Hint : It ain't 500%

Another thread made me wonder, but I didn't want to take it off topic.

Jewelry - what do you think the retail mark up is? I know the answer, I'm just curious about what most people think.

If you have experience or personal knowledge of other retail items people seem to be mistaken on, discuss!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

i have a small collection of diamonds, i got them from different sources, including wholesale. when i look at what jewellers want for them, im thinking its more like 1000%, but then i dont know how much work goes into making a ring and how much weight in gold is added.

especially for smaller diamonds, the price difference between wholesale and jewellers is really dramatic. when i buy a diamond for 50 euros, the jewelry i see with a comparable one ranges from 500-1000 euros. but then, i dont know what the setting costs.

i know one cheap way to get jewelry is to buy loose stones wholesale and pay a goldsmith to custom-make the jewelry. big online vendors like renesim.com are also quite cheap.

I'm going to speak in terms of dollars because I'm American and I'm too lazy and lacking in math skills to figure out the conversion.

You are correct that the mark up is higher on smaller stones. But it is nowhere near 1000%. On larger stones (over a carat) it's not even 100%. I deal in high quality diamonds now but I've sold crap in the past and I'll concede that you get jacked a little harder on those, but not to the tune of 1000% what the jeweler paid for them.

I will also give you the benefit of the doubt that overseas it may be as you describe, but it absolutely is not the case in the U.S. Does that mean there are NO US jewelers who do this? I can't say for sure. I can say for sure it's not the norm.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

I got so many diamonds that I need to where an oxygen mask, too much carbon is all up in here

Sent from my SCH-I435 using Tapatalk

Standard retail markup is 300-400% for most things. If Jewelry is different I wouldn't know.

I would guess 75-200%.

Firearms I can tell you it's 10-15%, 20% on a good day, for new guns. Used figure it's 50-100%. Ammo is 10%, optics and other accessories 25-40%.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MasonC2K

Standard retail markup is 300-400% for most things. If Jewelry is different I wouldn't know.

---

On average it's 250-300%, so you're pretty close.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

for me, the apparent price markup may also be increased because of some of the wholesale access i have.

where i live, once a year we have the biggest trade show for minerals, fossils, and gemstones in europe. the biggest wholesalers from around the planet are there. you choose cut, color and size, they get it for you, and from a lot of up to 1000 pieces they put 50 or so on the table and you make your picks. some jewelers travel to these trade shows to buy, or they travel to Antwerp or Cape town or Tel Aviv to buy. but most jewelers dont jump through these hoops, which means they have an additional middleman.

and, as i said, i have no clue how much work goes into making a ring and how many grams of gold are in there.

that being said, diamonds are quite overpriced anyway due to the monopoly of de beers, which is why i shifted my attention to synthetic diamonds.

DeBeers doesn't control the diamond market anymore.

I'm not a fan of synthetics, probably because of my place in the diamond/jewelry industry. There is a reason an ideal cut D/Flawless diamond costs a lot of money. They're rare.

When you just go make one because you can't afford the natural version, you're devaluing the natural one. In my opinion it's the equivalent of buying a knock off Hermes for $50 or putting one of those body kits on your car to make it look like a higher end model (I don't know a lot about this, I wasn't really paying attention when it was being explained to me).

I'm not a snob. I can't afford most of what I sell. But I'd rather not have it than fake it. Unless we're talking about not-gray hair. Then I'd rather fake it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

the synthetics im talking about are not fake, in that the material they consist of is an actual diamond crystal with the same chemical and physical properties. im not talking about cubic circonia or white sapphire or stuff like that. simple tests based on thermal conductivity or optical density see them as real, you need to go deeper and look for microscopic inclusions or fluorescence to see that they are lab diamonds. but then, all the bigger ones have a laser inscription anyway.

they are difficult to create, and some are not even cheaper because they come in very rare fancy colors. white ones are even harder to make than fancy colors, they require the vapor deposition method. the others are made in a high-pressure-high-temperature cell that is being compressed by a set of steel anvils pushing on a smaller set of tungsten anvils. both methods often require weeks to grow a diamond.

