markvee said:
I'm looking to buy an engagement, but I have never bought any jewelry before.
I want to buy a man made diamond (also known as synthetic or cultured diamond).
I found this site for a place in Franklin, WI, USA:
http://diamondnexuslabs.com/
where I can order a ladies solitaire ring with 1.03 Carat round gemstone and solid 14k white gold ring for $194US.
I didn't expect to find a ring for so cheap. I was thinking that I would have to pay thousands of dollars.
Does anyone have experience/recommendations with purchasing rings with man made diamonds?
Recommendations for brick and mortar jewelers (that sell man made diamonds - I'm not interested in mined diamonds) in Toronto or Ottawa are also appreciated.
I am a jewelry buying novice, and this is what I have learned so far.
Here is a good summary:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_diamond
http://diamondnexuslabs.com/ sells diamond simulants, which are not really diamonds, hence the low price of $194 for a 1.03 Carat diamond on a ring. These are words to watch out for:
diamond simulant
diamond imitation
cubic zirconia
moissanite
The thing I am interested in is man made (also known as cultured or synthetic) diamond in gem form. There are 2 techniques for making synthetic diamond: High Pressure, High Temperature (HPHT) and Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD).
Here are the companies I have found that make synthetic diamond:
A) High Pressure High Temperature HPHT method:
1)
http://www.gemesis.com/ sold by
http://www.wdcgroup.com in Vancouver
WDC (Waldman Diamond Company) Canada
525 Seymour St. Suite 506
Vancouver, B.C. V6B 3H7, Canada
Tel: 604-602-4367
Toll-free: 1-866-393-4372
Fax: 604-602-4360
2)
http://www.adiadiamonds.com/ sold by
http://www.pearlmansjewelers.com/ in Battlecreek MI
e-mail:
info@pearlmansjewelers.com
phone toll free: 888.811.1529
local phone number: 269.963.1529
fax number: 269.963.4751
address:
46 West Michigan Avenue
Battle Creek, Michigan
49017
hours: Monday - Friday 10 am - 5:30 pm EST
Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Nov. 25 - Dec. 23
Otherwise By appointment
3)
http://www.newagediamonds.com/ in Russia
Office 232, Fl 2
Lermontovsky Pr. 43/1,
St-Petersburg, Russia
Phone: + 7 812 740 2832
US Toll Free: +1 888 623 4 973
B) Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD):
1)
http://www.apollodiamond.com/ in Boston
The only site that I can find so far that lists inventory is here:
http://www.pearlmansjewelers.com/
In terms of synthetic diamonds, they are out of stock of white diamonds, but a 0.47-0.66ct round blue diamond can be had for $2,327-$5,148:
http://www.pearlmansjewelers.com/diamond-search.php?cat=AD&view=table&sort=&shape=B&color%5B%5D=B&page=&carat_low=0.46&carat_high=0.69
By comparison from the same site, a 0.70-0.72ct round white diamond of the same clarity can be had for $2,084-$2,895:
http://www.pearlmansjewelers.com/diamond-search.php?cat=TC&view=table&sort=&carat_low=0.70&carat_high=0.99&page=&price_low=2000&price_high=2999
A price of $2,000-$4,000 seems reasonable, but I think I should be able to find a dealer that sells the synthetics at a lower price than the mined variety.
Information on specific deals is appreciated.
Thanks everyone for the advice, especially Strongbeau for the advice to buy the stone and ring separately to avoid taxation at the border.