Serious question

chippewastud79 · 01-30-2009, 10:00 AM

Spend what you can afford, don't over extend yourself on a diamond. If she is that in love with you the diamond won't matter.

I agree, color and clarity over carat. Another thing to keep in mind (based on the chart talked about below) a .99 carat is significantly cheaper than a 1.0 carat, each step up in size can be $1000 more per carat.

In my opinion, do not take her with you. Have an idea of the cut (round, princess, heart etc.), band (simple, design) and style (solitare, three stone, baguettes etc.) and pick out what you think she will like, you'll probably be right. It should be something you pick out on your own and again, if she loves you that much the actuall ring won't matter.

If you go to a store, and a guy pulls out a piece of paper and starts punching the numbers off of it into a calculator and then multiplying it and starts to subtract the "discounts". Ask them to see the sheet of paper they are working with, most of the time it is the standard pricing chart, they likely will decline to show it to you.

The international prices for diamonds based on the 4 C's are pre-established every month at basically what is knows as MSRP. Each jeweler will get a copy of this sheet and is supposed to adjust their prices accordingly. It is basically a giant spreadsheet that shows a grid of the price per carat for different colors, cuts and clarity.

What they typically do however is take that sheet and the diamond you are looking at and then double the price (or more), then show you the calculator and give you the special customer discount and give you 40% off or whatever and that is still above what you should be paying.

Basically it is a huge pharse. Like my jeweler told me, "Never pay retail for diamonds, because they are always jacking the **** out of their prices."

01-30-2009, 10:00 AM	#22
chippewastud79 Fatter than you! Join Date: Oct 2008 First Name: Larry Location: A little place called home. Posts: 5,397 Trading: (44)	Re: Serious question Spend what you can afford, don't over extend yourself on a diamond. If she is that in love with you the diamond won't matter. I agree, color and clarity over carat. Another thing to keep in mind (based on the chart talked about below) a .99 carat is significantly cheaper than a 1.0 carat, each step up in size can be $1000 more per carat. In my opinion, do not take her with you. Have an idea of the cut (round, princess, heart etc.), band (simple, design) and style (solitare, three stone, baguettes etc.) and pick out what you think she will like, you'll probably be right. It should be something you pick out on your own and again, if she loves you that much the actuall ring won't matter. If you go to a store, and a guy pulls out a piece of paper and starts punching the numbers off of it into a calculator and then multiplying it and starts to subtract the "discounts". Ask them to see the sheet of paper they are working with, most of the time it is the standard pricing chart, they likely will decline to show it to you. The international prices for diamonds based on the 4 C's are pre-established every month at basically what is knows as MSRP. Each jeweler will get a copy of this sheet and is supposed to adjust their prices accordingly. It is basically a giant spreadsheet that shows a grid of the price per carat for different colors, cuts and clarity. What they typically do however is take that sheet and the diamond you are looking at and then double the price (or more), then show you the calculator and give you the special customer discount and give you 40% off or whatever and that is still above what you should be paying. Basically it is a huge pharse. Like my jeweler told me, "Never pay retail for diamonds, because they are always jacking the **** out of their prices." __________________ If we weren't supposed to eat animals, then how come they're made of meat? You can never have too many cigars, they are like an investment in good times.