Febraury 25th 2009

Before I could give Mardi a quote I needed to know the size, colour and clarity of the diamonds in the ring I was quoting against.

This information greatly affects the value and price of the diamonds/ring, so off she went to ask. I never asked Mardi what the price of the ring was at the Jewellery Chain.

This is what Mardi wrote in an email to me regarding the information I asked her for:

"The main stone in the engagement ring is H,I colour and P1 clarity. As for the size, they were unable to give me an exact size other than to say it is a minimum 40 points but they think it looks a little bigger, with the TDW 1ct."

When I read that they did not know what the size of the centre diamond in this expensive ring was, I was shocked. It gets even worse when we get to the answer given by the store about the matching wedding ring they were trying to sell her:

"As for the matching wedding ring, they were unable to tell me the size of the diamonds for that one and were unsure of the colour and clarity also.  She thought it would be a H,I colour though."

This extent of lack of knowledge about the product they were selling is disgusting. I know why the jewellery chains do not advertise the colour and clarity of their diamonds now. It is because sometimes they don`t know!

So this is what happened from here;
 

1. I quoted to make the ring using the same quality diamonds.
2. Mardi asked me for a quote to supply better quality diamonds.
3. I informed Mardi about the different grades of diamonds.
4. Mardi selected a grade that she was happy with.
5. Mardi accepted a quote to make the same ring using properly graded G colour, Vs2 clarity diamonds.
6. I made a silver draft of the ring for her approval before making the actual ring.
7. three days from Mardi approving the draft, her ring was made. Total time 1 week.

After the ring was finished Mardi`s partner informed me that my quote was less than the price of the Jewellery Chain even after they gave them a 30% discount ..... without having to ask! Not only does the Jewellery Chain not know what quality diamonds are in some of their rings, they are not sure what the real price is!

Jewellery Chains sell what many of my diamond brokers refer to as "promotional" quality diamonds. These are low quality diamonds that they sell advertising a large size and what appears a low price. They try not to mention the quality unless asked, and from Mardi`s example, sometimes they do not know.

Congratulations on your engagement Mardi and thank you for allowing me to make your ring for you!