i like the idea of not having diamond mining involved. with whats going on in diamond mining when it comes to poverty and dangerous working conditions, i see no problem with devaluing natural diamonds.

last time i checked the de beers monopoly is still working well. at least all the rough they stored away is still safely stored away. the business model was to create scarcity on the market by controlling 90% or more of the trade, and each year they would get in tons of rough, but only sell a few hundred kilograms. today their market control may have diminished to 60% or 70%, but the other players seem to do something similar. anyway i dont see the prices coming down, and if that monopoly really would fall, there would be a global drop in prices. did you know that the amount of gemstone quality diamonds that is mined is 10 times larger than the amount of gemstone quality rubys? most diamonds still dont reach the market and never get cut.

de beers also buys and dismantles small startups that aim to produce synthetics and invests in testing procedures that can distinguish them from naturals. and there is some market pressure involved, most dealers stay away from synthetics, out of 10 diamond traders only one or two have the real synthetics. you will find more traders that also sell color-enhanced naturals and diamond simulants, hunting down the real HPHT or vapor deposition lab diamonds is half the fun of collecting.

simulants are boring, i have a cubic circonia brilliant with a 3 centimeter diameter and ive seen synthetic sapphires of enormous propotions. synthetic sapphires are getting so large, soon they can cut a champagne bottle out of one.

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one, I think.
Happy collecting!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BrandiR

In my opinion it's the equivalent of buying a knock off Hermes for $50 or putting one of those body kits on your car to make it look like a higher end model (I don't know a lot about this, I wasn't really paying attention when it was being explained to me).

---

Better leave the car example out. Kits are easy to tell if you know what a real one looks like and they have zero effect on the value of real cars, as the rarity of real ones is the same. My 5k car has no effect on the 52 million dollar real one. :)

As someone who has never really researched this stuff, I don't see how fake diamonds could be a bad thing. I have heard about the monopoly and have heard about the conditions 3rd world countries are put in over diamonds. Is the only argument against it, "it makes the real one less desirable"? It kind of sounds like captive born vs wild caught to me.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BrandiR

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one, I think.
Happy collecting!

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by OhhWatALoser

As someone who has never really researched this stuff, I don't see how fake diamonds could be a bad thing. I have heard about the monopoly and have heard about the conditions 3rd world countries are put in over diamonds. Is the only argument against it, "it makes the real one less desirable"? It kind of sounds like captive born vs wild caught to me.

---

just dont call them fake :) fake is the word used to describe simulants, as in, materials that look similar but that are not the same. but the synthetics are real in the way that they actually consist of diamond, instead of growing in nature they have been grown in a laboratory. so call them synthetics, but calling them fake is quite inaccurate. the analogy of captive bred versus wild caught is a good one.

another analogy i like is a living palm tree grown in nature, versus a living palm tree grown in a greenhouse or a botanical garden, versus a plastic palm tree that merely resembles some of the optics. i would only call the plastic one fake. and the other two would represent natural diamond versus laboratory diamond / synthetic diamond. natural diamonds can be billions of years old, i see why that has some appeal, and synthetics still have some trouble with reaching the highest color and clarity grades. one real advantage the synthetics have is the fancy colors, intense colors like deep blue, deep red or deep purple or pink are extremely rare in nature. i think naturals and synthetics can exist alongside one another.

it just bothers me a bit that so many traders stay away completely and call them fake. given their quality and how extremely difficult it is to produce them in gemstone quality, i think they deserve a place alongside the naturals, let the customer choose.

I'll retract the car kit example because I really don't know.

I do know diamonds and gemstones though. When I said synthetics devalue naturals, I didn't mean literally. There will always be people willing and able to pay for a natural over a synthetic and there will always be people who will buy synthetics because it's what they can afford in the size/look that they want. I have never sold a synthetic to someone who could afford a natural that met their specifications. The two are not in competition with each other. And for the record, synthetics are not inexpensive (nor are all of the large ones laser inscribed).

