at great value, as well as a place I felt like I could trust but would also do the diamond in the setting. I did not want to get the diamond from overseas (like Blue Nile) as I did not want to even run the small risk of getting a fake.

    I ended up going with Janai in the end, simply because I felt with more confidence they were able to do the complex setting that I wanted. They couldn't show me the diamond though (they get all the diamonds you choose get sent from the US, but show you the GIA with it's specifications first, and you can view the diamond when it comes).
    DiamondLine showed me all the diamond options they have around the C's I was looking for, and as I keep saying were fantastic.
    Prices were relatively great for both stores. Both worth a check-out I think.

  • shockrave on 08/03/2016 - 22:25

    Thanks all

    Understand that arguably all diamonds are a waste of money - I am just trying to spend less for the same specs (financial damage minimisation if you will)

    I have been to Janai at a friend's recommendation and the boss there was quite willing to take time to explain things to me (and even talked about how his lean operating model means I would get charged less). Having said that I still think there's overhead involved with having a Collins St storefront so am hoping to see if there's any reputable Australian online store with even leaner operating costs :)

    I will try and check out Diamond Line if they have the diamonds so I can see (or not see - in which case specs will come down!) the difference in quality

    If I were to buy from the US, would there still be GST even with the address forwarding thing you could do? (Apologies if stupid question, not very familiar with this)

  • mariosensei on 01/10/2016 - 23:24

    shockrave, mind to share where you ended up buying the diamond ring from? Thanks

  • confuzzl3don3 on 21/12/2017 - 11:37

    Sorry to revive an old thread, but super relevant to me at this stage :D Probably similar boat to OP. Any help for sydney siders? I know a lot of people I know seem to have suggested hitting up places in Haymarket or Cabramatta as they're Asian run and may be more willing to negotiate on price. I can probably do up to 10k budget wise and before people go off about not being worth the cash, yeah, but you just want to spoil the one you love right…albeit in good value OzB mentality

    Cheers in advance

    • confuzzl3don3 on 21/12/2017 - 11:41

      Should clarify, probably just after something GIA certified, eye clean, round cut, biggest can get with decent colour and no fluorescence. I see no point if I can't see defects with the naked eye it's fine by me

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