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Hi all MB'ers

As females, we are genetically more price-conscious and always looking for best bargains. For me personally, if I have the time and capacity, I would go round Klang Valley to survey all diamond prices before I make a decision (after all, we hope to save our FH's pocket in some ways... :rolleyes: ). But if we combine our research and findings, I believe we could do more shopping in 1/5th the time!

So what say you we have a list of all prices of diamonds in a single topic so we could be better and more educated consumers?

Please allow me to demonstrate:

Year of enquiry - 2008

Jeweller - Habib (Ampang)

Diamond - Hearts on Fire, G colour, VS1, 1.0+ carat

Price - RM50,000 (b4 neg)

Year of enquiry - 2007

Jeweller - Tianpo (S'pore)

Diamond - Hearts on Fire, G colour, SI, 1.05 carat

Price - SGD19,900 (b4 neg)

Diamond - Hearts on Fire, F colour, VS2, 1.0 carat

Price - SGD25,000 (b4 neg)

Just a little detail to share with all who are crazy about diamonds! :P

Cheers,

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I guess the saying goes ....

"Diamonds are girl's bestfriend"!!

I'm not a diamond fan.

I think my fiance has more knowledge of diamonds than me! He basicly searched around the world for the perfect cut, color, clarity and carat (I think the 4Cs) for proposal ring! Hahaha!! :lol: After proposal, he have to explained to me what diamond I was getting!

Just to share with you, he bought me a Brilliant Rose diamond from Singapore.

1.0 carat, E color, VS2 for the price of SGD23k.

I love the Brilliant Rose very much as it sparkles much more brilliantly than other diamonds when we compare next to it! I hope you find your diamond soon! Good luck!

Hi all MB'ers

As females, we are genetically more price-conscious and always looking for best bargains. For me personally, if I have the time and capacity, I would go round Klang Valley to survey all diamond prices before I make a decision (after all, we hope to save our FH's pocket in some ways... :rolleyes: ). But if we combine our research and findings, I believe we could do more shopping in 1/5th the time!

So what say you we have a list of all prices of diamonds in a single topic so we could be better and more educated consumers?

Please allow me to demonstrate:

Year of enquiry - 2008

Jeweller - Habib (Ampang)

Diamond - Hearts on Fire, G colour, VS1, 1.0+ carat

Price - RM50,000 (b4 neg)

Year of enquiry - 2007

Jeweller - Tianpo (S'pore)

Diamond - Hearts on Fire, G colour, SI, 1.05 carat

Price - SGD19,900 (b4 neg)

Diamond - Hearts on Fire, F colour, VS2, 1.0 carat

Price - SGD25,000 (b4 neg)

Just a little detail to share with all who are crazy about diamonds! :P

Cheers,

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Hi all... I got my porposal ring from Brillant Rose Singapore too... We went to a few different diamond shop in KL and also in SG... look thru all... i listed, hearts of fire, brillant rose and love diamond... But in the end, after I compare the design of the ring and the look of the diamond.... I still prefer Brillant Rose... For those in SG... u can get brillant rose like everywhere.... For those in KL... You can also get brillant rose from Bangsar Village... I've been there and i guess the price is almost the same like SG...

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Congratulations lovebug & adyong85 on your exciting gems!

Brilliant Rose sounds very tempting....I have not personally seen one myself but I heard a lot about it...should take a look one of these days...

Been trying to collate all the information on rings in the other forum and all credit due to all generous MBers sharing all the findings and they are:

2008 - Diamond & Platinum

GIA - 0.38 carat Estrella diamond VS1, F grade, excellent cut, excellent polish and excellent symmentery, set on a platinum ring: RM 5,553 (after discount 10%+5% for members)

GIA - 0.30 carat Estrella diamond VS1, F grade, excellent cut, excellent polish and excellent symmetry, set on a platinum ring: RM 4,900 (after discount 10%+5% for members)

GIA - 0.32 carat normal cut diamond VS1, F grade, very good cut, polish and symmetry- don't know, set on a white gold ring: RM 3,124 (after discount 10%+5% for members)

2007 - degem....0.37c, E color, VS2, GIA cert, RM4K

2007 - wah chan, E, VVS1, 0.37, RM3.4k

2007 - le lumiere, G, 0.33c, VS1 at RM2500 with ring (complete set).