I can tell a synthetic from a natural from a simulant with a microscope. Granted, I'm trained. The average untrained eye can't, but it usually also can't distinguish a $50 cubic zirconia from a $7000 diamond.

I have a genuine love of diamonds and gemstones and that's probably the only reason I lean toward naturals. You'd probably not find a lot of hair stylists plugging boxed hair dye.

Pythonfriend, that feeling you get when someone refers to a synthetic as "fake", its the same one I get when I see someone describing synthetics as being the EXACT same as naturals. They're close, but not exactly the same. I have sold synthetics. You're correct, you have to let the customer decide what they want and I don't begrudge anyone for buying what they want.

At the same time, I understand (yes, I've heard this) people feeling a little put off that someone can buy a replica of their $20,000 ring for $1500. People buy luxury items as a status symbol. There was a time when you couldn't have those things until you'd reached a certain level of financial success. Nowadays anyone with the internet and $100 can have a "Rolex". I guess that's my point. I know it sounds kind of snobby (I swear, I have Dr Pop and Great Value Mayo in my fridge right now, I'm not professing to be one of these successful people!) but I think you should earn luxury. Or marry or inherit it :)



Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

I'd trust someone who's certified in diamonds than someone who was scammed out for a large mark up in another country.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

I have a genuine love of Brandi and it's not for her diamonds!!! Zingerrrr ;)

Sent from my SCH-I435 using Tapatalk

Im with Brandi on this.

I don't want a man made recreation, I want the real deal. I'm not sure the wife would have gone for synthetic. Now a-days everything can be made in a lab. While they may be the same composition I don't see them as the same but I'm a person that does think about the process and time it took to create an object like a natural diamond. I am happy to pay for such an amazing object.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KMG

Im with Brandi on this.

I don't want a man made recreation, I want the real deal. I'm not sure the wife would have gone for synthetic.

---

Which is funny because for me (female) jewelry is just something else to put on when I have to dress up. So, I would prefer synthetic if its less expensive and looks just as nice to the naked eye.

I'm probably unusual in that regard compared to most women though, as it's been well over a year since I've worn any jewelry, including my wedding band.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bcr229

Which is funny because for me (female) jewelry is just something else to put on when I have to dress up. So, I would prefer synthetic if its less expensive and looks just as nice to the naked eye.

I'm probably unusual in that regard compared to most women though, as it's been well over a year since I've worn any jewelry, including my wedding band.

---

Sounds like you might actually prefer a simulated stone :) A good sized synthetic diamond is still going to be in the neighborhood of $1200. Well, unless you happen to have access to wholesale. Then you can pick one up for about $12.

You aren't alone. A lot of women don't care about jewelry. I've sold it for most of my adult life and I wear my fakey fashion stuff a lot more than my nicer pieces. I work in a jewelry store though, so people just assume that everything I wear is valuable. I'm gonna be so pissed when some dude sticks a gun in my face for my $40 earrings!



Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bcr229

Which is funny because for me (female) jewelry is just something else to put on when I have to dress up. So, I would prefer synthetic if its less expensive and looks just as nice to the naked eye.

I'm probably unusual in that regard compared to most women though, as it's been well over a year since I've worn any jewelry, including my wedding band.

---

You're not alone. I don't wear a lot of jewelry anymore. I dont put earrings in every day. When I got married, I wanted the diamond. It's been sitting in my jewelry box for about 5/14 years of marriage. I always smacked it, snagged it, and broke prongs, and had to have them fixed. Now the whole darn thing needs to be reset. So we put it away and got a white gold band. Love it, and never catch it on anything. My job and active life aren't kind to fancy jewelry.

well, all diamonds look unimpressive when uncut, and only look impressive after they are cut.

http://www.goodoldgold.com/items/11178/pic1.jpg

http://www.goodoldgold.com/items/12195/PIC1.jpg

http://d.neadiamonds.com/diamonds/YR53-8.jpg

http://d.neadiamonds.com/diamonds/BA15-8.jpg

the first two are naturals, the second two are synthetics. i had trouble finding synthetics in high-end precision cuts.

