Buying diamonds

Jewelry Discussion
1

Dear Orchidians, I work with a coin dealer who is also a G.I.A.
Graduate Gemologist. When I have a customer who needs a specific
stone, I call and find out if he has what I am looking for. Usually
in the .25 to 1 carat sizes are most available.

I take the stone to my appraiser who also is a G.I.A. Graduate

Gemologist and find out the color and clarity, what he would
appraise the stone for wholesale and the insurance replacement value.
In my experience, insurance replacement value is usually the lowest
retail price that a stone can be bought for if the customer searches
around. This is a fact and provable. This gives me an edge in a
very competetive market.

	When my coin dealer makes a good buy, I can get a stone for

about
1/2 the wholesale price. I mark it up several hundred dollars below
the insurance replacement value. I tell the customer what I did. I
use my knowledge and expertise to save my customer money, and I am
virtually guaranteed a sale if my customer shops for a better price
for the same color and clarity.

When it is common knowledge that diamonds are sold 30% back of Rap

for Vs and Si stones of good make, 10% for ideal cut, there is a
basis for comparison.

"Luck is knowledge and skill applied." 	And Peter Rowe, it was a

pleasure to meet you and spend a few minutes talking with you at the
SNAG conference. Richard Hart in Denver

2

Hi,

I have been trying to get started in this trade for a while and
after some fitfull starts am ready. The pieces I am designing and
wish to sell to retailers will require lots of small diamonds. So how
do I go about finding suppliers for these stones. Seems I keep
hitting roadblocks. I have a studio in my home and do not have a JBT
listing or anything else yet to separate myself from being a consumer
looking to buy a bunch of diamonds cheap. Sure I could buy small
parcels on eBay but this seems an expensive way to get started. I am
currently enrolled in the GG program through GIA, but no help from
them yet. On much of anything…

Perhaps this is all very naive but I really need some info here.

Thanks in advance.
Nel

3

The diamond trade is family. What you are faced with is a “You’re
only hiring people with experience, and I have none, so how do I get
experience to be hired with experience?” type of conundrum. First
off, get that listing in JBT. You won’t get far without it. Plus the
moment your name gets in the list, you’ll start getting catalogues
from everywhere. Then, if you have dealers in your area (you don’t
say where you are), put on some good clothes and go knock on their
door. If they talk to you, you’ll be on probation for awhile - no big
memos, make sure you do everthing dot-and-dash, adhere to protocol,
and just be a good boy in general - and pay promptly. If they won’t
talk to you, try someone else. If you need to go farther, do it with a
professional looking cover letter, and do the same thing - introduce
yourself, describe your needs. You probably have references from
other suppliers (metals, tools) - mention those, too. Once you get a
foot in the door, and you behave yourself, the rest is gravy…

http://www.donivanandmaggiora.com

4

Nel, you can get a free listing from Dun & Bradstreet, without perks
but hey, its free.

and JBT has some free listing thing too. Join the
CraftEmergencyReliefFund, for your businesses and your own peace of
mind should any disaster strike, and consider applying for a free
EIN from the fed gov., and perhaps an FTC RN- the FTC RN will help
you expedite the large scale import of melee (what you seem to be
asking about) easily, legally and from NTR countries with no delays,
hassles, etc…

Although ebay can be a decent source if you RESEARCH the company
first-visit their web site, etc.,i have had to return many a parcel
of “recut” type stock sold as VS1 or above.Yes, they were not
included, slightly included, or any grade and colour desirable or
imaginable above SI1- but the chips, fractures( internal) etc.
render them unusable - unless you are a facetter- or have the time
and inclination to have them recut (which can be a cheap way out if
you look for outsourcing tenders in India, bangkok, sri lanka, etc.).

Indiamart is a free service on which you can post buying orders.
They have many, many gem dealers from around the world that are more
than willing to make a deal, send you parcels of melee on approval
(some require a relatively small deposit- that is fully
refundable…but read any fine print and assure the refundability of
your deposit, postage, etc and DON’T transfer monies directly from
your personal bank account anywhere- USE a 3RD Party!.because there
are dishonest business persons all over the world, it’s not exclusive
to any single group or country on the globe!) or with a mutually
agreed upon return period if not satisfied. I have found raw gold at
$6500 a KG that assays to 98.9% ( 23kt) direct from the miners- a
really good deal on gold…and diamonds at FAR below the rap
index…(so amazingly low, i don’t want to post it here and listen to
J.B. challenge it!),never the less, you can find some incredibly good
deals by posting your orders to that site…the responses are
unusually speedy too!..In fact, i had one chinese dealer calling my
cell phone the day after I posted the buy order for some demantoids,
and raw diamond crystals.It turned out that they were buying from
dealers on Indiamart, then reselling…so it’s sort of like a small
scale stock exchange - in goods…All i know is I’ve got some very
great deals in the past from using it for stones, chemicals,tools,
raw materials, etc…and mcafee’s site advisor rates it “green”!

http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/jewelryjump.htm

http://catalogs.indiamart.com/category/gems-jewellery.html

5

Nel,

I would suggest you seek out a few trade shows, one I can think of
right off the top is MJSA in New York which happens 2 times a year I
believe.

There are hundreds of vendors.

Make connections, this is the key. Pass out business cards…etc.
This way people will know you are legitimately in the jewelry
business.

You will no doubt have to charge or pay upfront on your purchases
since you are not JBT listed. Many will need your tax I.D. number and
all that info. to sell you anything.

Building up credit is key…

Good luck.

6

What started this thread, I missed it. The diamond trade is about
about MONEY. You need to find the right CONTACTS which can be a bit
tedious but it’s still all about the almight dollar.

Craig
www.creativecutgems.com

7 
You need to find the right CONTACTS which can be a bit tedious but
it's still all about the almight dollar.

I was under the impression that the person who posted might have
wanted a source. For melee, I have found Rushabh in New York to have
really nice quality and good prices, they have been extremely easy
to deal with, and they will probably memo anyone. I do not think
they needed any info from me, but they approached me, probably from
my JBT listing. If you need a phone number e-mail me offline.

And yes, it is about the almighty dollar, as this is what doing
jewelry as a business is about, unless this is a hobby. And it works
for me as I am allergic to most other types of physical or mental
labor.

Just got a new pair of spectacled Amazon parrots, a cute wild pair
for breeding, so now I am up to five parrots. Squawking, whistling,
and talking birds, my alarm clock at 7:30 am every day.

Richard Hart

8

Hi Richard,

Squawking, whistling, and talking birds, my alarm clock at 7:30 am
every day.

At my house, it’s my cat, and time is usually between 6:00 and 6:30
am!! You get to sleep in! Maybe I should trade in the cat for a
parrot??

Judy in Kansas