Q&A: Looking for 2 Carat Diamond for $17,000 Round Diamond. EGL vs. GIA. Los Angeles “True Wholesale.” Many More Relevant Topics Covered!

I apologize again for the delay in responding.

Before i begin sending you recommendations, I wanted to discuss with you your list of parameters. I think there’s some tweaking that can be done to be sure you get more for your money than you were originally planning.

Lets start with color. You specified G or better. If you study a rapaport price list (see my article “truth about diamond prices” if you’re unfamiliar with the term), you’d see that the largest jump in prices between any two colors is between H and G. There’s no real reason for it. It’s just one of the quirks of the diamond business. It’s not like the jump from H to G is any more noticeable than the jump from J to I, for example. Furthermore, the fact is that diamond color grades are so finely separated, that you would never ever be able to perceive the difference between any two stones with adjacent color grades when viewed face-up (ie, as the stone is set in a ring). So this brings me to the conclusion that if you were looking at G, you should really be looking at H – it will look the same, and cost a significant amount less.

Now regarding clarity – you wrote two contradictory things. First, you wrote VS2+, and then you wrote that it needs to be clean to the naked eye. This can be accomplished easily with an SI1, and with a little more difficulty it can be accomplished with an SI2 as well. My opinion re: clarity is that there’s no reason whatsoever to pay for an upgrade that you can’t appreciate. So if an SI2 is eye clean, and a VS2 is eye clean, they’re going to look identical to your eye – so why pay a LOT more for nothing in return?

Cut – No reason to compromise here. Stick with Excellent only. This is the most important factor in determining the stone’s beauty, so you should be most picky here.

Fluorescence – You shouldn’t be afraid of medium blue fluorescence – especially with an H color.

Table/Depth – don’t worry about these. You can trust GIA’s cut grade. You don’t need to delve into the specifics.

So let me know what you think of my suggestions. Lets come to a consensus, and I’ll start the search then.

Here’s are some great options for you:

https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/G-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-981003.asp?a_aid=dmnd1357

https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/G-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1186685.asp?a_aid=dmnd1357

https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/G-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1281696.asp?a_aid=dmnd1357

As for the wholesaler you’re meeting today, just make sure you only compare apples to apples in terms of certificates. Don’t buy an EGL stone no matter how much pressure they put on you.

The first one is under 20!

Let me know how it goes today at the wholesaler.

I base my eye-clean calls on their magnified pictures. I’ve looked at so many diamonds in my career both with a loupe and without, and so I have a feel for what will be eye clean and what won’t be.

As for your comparison between the EGL you saw and what you’re looking at on JA, I’m quite certain it’s due to you not really knowing what you’re looking at (sorry to be so blunt). At Leo Schachter where I worked for 7 years, we trained in the sorting room for about 8 months. It’s not something you pick up in a half an hour.

Trust me on this, the sole motivation for a diamond dealer to sell a diamond as an EGL vs as a GIA is because they can sell it for more money. If they were to be sold for the same price, they would prefer to sell it as a GIA since they’re more liquid than EGLs.

………..

Btw, your stone is probably equivalent to this one (except for being slightly larger):

https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/G-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1315392.asp?a_aid=dmnd1357

A GIA G SI1 would probably get E VS2 from EGL.

Search Results for the Stone in Question

Also, just so you know how badly they’re reaming you, take a look at the attached screenshot.

That’s a list of search results from rapnet which is the largest online true wholesale diamond trading site. I searched for 1.91 only E VS2 EGL and got this one result. The owner of this stone “TRS” is in LA, so I know it’s the same stone you saw. It may or may not be the actual guy who showed it to you. It probably isn’t. He probably got it from the owner at the price you see in the screenshot. So this “true wholesaler” is trying to make a 52% profit margin. Dealers in LA are sharks, and when they see an unsuspecting newbie walk in like yourself, they smell blood and go in for the kill.

WIth my brokering service, I could get you the same stone for 14,065.

Before I even bother with the other stuff, let me ask you a more fundamental question. We started this off with my explanations of why I thought you were not planing to spend your money in the most efficient way. But you didn’t seem too keen on going with what I was suggesting.

Basically, what I’m getting at is this – you could nab a 2.5ct diamond for your budget if you wanted, but you’d have to go down to a J color. Have you ever seen an ideal cut J color in person? If not, I would really suggest you go to a store somewhere and have a look. I think you might surprised.

Likewise, you could land a 2ct G SI2 for under $17. Color is a little easier to understand for me because there really is a difference (albeit very slight) between G and J, but between an eye clean SI2 and an eye clean VS2, there is absolutely no visual difference.

Take a look at this example:

https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/G-SI2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1308062.asp?a_aid=dmnd1357

Honestly, I think this stone is your best bet. Probably better than anything I could broker for you as well.

If you buy from this computer you’re on now, then you shouldn’t have to do anything. If you’re going to make the purchase from another computer, then please just click on that link I sent you in the email on that computer as well.

If you buy it with a setting, you can use the TAD0611 coupon which will give you 10% off the setting. That’ll act as a fail-safe measure if the cookies don’t track. Thanks!

Have JA’s customer support pull both stones and compare them face to face and give you their opinion.  Based on the pics, I like the SI2 better, but nothing beats a face to face encounter.

I say go with their opinion. Nothing compares to seeing the two stones up close and personal.

Good luck!

Great!  Please let me know what you think when it arrives!

Great news! I love getting these emails 🙂

Congrats, and good luck with the popping of the question!