Fair discount on jewelry?

[5678]

I've seen some earrings I want to buy for my wife. They are in an independent Jewelers and have been in the window for a good few months. Price is £2995.

Now from when I bought her engagement/eternity rings, I learnt about the significant markup stones (from Nightmare!) My question is around what sort of discount I should try to haggle for. 10%? 20%? 50%?

[ecain63]

Given the spiralling costs of replacing stock the margins for discount are becoming smaller and smaller.

What spec are these earrings?

[5678]

ecain63 said:

Given the spiralling costs of replacing stock the margins for discount are becoming smaller and smaller.

What spec are these earrings?

.5ct Emerald and .6ct diamonds per earring, 18ct white gold.

[ecain63]

5678 said:

ecain63 said:

Given the spiralling costs of replacing stock the margins for discount are becoming smaller and smaller.

What spec are these earrings?

.5ct Emerald and .6ct diamonds per earring, 18ct white gold.

I'm assuming they are clusters?

[5678]

Yes, larger emerald on pendant with round brilliant cut diamonds in millegrain settings.

[ecain63]

5678 said:

Yes, larger emerald on pendant with round brilliant cut diamonds in millegrain settings.

It's difficult to say as I don't know the quality of the emeralds, but there is probably a little to be haggled off. Material costs are sky high and rising currently so you have to appreciate the fact the dealer will have to replace them and make something for himself. Nobody is doing big discounts at the moment.

If you have an image you could email I can check prices my end if you want?

Kind regards

Eddie

[DJMC]

We buy all our diamonds from the jewellery quarter in Birmingham. I'd estimate 30-50% off high street prices?

E.g. 2ct solitaire diamonds earrings in 18ct, VS1, G/H, £2,000 new. A month ago.

[ecain63]

DJMC said:

We buy all our diamonds from the jewellery quarter in Birmingham. I'd estimate 30-50% off high street prices?

E.g. 2ct solitaire diamonds earrings in 18ct, VS1, G/H, £2,000 new. A month ago.

So, you bought a pair of 1ct G VS quality diamonds for £2k..... A month ago? New?

Either the sale of the century or utter fantasy.

Give me the suppliers details and I'll buy ALL my diamonds from them.

Unless they were total rubbish in terms of cut and fluorescence, or better still a pair of moissanite stones you would be looking more like £15-20k for those on planet earth.

I have a pair of G Vs earrings totalling 2.20ct (1.08 and 1.12) in my stock that cost me £15k in material alone. I sold a pair of 2nd hand 1ct earrings last year for £12k and the customer had them had them independently valued at £17k.

£2k is a ludicrous claim and given our dealings off the forum I'm really surprised by this.

Edited by ecain63 on Thursday 2nd February 06:49

[DJMC]

ecain63 said:

So, you bought a pair of 1ct G VS quality diamonds for £2k..... A month ago? New?

Either the sale of the century or utter fantasy.

Give me the suppliers details and I'll buy ALL my diamonds from them.

Unless they were total rubbish in terms of cut and fluorescence, or better still a pair of moissanite stones you would be looking more like £15-20k for those on planet earth.

I have a pair of G Vs earrings totalling 2.20ct (1.08 and 1.12) in my stock that cost me £15k in material alone. I sold a pair of 2nd hand 1ct earrings last year for £12k and the customer had them had them independently valued at £17k.

£2k is a ludicrous claim and given our dealings off the forum I'm really surprised by this.

Edited by ecain63 on Thursday 2nd February 06:49

One of us is confused?
A pair of earrings, one diamond in each, in 18ct gold. Each diamond approx. 1ct weight.
Having vaguely looked around at others for £3-5k we thought these were a good deal at £2k but still a tad pricey. The jeweller also said they had some better ones coming in so we didn't inspect the diamonds that closely.
We've bought from this jeweller for the last 15 years. A diamond specialist. Last purchase was a 5ct single line 18ct diamond tennis bracelet a few years back at £2k. Can't recall the spec, but they wouldn't have been lower than F/G/H and SI.
He does cut us some excellent deals.

[ecain63]

DJMC said:

ecain63 said:

So, you bought a pair of 1ct G VS quality diamonds for £2k..... A month ago? New?

Either the sale of the century or utter fantasy.