for me, its not really about the fact that naturals are more expensive than synthetics, synthetics are expensive enough. the material is the same, the only real difference is that one has been mined, with all the implications of diamond mining, while the other has been created in the lab by scientists and engineers.

what you see in the end is the cut and the material. its curious that it matters so much where the material came from in the case of diamonds. when people buy a golden ring, i wonder it happens how often they ask if the gold is freshly mined or if it used to be a golden coin. as long as the gold is real gold and the ring is nicely crafted, people dont care. but with diamonds its a really big issue.

what matters the most to me is not if its a synthetic or natural diamond, but in the case of a natural diamond, i want to know that its not a blood diamond and that it has been mined in humane conditions. what i like about synthetics is the fancy colors, which are extremely rare in naturals, and that they are less of a burden to the environment. naturals still dominate when it comes to large high-clarity white diamonds. but the material is the same to me. what you see is the clarity, color, cut and size.

No one has ever asked me if the gold in a ring has been freshly mined. No one has ever asked me if the natural diamond they're buying was freshly mined either.

People do ask about gold all the time though. They want to know if it's "pure gold". They want to know if 10k, 14k, or 18k is better. They want to know if it will "turn their finger green".

People do care what they're buying, especially when they're spending a lot of money and presenting it to someone they love, which is usually the case in the jewelry business.

You've alluded to unethical diamond mining practices several times. I'd encourage you to read up on The Kimberley Process. Jewelers are human beings too and we are typically far more ethical than people give us credit for.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

the kimberley process would be nice, if it would work :) there is no impartial monitoring, so if you want that certificate for your conflict diamond, one corrupt participant of the kimberley process will be enough to ensure that you get the right paperwork.

human rights organisations say that the kimberley process would be nice if it would be implemented in such a way that it would actually work, but that it doesnt work due to lack of oversight. and the diamond industry says the kimberley process works, and doesnt offer any better alternatives.

also, the kimberley process is only targeted at conflict diamonds, that is, diamonds being used to buy weapons and/or fund terrorists or rebel groups. there is no system in place that would guarantee humane working conditions or safety of workers or prevention of child labor.

Quote:

---

In order for a country to be a participant, it must ensure that any diamond originating from the country does not finance a rebel group or other entity seeking to overthrow a UN-recognized government, that every diamond export be accompanied by a Kimberley Process certificate and that no diamond is imported from, or exported to, a non-member of the scheme.

---

thats all there is to it. there may be modern-day slavery going on in the mines, as long as the mine is not being run by rebels, the diamonds will get their kimberley process certificates.

now if the kimberley process does not target poor working conditions and is not really effective in preventing conflict diamonds from entering the market, but when jewelers like to refer to it as an argument that the diamonds come from ethically sound sources, then the whole kimberley process is in fact only serving the purpose of a marketing tool.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pythonfriend

the kimberley process would be nice, if it would work :) there is no impartial monitoring, so if you want that certificate for your conflict diamond, one corrupt participant of the kimberley process will be enough to ensure that you get the right paperwork.

human rights organisations say that the kimberley process would be nice if it would be implemented in such a way that it would actually work, but that it doesnt work due to lack of oversight. and the diamond industry says the kimberley process works, and doesnt offer any better alternatives.

also, the kimberley process is only targeted at conflict diamonds, that is, diamonds being used to buy weapons and/or fund terrorists or rebel groups. there is no system in place that would guarantee humane working conditions or safety of workers or prevention of child labor.


thats all there is to it. there may be modern-day slavery going on in the mines, as long as the mine is not being run by rebels, the diamonds will get their kimberley process certificates.

now if the kimberley process does not target poor working conditions and is not really effective in preventing conflict diamonds from entering the market, but when jewelers like to refer to it as an argument that the diamonds come from ethically sound sources, then the whole kimberley process is in fact only serving the purpose of a marketing tool.

