Hello, all – I’m going to be making my own wedding rings, and I
know absolutely nothing about buying diamonds. I’ve always
worked with colored cabochons up to this point. Does anyone have
a favorite dealer you can refer me to who wouldn’t mind working
with someone who is totally ignorant? I live in San Francisco,
but I have no objections to mail order from the right source.
Right now I only need one for the ring, but I’ve been starting
to add diamonds to my latest designs and as time and money permit
those designs will turn into real jewelry, so I fully expect to
be purchasing more in the future. Thanks for your help! ~kara
To Kara, Well kara some friendly advice is to get yourself
somewhat aquainted with daimonds before you start purchasing them
in any sizeable amounts. You can find out a lot just surfing the
net. I myself deal with everything but diamonds but have plenty of
associates who do deal with diamonds. Diamonds also vary greatly
in price as you know…what price range and size are you
exactly looking for? If you are interested in adding them as
accent stones in commerical jewelry…i’d personally advise lower
grade mater. I recently made several pairs of earings with
diamond accents and I purchased lower end material. You can
usually get 2mm stuff at the low end for as little as $150 or so a
carat. Farooq
Kara:
I started setting diamonds too. I order mine from Rio Grande.
There are a couple of diamond dealers in New York I have been
told about but none of them have the patience to educate people
new to using diamonds. Once I find someone, I will let you
know.
DeDe
Hi Kara,
I buy diamonds from a company called Namano in Georgia. I’ve been
dealing with them for about 10 years and find they are very
willing to discuss specific needs, particular stones and very
easygoing about returns if you are not satisfied with what they
send you. They’ve got everything from tiny melee to larger
diamonds, rounds, marquise, trillions, etc. Their # 800-241-8331 I
also find their prices very good (not cheap as some I’ve seen
but the quality deserves the slightly better price). There is
also someone I’ve bought a few stones from in Woodland Hills, CA
very good quality a bit higher priced - but again I think the
quality warrants it. I personally didn’t feel as comfortable with
them by phone but that could just have been me. That would be -
Mark Silverstein 818-712-0010 I do remember that they had
superior quality diamonds in upwards of .15ct
I’m sure there are folks here on the list who could give a bit
of a crash course in diamond grades/qualities etc.
Michelle
Michelle
Sumiche Handwrought Jewelry
Creating what you want in gold, platinum and silver
http://www.efn.org/~sumiche
Try Steve Rudolf Gems out of Indianoplis IN. Low Prices, ? Good
quality. He will bring them to you so you can hand pick what
you want. A few or a lot.
Kara,
Diamond dealers are kind of like doctors, that is, they
specialize. Some are stronger in certain sizes. Some are better
at fancy shapes or colors. Some do a particular range of quality.
Some have better prices. Sadly, some are ‘Quacks’. You will need
to become educated as to how the 4 ‘C’s’ affect diamond quality
and prices. You will also probably need to develop relationships
with several different diamond dealers in order to insure that
you can get the best quality for the best price in whatever type
of stones you decide to work with. You might want to consider
taking a class from the GIA. They have a homestudy course in
Diamond grading. It costs a few bucks, but, it might be well
worth it in the long run.
Mike