Give me the suppliers details and I'll buy ALL my diamonds from them.

Unless they were total rubbish in terms of cut and fluorescence, or better still a pair of moissanite stones you would be looking more like £15-20k for those on planet earth.

I have a pair of G Vs earrings totalling 2.20ct (1.08 and 1.12) in my stock that cost me £15k in material alone. I sold a pair of 2nd hand 1ct earrings last year for £12k and the customer had them had them independently valued at £17k.

£2k is a ludicrous claim and given our dealings off the forum I'm really surprised by this.

Edited by ecain63 on Thursday 2nd February 06:49

One of us is confused?
A pair of earrings, one diamond in each, in 18ct gold. Each diamond approx. 1ct weight.
Having vaguely looked around at others for £3-5k we thought these were a good deal at £2k but still a tad pricey. The jeweller also said they had some better ones coming in so we didn't inspect the diamonds that closely.
We've bought from this jeweller for the last 15 years. A diamond specialist. Last purchase was a 5ct single line 18ct diamond tennis bracelet a few years back at £2k. Can't recall the spec, but they wouldn't have been lower than F/G/H and SI.
He does cut us some excellent deals.

So, what you are suggesting is that these 1ct diamonds are costing only a few hundred pounds each at trade to the dealer?

Utter nonsense!

[ecain63]

Put it this way:

If a 1ct diamond solitaire ring is available for £1000 then why do many regular buyers have to settle for an H Samuel special at the same price?

Why is the 1ct stone not the minimum standard at £1000?

The quote you got from myself and other PHer last week must have been stupendously high in comparison to your Birmingham contact. As per above, can I have this dealers number please?

[DJMC]

ecain63 said:

Put it this way:

If a 1ct diamond solitaire ring is available for £1000 then why do many regular buyers have to settle for an H Samuel special at the same price?

Why is the 1ct stone not the minimum standard at £1000?

The quote you got from myself and other PHer last week must have been stupendously high in comparison to your Birmingham contact. As per above, can I have this dealers number please?

Listen. I don't know you, don't know who you are, and I have never contacted you or any other PHer about jewellery.
If you can get away with asking £15,000 for a pair of earrings available widely for £3-5k you are on to a very good thing.
I certainly don't intend to risk my "bargain buys" by having you telling my dealer his prices are far too low.

[ecain63]

DJMC said:

ecain63 said:

Put it this way:

If a 1ct diamond solitaire ring is available for £1000 then why do many regular buyers have to settle for an H Samuel special at the same price?

Why is the 1ct stone not the minimum standard at £1000?

The quote you got from myself and other PHer last week must have been stupendously high in comparison to your Birmingham contact. As per above, can I have this dealers number please?

Listen. I don't know you, don't know who you are, and I have never contacted you or any other PHer about jewellery.
If you can get away with asking £15,000 for a pair of earrings available widely for £3-5k you are on to a very good thing.
I certainly don't intend to risk my "bargain buys" by having you telling my dealer his prices are far too low.

Ok. We'll leave it there.

The figures you have quoted are 100% fiction in my opinion..... as an experienced jeweller. To sell those items for such a low price can only be put down to your missing a zero in the price or he's losing money hand over fist himself.

Look online at the prices on BlueNile and tell me I'm wrong. Those guys are pushing stones out at just over cost and they are still far out from where your guy is. I hate BlueNile as much as I despise Argos and Signet group, but BlueNile is at least a reasonable representation of the variation of prices that can be seen on the market today. Variation is one thing though. Your prices are just misleading.

Edited by ecain63 on Friday 3rd February 08:02

[eyebeebe]

I did exactly what ECain suggested a couple of hours ago and just got chance to post now.

Looking at blue nile and being very loose with the spec - brilliant cut, just under 1 carat, H, VS2 and ignoring cut quality, fluorescence etc the best price I could see was GBP 3k per stone.

Granted if you are looking at a less traditional cut, you can get the price pretty close to 2k a stone. The jeweller still needs to pay for the metal, his time and margin.

I'd be taking those earrings for an independent appraisal.

[ecain63]

And once you break the carat mark you're looking at £8k+ a pair for the lower grades and £10k+ for average to good stones.

[eyebeebe]

I think those are ex. VAT prices too?