---

You win. I give up.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pythonfriend

the kimberley process would be nice, if it would work :) there is no impartial monitoring, so if you want that certificate for your conflict diamond, one corrupt participant of the kimberley process will be enough to ensure that you get the right paperwork.

human rights organisations say that the kimberley process would be nice if it would be implemented in such a way that it would actually work, but that it doesnt work due to lack of oversight. and the diamond industry says the kimberley process works, and doesnt offer any better alternatives.

---

Here you go again saying things that you have seen on TV, read in a book, or saw on some site. Anybody can put anything on TV or the web(obviously) with their own twist, that's a known fact. PETA says things all the time that we know to be untrue or twisted and I think we can all agree that Animal Planet rolled a little farther down the hill with their mermaid special.

I think its great that you have a passion for so many things and you want to do your part to make the world a better place. However I think that everything should be questioned. The honest don't mind questions but the dishonest and the fact twisters do and that will be revealed when your questions can not be answered by them or their story unravels. Ask questions all the time especially when your thinking of fighting for somebody else. Don't find yourself as a pawn to further their own agenda.

As for yalls topic I bet the process works just fine when its being followed by honest folks but then rules are not made for honest folks. For as long as there have been rules and laws there have been people trying to get around them. No matter what process was put into place the dishonest diamond people are still going to be dishonest and try to find a way around them. That is life. Im not going to only buy lab created diamonds because of it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BrandiR

Sounds like you might actually prefer a simulated stone :) A good sized synthetic diamond is still going to be in the neighborhood of $1200. Well, unless you happen to have access to wholesale. Then you can pick one up for about $12.

---

I am so in the wrong industry!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bcr229

I am so in the wrong industry!

---

Yea, me too.

I couldn't sell something for such a big mark up though. It sure doesn't make me want to buy a synthetic knowing all this now. Thanks for the insight Brandi.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KMG

Here you go again saying things that you have seen on TV, read in a book, or saw on some site. Anybody can put anything on TV or the web(obviously) with their own twist, that's a known fact. PETA says things all the time that we know to be untrue or twisted and I think we can all agree that Animal Planet rolled a little farther down the hill with their mermaid special.

I think its great that you have a passion for so many things and you want to do your part to make the world a better place. However I think that everything should be questioned. The honest don't mind questions but the dishonest and the fact twisters do and that will be revealed when your questions can not be answered by them or their story unravels. Ask questions all the time especially when your thinking of fighting for somebody else. Don't find yourself as a pawn to further their own agenda.

As for yalls topic I bet the process works just fine when its being followed by honest folks but then rules are not made for honest folks. For as long as there have been rules and laws there have been people trying to get around them. No matter what process was put into place the dishonest diamond people are still going to be dishonest and try to find a way around them. That is life. Im not going to only buy lab created diamonds because of it.

---

Yes, well, i do question everything and i do my research.

Here is how the kinberley process works, as i see it: it works on a national level. nations sign up for it. the responsibility that these nations have is to ensure that the mines they have are not controlled by rebels, and that the proceeds are not going to be used for any action that intends to overthrow a government that the UN recognizes. that are the rules, if you can fulfill the rules, you are now part of the kimberley process. now when you export them, they get transported in sealed boxes and they get the right kimberley certificates. and you are only supposed to export diamonds into other nations that are also part of the kimberley process.

when it is known that there are some mines under rebel control, or that diamonds are being used with intention to overthrow a government that is recognized by the UN, nations might get kicked out.

now the interesting part is: how is it enforced? that should determine how well the system works, because the way the system is set up, if some nations are not diligent enough, the process doesnt work properly because blood diamonds can just sneak in. and its not enforced at all. what actually happens is: when a diamond is FIRST moved from one kimberley process participant nation to another participant nation, it gets the paperwork, and noone checks anything. and now the diamond is in the system, and the paperwork follows the diamond from one nation to another, to the cutter, to the wholesaler, and in the end to the jewelry store/consumer.

so what happens to blood diamonds is that they are mined in nations that are not currently part of the kimberley process, due to civil war or failed governance. then you smuggle them to a nearby nation that is part of the kimberley process, and there you have your market to turn them into cash or gold or guns. from there, if that other nation has a diamond mine to explain whats going on, it enters the kimberley process and will be sold as such in a jewelry store anywhere in the 1st world.