2007 - Le Lumiere E, VS 1, 0.33c, RM2500

2007 - LOVE diamond 0.29c, G, VS2, RM8k

2007 - E, VSI1, 0.34c, white gold ring with 6 claws, SGD800

2006 –Tian Po S’pore HOF 0.3C - 0.5C, color E - D, VSI1, ranges from SGD4000 to SGD5000 (it comes with GIA certification)

2006 - Taka Jewellery 0.34c, E, VSI 1, SGD800. H&A cut and HRD certified

2006 -

1. E, VVS2, 0.31 carats, ideal cut diamond. – RM3.5K

2. G, VS 1, 0.39 carats, ideal cut diamond. – RM3.5K

3. G, VS 1, 0.33 carats, perfect cut diamond. – RM3.5K

2006 - wah chan 0.34 carat, F colour and VS1 RM3,030

2006 - D&P Estrella 0.25 carat on 950 platinum, D, VS1- RM3.3k

2006 - 0.57carat, vs1, G, RM6.5 k

2006 - D&P Estrella collection RM5K plus for a D, VV2, 0.31carat

2006 – Larry Jewellery in S'pore, Lazare S$10k for a 0.7 carat

2006 - Habib @ The Curve. 0.40ct, E color, VVS2, certified Hearts & Arrow.

Bearing in mind some of the above information are not complete like cut symmetries (apart from branded names with patented cuts), name of shops, etc. This however, forms good guide and estimate for those looking for a ballpark figure and budget accordingly. Btw, this is good list for negotiation too!

Hope none are too offended that I didn’t include names of those providing the information…feel free to add to the list!

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hi,

may i ask wats the difference with le lumiere diamond, estrella diamond, love diamond, n diamond from pohkong, wah chan, platinum, Tiffany & co, Montblanc?

the branding...? :P

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Hi blurcheryl

I'm no diamond expert but from what I understand so far all the diamonds you mentioned are the same with a few exceptions.

1. Brand

2. Cut

The most common cut diamond is round (commonly known as 'round brilliant cut') and has 57 - 58 cuts. The cut is discovered by a guy called Marcel Tolkowsky in the early 1900s. Tolkowsky came up with the proportions theory on the "Ideal Cut" of diamonds and if applied correctly, will give you "Hearts and Arrows" diamonds. That is, you would essentially be able to observe 8 perfect hearts and 8 perfect arrows in a perfectly cut diamond.

Most the diamonds you mentioned are cut to follow Tolkowsky's proportions. Hence, you would see 8 hearts and arrows in the diamond (if they are round, of course). But whether the cut is perfect to bring about 8 perfect hearts and 8 perfect arrows is another issue.

Because you and I are not diamond cutters / experts, we would not be able to see or tell whether the diamonds we get are perfect in every sense. The jewellers would send them to the diamond graders (Gemologist) like GIA and AGS to get expert independent opinion on the diamond grades of the 4 Cs (Cut, Clarity, Colour, Carat) so that they could then inform the consumers about the diamond quality. That is why most jewellers like Poh Kong, Habib, Wah Chan, etc have graded diamonds.

Which is also why, some companies spend millions in branding/advertising costs to bring about awareness in customers or confidence in their diamonds because they claim to have the perfect/ideal/excellent cut. But essentially that means they claim to have 8 perfect hearts and 8 perfect arrows. Lazarre and Hearts on Fire are examples of companies that spend millions in research and advertising so that consumers would be confident that they are getting the best cut/colour/clarity in town (ie. "THE DIAMOND"). If I'm not mistaken, Estrella and Love diamonds are branded diamonds from De Beers and Love Diamond Company respectively. (Anyone, please correct me if I'm wrong.) Tiffany and Mont Blanc are established companies well renown for their products and purchase their diamonds from De Beer (that sells rough cut diamonds), although I also heard that now Tiffany has branched out to start their own cutting process.(Again, please correct me if I'm wrong.). These branded diamonds are priced at a premium cos' of research and advertising spent which is part of the economic position undertaken by these companies.

