6 ms·

I mean, this has been true for the better part of a decade. The difference now is that jewelers caved and many offer a selection of lab diamonds. There's still

I mean, this has been true for the better part of a decade. The difference now is that jewelers caved and many offer a selection of lab diamonds. There's still a high markup on lab diamonds in most retailers though. Loose lab diamonds are incredibly cheap, only $600 per carat!

renewiltord 2y ago
Where does one get these wholesale prices? And I assume that cutting happens at some cost over this?
- pton_xd 2y ago
  Wholesale I'm not sure. Retail you can use sites like stonealgo.com to search inventory. And no that's the final cut and graded price.
  - stoolio 2y ago
    The trade uses a variety of sites for "wholesale" prices. Rapnet is the standard, and they publish the Rapaport Price List. However, it only covers natural diamonds, and rapnet only lists natural. Diamonds generally go for a % discount off the Rap Price List. Polygon (.net) is the other major listing platform. They include lab diamonds, and most everyone uses them. There are other platforms, but those are the two majors IMHO. You need to be a member of the trade to sign up AFAIK. However, I have seen one retail site, Ritani, actually post "wholesale" prices and they seemed to be pretty accurate. They seem to have good prices too. They list their wholesale/markup/etc. Of course, you should buy from a nice local jewelry store, but if you want to buy lab online they are at least great for checking prices.
    - renewiltord 2y ago
      This is great. Thank you! Ritani is the one I was looking for.
- hadlock 2y ago
  LMGTFY gemsny.com friendlydiamonds.com lightboxjewelry.com I found a wide variety of 2-3ct diamonds for $1200-1400 there (round, brillant cut, the "classic" type), which is what a 0.75-1.0ct used to cost
  - A_D_E_P_T 2y ago
    Go direct to the source and you can get 2ct colorless diamonds at less than $600 shipped. e.g., https://detail.1688.com/offer/751071300271.html https://detail.1688.com/offer/751071300271.html There are literally hundreds of suppliers like that in China/India. Do not pay more than $1000 for a diamond of any size.
    - hammock 2y ago
      Link is not working, can you tell me what to search?
      - Tepix 2y ago
        Works for me.
        folmar 2y ago
        I get infinite captcha hell.
      - A_D_E_P_T 2y ago
        Go to 1688.com and search "实验室钻石" -- "lab diamond" You may need to have an account. But there's a ton of interesting and esoteric stuff on 1688.com, so, if you can figure it out, it's worth it.
    - mhuffman 2y ago
      This looks too good to be true. I am interested in this (because of all the terrible stuff related to diamond mines), but how do you protect yourself from scams on this site? $500-$1,000 is a lot to "test the waters" and see if they are real or even if they will arrive. What is the chance the just swap it out with Moissanite or who knows what?
hadlock 2y ago
I was surprised by this, but the top three results for lab grown diamonds, all of them had good cut, color clarity 3+ carat (loose) diamonds for ~$1200-1400. That's very impressive given that's what a mid grade 0.75-1.0ct mined diamond cost 5-6 years ago

renewiltord 2y ago

Where does one get these wholesale prices? And I assume that cutting happens at some cost over this?

pton_xd 2y ago
Wholesale I'm not sure. Retail you can use sites like stonealgo.com to search inventory. And no that's the final cut and graded price.
- stoolio 2y ago
  The trade uses a variety of sites for "wholesale" prices. Rapnet is the standard, and they publish the Rapaport Price List. However, it only covers natural diamonds, and rapnet only lists natural. Diamonds generally go for a % discount off the Rap Price List. Polygon (.net) is the other major listing platform. They include lab diamonds, and most everyone uses them. There are other platforms, but those are the two majors IMHO. You need to be a member of the trade to sign up AFAIK. However, I have seen one retail site, Ritani, actually post "wholesale" prices and they seemed to be pretty accurate. They seem to have good prices too. They list their wholesale/markup/etc. Of course, you should buy from a nice local jewelry store, but if you want to buy lab online they are at least great for checking prices.
  - renewiltord 2y ago
    This is great. Thank you! Ritani is the one I was looking for.
hadlock 2y ago
LMGTFY gemsny.com friendlydiamonds.com lightboxjewelry.com I found a wide variety of 2-3ct diamonds for $1200-1400 there (round, brillant cut, the "classic" type), which is what a 0.75-1.0ct used to cost
- A_D_E_P_T 2y ago
  Go direct to the source and you can get 2ct colorless diamonds at less than $600 shipped. e.g., https://detail.1688.com/offer/751071300271.html https://detail.1688.com/offer/751071300271.html There are literally hundreds of suppliers like that in China/India. Do not pay more than $1000 for a diamond of any size.
  - hammock 2y ago
    Link is not working, can you tell me what to search?
    - Tepix 2y ago
      Works for me.
      - folmar 2y ago
        I get infinite captcha hell.
    - A_D_E_P_T 2y ago
      Go to 1688.com and search "实验室钻石" -- "lab diamond" You may need to have an account. But there's a ton of interesting and esoteric stuff on 1688.com, so, if you can figure it out, it's worth it.
  - mhuffman 2y ago
    This looks too good to be true. I am interested in this (because of all the terrible stuff related to diamond mines), but how do you protect yourself from scams on this site? $500-$1,000 is a lot to "test the waters" and see if they are real or even if they will arrive. What is the chance the just swap it out with Moissanite or who knows what?

hadlock 2y ago

I was surprised by this, but the top three results for lab grown diamonds, all of them had good cut, color clarity 3+ carat (loose) diamonds for ~$1200-1400. That's very impressive given that's what a mid grade 0.75-1.0ct mined diamond cost 5-6 years ago