now if the system doesnt work and there is no oversight and its being abused, you would expect some consequences: some nations that only have a very small capacity to mine diamonds might suddenly be mining a lot. and some nations that do not have diamonds in the ground might find some, dig a hole, call it a diamond mine, and the mine would produce quite a bit. and in some nations that do produce a lot and that have real mines, some mines might get a mysterious boost in effectivity. and thats just what happens, due to a lack of oversight it happens without consequence. the smuggling into kimberley process nations is also well-documented. and as a customer, you get your certificate, which should allow you to trace it back, and if you trace it back you might end up in a third-world nation that wasnt known to have any meaningful diamond reserves or production before 1990 but that now seems to have quite a few mines that do really well.

all that doesnt touch the issue that you can run your mines with slaves and children, as long as you are not a rebel and dont want to overthrow a government recognized by the UN. if you do that, you dont even need to work around the kimberley process, its fine, you just sign up. these are not blood diamonds, the whole process is only about diamonds that put bullets into people and that generate political instability.

so, the only real way to get a clean natural diamond is to buy from a dealer who does the work that the kimberley process wont do. which is to source stones from a particular mine that is not corrupt and where the working conditions are good, then send them to a cutting facility to have them all cut, then brand it, and then make the whole thing convincing and transparent. this is difficult. 60% of the rough diamond market still has a middleman called de beers, much of the rest is controlled by others that behave in a similar way. for an individual dealer, it is not easy to control the whole thing from the mine to the cut stone.

i am not against natural diamonds, i just wish it would be more transparent. and thats not an issue with the synthetics, here for larger diamonds you just know where they were produced. synthetics have the problem that its awfully difficult to produce white diamonds that are cheaper than naturals, and with all colors there still is the problem that the maximum size is very limited. in quality and price, synthetics only dominate blue color and other rare colors, and that only under 2 carat size. white synthetics are comparable in price to natural white diamonds.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BrandiR

No one has ever asked me if the gold in a ring has been freshly mined. No one has ever asked me if the natural diamond they're buying was freshly mined either.

People do ask about gold all the time though. They want to know if it's "pure gold". They want to know if 10k, 14k, or 18k is better. They want to know if it will "turn their finger green".

People do care what they're buying, especially when they're spending a lot of money and presenting it to someone they love, which is usually the case in the jewelry business.

You've alluded to unethical diamond mining practices several times. I'd encourage you to read up on The Kimberley Process. Jewelers are human beings too and we are typically far more ethical than people give us credit for.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

---

Jewelers are no more or less ethical than anyone else.
That means, that some will be ethical, some will try to "look" ethical" and others are down right scumbags.

And, honestly, I am still floor that any thinks De Beers still does not control the majority of the diamond market. Sure the Russians messed them up a bit releasing a bunch of diamonds but, if people knew just how common diamonds are they would not have anywhere near the value they do except for the best examples with minimal flaw or large size better yet both.
Hell, De Beers affects the market for Canadian polar diamonds still.

If you want a real eye opener, if you travel South America. Visit areas around emerald "mines" and ask the locals what they are paid for what they bring in.
Not wishing to bring down any heat on these people is the only reason I chose not to outbid and run. Besides even with mark-up the local purchase price would stun most people in North America.

- - - Updated - - -

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BrandiR

No one has ever asked me if the gold in a ring has been freshly mined. No one has ever asked me if the natural diamond they're buying was freshly mined either.

People do ask about gold all the time though. They want to know if it's "pure gold". They want to know if 10k, 14k, or 18k is better. They want to know if it will "turn their finger green".

People do care what they're buying, especially when they're spending a lot of money and presenting it to someone they love, which is usually the case in the jewelry business.

You've alluded to unethical diamond mining practices several times. I'd encourage you to read up on The Kimberley Process. Jewelers are human beings too and we are typically far more ethical than people give us credit for.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

---

Jewelers are no more or less ethical than anyone else.
That means, that some will be ethical, some will try to "look" ethical" and others are down right scumbags.