There are cuts that sway away from the normal 57 - 58 facets (or cuts). One of which is the 66 facets diamond discovered by japanese. A brand that carry such diamonds is Brilliant Rose. From what I hear, the reason why Brilliant Rose is more expansive, it is because it has more cuts and therefore cutting process and polishing etc takes longer.

To decide which cut is better than the other is merely a preference that you have to decide for yourself.

If you want to learn more about diamonds, suggest you try www.pricescope.com. An excellent resource on diamonds.

Hope it helps. A step to better knowledge on diamonds is a step to better consumer knowledge and negotiation.

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I've juz bought the engagement ring frm DeGem, specs are: 0.40ct E VS2, RM3.8K with white gold setting.

I looked into the stone with dunno-what-scope, hearts n arrows are clearly visible. Think its a good buy =)

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I finally had a look at the 3 most talked about branded diamonds, Lazare (authorised retailer - De Gem), Hearts on Fire - HOF (authorised retailer - Habib), Brilliant Rose - BR (Brilliant Rose, of course).

I wanted to compare these diamonds to GIA cert diamonds to understand whether there is a difference and should I pay more for these branded diamonds. Since these diamonds are marketed for their 'perfect' or 'ideal' cuts, I compared these diamonds with GIA cert diamonds that have 'triple excellent' cuts which is the highest grade GIA lab would grade for cuts.

After comparing Lazare, HOF and BR to GIA cert diamonds (triple excellent cuts specifications, nothing less), I noticed:

1. Lazare sparkles more than a GIA cert diamond for the similar specs ie (colour, carat, clarity);

2. HOF sparkles more than a GIA cert diamond in dim light for the similar specs; and

3. BR sparkles more than a GIA cert diamond at every turn for the similar specs.

Indeed the cut of these diamonds make a slight difference but as for which of these 3 cuts are better than the other is, I believe is merely a preference.

Lazare and HOF have 57 facets cut and BR has 66 facets cut. The difference between the 57 facets and 66 facets are:

1. 66 facets - light is reflected at more angles cos of the greater no. of facets to reflect the light;

2. 66 facets - the diamond twinkle rather than sparkle cos of the greater no. of cuts, the smaller the facets able to reflect the light;

3. 66 facets - when view through a proportion scope, you will see a 'flower' (at one view) pattern in the diamond;

4. 57 facets - when view through a proportion scope, you will see a 'hearts' (at one view) and 'arrows' (at another view) patterns in the diamond; and

5. 57 facets - reflects a sharper and wider blade of white light when it sparkles cos' of the lesser no. of cuts.

I must add that with a GIA certified diamond, one can get a bigger diamond for the same price of a branded cut diamond. Especially if one chooses to have triple excellent cut GIA cert diamond, it is half (or less) the price of a branded cut diamond!

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Just a gentle reminder to all you folks out there looking to purchase anything with diamonds.

Please make sure that you have proper certification that ensures that the diamond purchased is conflict-free or is not a blood diamond.

Blood diamonds and conflict diamonds are those mined in war zones and used to support wars. They are mined by rebels or governments in this war (who capture villagers to use as child soldiers or miners) and then smuggled to neighbouring countries where they are then "made" legal through forgery of papers before entering the legal diamond market. The money obtained through the sale of these diamonds goes to buy more weapons and ammunition which lengthens civil wars and mass murders/genocides.

Blood diamonds usually come from African nations such as Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast, Angola, Congo, Sierre Leone and so forth. It is said that there are still blood diamonds and conflict diamonds in the world market and rumour has it that the main diamond traders hold onto stocks of diamonds to keep the price high and to control the demand & supple equation. The movie "Blood Diamonds" is based on this. This certificate you should look out for is called The Kimberly Process certificate.

Point of interest - the Cambodian ruby mined during the Khmer Rouge regime was once known to be a conflict gem.

At the end of the day, as a consumer, please ask if your diamond is conflict-free. If it is a "legal" diamond, it can and should be traceable back to its origin and even the mine itself. If it isn't, shop elsewhere and do no buy the excuse that "no one else knows what a blood diamond is". IMHO, as a jeweller in the diamond business, they SHOULD know!