And, honestly, I am still floor that any thinks De Beers still does not control the majority of the diamond market. Sure the Russians messed them up a bit releasing a bunch of diamonds but, if people knew just how common diamonds are they would not have anywhere near the value they do except for the best examples with minimal flaw or large size better yet both.
Hell, De Beers affects the market for Canadian polar diamonds still.

If you want a real eye opener, if you travel South America. Visit areas around emerald "mines" and ask the locals what they are paid for what they bring in.
Not wishing to bring down any heat on these people is the only reason I chose not to outbid and run. Besides even with mark-up the local purchase price would stun most people in North America.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BrandiR

A good sized synthetic diamond is still going to be in the neighborhood of $1200. Well, unless you happen to have access to wholesale. Then you can pick one up for about $12.

---

guys and girls, i think this was meant as a joke :) just wanted to clarify, because other posts are quoting it. for high-clarity white diamonds the situation is that they are almost equally expensive, laboratory diamonds are just a little bit cheaper, and laboratory diamonds are limited to 2 carats in size.

so when you are looking for a 7000 dollar round brilliant cut white diamond, with high color and clarity and ideal cut, chances are that your cheapest option is a natural diamond. that holds true. you can get that as a laboratory diamond for 7000 as well, but there is no price difference. and larger white diamonds are only available as naturals, and in smaller diamonds the naturals still compete on an equal level with synthetics. currently the synthetic diamonds only rule in color. when it comes to fancy colors, they rule in price, because natural colored diamonds are extremely rare.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pythonfriend

guys and girls, i think this was meant as a joke :) just wanted to clarify, because other posts are quoting it. for high-clarity white diamonds the situation is that they are almost equally expensive, laboratory diamonds are just a little bit cheaper, and laboratory diamonds are limited to 2 carats in size.

so when you are looking for a 7000 dollar round brilliant cut white diamond, with high color and clarity and ideal cut, chances are that your cheapest option is a natural diamond. that holds true. you can get that as a laboratory diamond for 7000 as well, but there is no price difference. and larger white diamonds are only available as naturals, and in smaller diamonds the naturals still compete on an equal level with synthetics. currently the synthetic diamonds only rule in color. when it comes to fancy colors, they rule in price, because natural colored diamonds are extremely rare.

---

Yes, that was a joke.

A one carat diamond (cut correctly) is about 6.5mm. This is retail pricing for synthetics. A natural diamond that would be comparable would cost about $4700-5700, depending on quality. I'm accounting for the fact that synthetic diamonds would not fall into the colorless/near colorless range. So I'm talking about a J/K SI - ish stone for comparison purposes.

I said synthetics aren't cheap. They are significantly less expensive than naturals though.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/05/31/edy3y8yd.jpg

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

Now stop sucking me into this, I'm a busy woman!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BrandiR

Yes, that was a joke.

A one carat diamond (cut correctly) is about 6.5mm. This is retail pricing for synthetics. A natural diamond that would be comparable would cost about $4700-5700, depending on quality. I'm accounting for the fact that synthetic diamonds would not fall into the colorless/near colorless range. So I'm talking about a J/K SI - ish stone for comparison purposes.

I said synthetics aren't cheap. They are significantly less expensive than naturals though.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/05/31/edy3y8yd.jpg

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

---

i want to buy some!!!! are you able to sell them at anywhere near these prices? 1 carat rock for 645 dollars, are you kidding me? gimme gimme gimme i buy. i would manage to get them sold fast enough so that you just need to keep them coming. if thats true, we got a money machine here :)

are you sure these are not buyback guidelines? if these are sales prices, it should be easy to get an army assembled to buy them up each day for the next years. of course any buyback guidelines would factor in profits, and the possibility that synthetics might plummet in price. which they never did and wont. and of course it doesnt mean that you can actually get a diamond for that price. these prices are significantly lower than wholesale. natural or synthetic, these prices are idiot-proof: whoever can buy anything at these prices will profit, synthetic or natural.