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AGS diamonds (e.g. Lazare and HOF) have stricter cut proportions

GIA diamonds (majority diamonds) are more focused on Color and Clarity

IGI diamonds (some HOF and Love Diamond) is somewhere in between AGS and GIA

Tiffany & Co have their own Tiffany certs... which i read is somewhere near to AGS cutting and stricter color and clarity ratings than GIA

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Just for sharing

In my opinion, each shops have different environment in terms of the lighting. So it is pretty hard to compare the which diamond is more sparkling, unless we compare the diamond side by side in the same environment.

Also, different company and different certs comes with different standard to determine the triple excellent cut(after comparing ideal cuts proportions between IGI, AGS, love diamond, Estrella).

So, I will suggest to check the cutting using this site, to determine the cut quality. The site will determine your cut grades based on GIA and AGS standard.

http://www.pricescope.com/cutadviser.asp

Here is the price I got during my diamond hunting last month. :)

All with IGI certs, triple Ex cutting.

Love diamond - 0.21c, F, VS1, RM3600, white gold ring

Love diamond - 0.30c, G, VVS1, RM4400, white gold ring

Gold Heart - 0.31c, F, VVS2, RM4600, white gold ring

Wah Chan - 0.31c, F, VS2, RM3300, white gold ring

D&P (Estrella) - 0.23c, E, VS1, RM3737, platinum ring

D&P (Estrella) - 0.321, E, VS2, RM4420, platinum ring

Actually got few mores, but I didn't keep the price because not worth to buy it, especially some shops overprice their diamond.

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See, in the states here, there's a diamond called atia 81 - which has 81 facets, but i still prefer the regular brlliant round cut. So this is just based on personal preference. I personally felt that the 81 facets were just really "fake" looking. Just my personal opinion. So when getting diamonds, based it on your own instinct and not because thinknig that it's a better cut because it has more facets - you are the one that will be wearing it the rest of your life and looking at it - so buy it based on your own liking. :)

Hi blurcheryl

I'm no diamond expert but from what I understand so far all the diamonds you mentioned are the same with a few exceptions.

1. Brand

2. Cut

The most common cut diamond is round (commonly known as 'round brilliant cut') and has 57 - 58 cuts. The cut is discovered by a guy called Marcel Tolkowsky in the early 1900s. Tolkowsky came up with the proportions theory on the "Ideal Cut" of diamonds and if applied correctly, will give you "Hearts and Arrows" diamonds. That is, you would essentially be able to observe 8 perfect hearts and 8 perfect arrows in a perfectly cut diamond.

Most the diamonds you mentioned are cut to follow Tolkowsky's proportions. Hence, you would see 8 hearts and arrows in the diamond (if they are round, of course). But whether the cut is perfect to bring about 8 perfect hearts and 8 perfect arrows is another issue.

Because you and I are not diamond cutters / experts, we would not be able to see or tell whether the diamonds we get are perfect in every sense. The jewellers would send them to the diamond graders (Gemologist) like GIA and AGS to get expert independent opinion on the diamond grades of the 4 Cs (Cut, Clarity, Colour, Carat) so that they could then inform the consumers about the diamond quality. That is why most jewellers like Poh Kong, Habib, Wah Chan, etc have graded diamonds.

Which is also why, some companies spend millions in branding/advertising costs to bring about awareness in customers or confidence in their diamonds because they claim to have the perfect/ideal/excellent cut. But essentially that means they claim to have 8 perfect hearts and 8 perfect arrows. Lazarre and Hearts on Fire are examples of companies that spend millions in research and advertising so that consumers would be confident that they are getting the best cut/colour/clarity in town (ie. "THE DIAMOND"). If I'm not mistaken, Estrella and Love diamonds are branded diamonds from De Beers and Love Diamond Company respectively. (Anyone, please correct me if I'm wrong.) Tiffany and Mont Blanc are established companies well renown for their products and purchase their diamonds from De Beer (that sells rough cut diamonds), although I also heard that now Tiffany has branched out to start their own cutting process.(Again, please correct me if I'm wrong.). These branded diamonds are priced at a premium cos' of research and advertising spent which is part of the economic position undertaken by these companies.

There are cuts that sway away from the normal 57 - 58 facets (or cuts). One of which is the 66 facets diamond discovered by japanese. A brand that carry such diamonds is Brilliant Rose. From what I hear, the reason why Brilliant Rose is more expansive, it is because it has more cuts and therefore cutting process and polishing etc takes longer.

To decide which cut is better than the other is merely a preference that you have to decide for yourself.

If you want to learn more about diamonds, suggest you try www.pricescope.com. An excellent resource on diamonds.

Hope it helps. A step to better knowledge on diamonds is a step to better consumer knowledge and negotiation.

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wow all the above price seems so high and i think mine have to keep away liao lo.. but then still wish to share my little diamond.... if u girls dont mind

i got mine from D&P Estrella diamond 0.32 carat D color VG cut VS1 on white gold for RM3,069.00... i'm not very good with the price but i like it so much... at least this is my first diamond ma...

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wow all the above price seems so high and i think mine have to keep away liao lo.. but then still wish to share my little diamond.... if u girls dont mind

i got mine from D&P Estrella diamond 0.32 carat D color VG cut VS1 on white gold for RM3,069.00... i'm not very good with the price but i like it so much... at least this is my first diamond ma...

From what I know, all Estrella diamond must come with triple excellent cut and set on platinum ring(maybe can set to white gold, which I didn't ask this).

Perhaps you can check with your sales agent to clarify this.

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See, in the states here, there's a diamond called atia 81 - which has 81 facets, but i still prefer the regular brlliant round cut. So this is just based on personal preference. I personally felt that the 81 facets were just really "fake" looking. Just my personal opinion. So when getting diamonds, based it on your own instinct and not because thinknig that it's a better cut because it has more facets - you are the one that will be wearing it the rest of your life and looking at it - so buy it based on your own liking. :)

For my experience , I managed to compare the 88 facets diamond(biro88 diamond, http://www.biro88.com/) and the GIA triple excellent cutting side by side in the same diamond shop. Indeed, the 88 facets diamond is more sparkling when view in what ever angle, perhaps due to it has more facets.

However, I didn't buy the biro88 diamond because it is more expensive and personally I like the heart and arrow cutting, which is more meaningful in love. :)

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Hey fellas...

i went to TH Group and i was told that there is a new rating for the performance of a diamond certified under DTC something...

the diamonds over there really sparkle and the they have a machine that rate the shine of a diamond.

any1 knows about this new rating and any1 recommend this jeweler?

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wow all the above price seems so high and i think mine have to keep away liao lo.. but then still wish to share my little diamond.... if u girls dont mind

i got mine from D&P Estrella diamond 0.32 carat D color VG cut VS1 on white gold for RM3,069.00... i'm not very good with the price but i like it so much... at least this is my first diamond ma...

From what I know, all Estrella diamond must come with triple excellent cut and set on platinum ring(maybe can set to white gold, which I didn't ask this).

Perhaps you can check with your sales agent to clarify this.

i dont know oh, got GIA cert come with it. whatever la, still my beloved ring...

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Um, so I know about the Carat... and so now I hear cut is based on preference...

But what is a good "color"??

and the clarity scale also... How to measure?

Help, thanks!

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Um, so I know about the Carat... and so now I hear cut is based on preference...

But what is a good "color"??

and the clarity scale also... How to measure?

Help, thanks!

'color' categorized from D-G is the best, then follow by G-J is middle, the rest is not good de. The better grade the better colorless.

'clarity' has F, IF, VVS1, VVS2, VS1, VS2, SI1, SI2, ....etc. It determined the clearness/purity of diamond. But It hardly can be seen from our eye (need to use microscope only can see clearly).

So if you wish to has big diamond but limited budget, look for 'carat' & 'color', 'clarity' can be ignored. =)

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i found my ideal diamond..

0.55 carat

G color

S12

very good cut

on a 4 crows 18k setting for RM3600..

from brilliant rose bangsar

where it is? can u give me the adress? i wan to buy 5 carat also......=)

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I got mine at Love & Co in Penang Gurney Plaza, its actually the same as Soo Kee JEwellery.

Carat : 0.38

Cut : Very Good & Excellent

Clarity : SI1

Colour : E

Price : RM2800 approx include band

Shop name : Love & Co (Gurney Plaza)

Remarks : the staffs there are very friendly and professional. Can look for Steven.

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