Buying diamond studs from US for UK

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bunzilla

bunzilla

O.G.
May 10, 2012
42
0
#1
Hey everyone,

I've been looking into buying a pair of good quality diamond studs for a while. But it seems that choices are a bit limited in the uk, and also it seems quite expensive here.

I was wondering if anyone had any experience in buying from the Internet from a US store and shipping it to UK? And if anyone could recommend any of those site?

I already tried looking in bluenile.co.uk I think their prices are ok but I am after a 6 prongs or 8 prongs settings in platinum qhich they dnt have and also wanted to get the lock back setting. As my ears are sensitive and I read that screwback sometimes are not very comfortable.

Oh and another questions regarding to the diamonds, how low quality would you guys recommend? I'm looking for around 0.7-0.75cttw pair. I originally thought H VS2... But I do want to keep the budget low as possible. So was considering J Si1. Would that be too low?

Thanks in advance! :)
 
#2
The main thing you have to look out for with ordering from the USA is the crippling taxes that will be charged when the parcel enters the UK.

I have used and can recommend this site, 77 Diamonds Their diamond prices are on a par with Bluenile UK. The Lucetta studs are available in Platinum and have 6 prongs. Looking at the picture, they seem to have locking backs but i would check with them if interested. UK based so VAT included.

HTH
 
#3
Thanks for the quick reply! I just had a quick look on their website. I think they are ok but I'll have to enquire about if they could change from friction back to lock back setting. Also I'm a bit worry about choosing the stones from their site.

And yes I will have to pay duty and vat from importing and I think duty for jewellery is 2.5% of the value and 20% for vat. I think the price still work out pretty similar to bluenile and I don't mind paying slightly more to get exactly what I want.
 
#4
You could check out James Allen or Brian Gavin Diamonds, which might have the type of settings you're interested in. But the taxing for imports I dont know about. I know nothing about that site mentioned above. You just want to pay attention to the cut quality and the reports on the stones. Get quality stones for the money you're paying. J color isn't a problem, but for an SI1, pay attention to the plot, so you find something eye clean.
 
#5
ame said:
You could check out James Allen or Brian Gavin Diamonds, which might have the type of settings you're interested in. But the taxing for imports I dont know about. I know nothing about that site mentioned above. You just want to pay attention to the cut quality and the reports on the stones. Get quality stones for the money you're paying. J color isn't a problem, but for an SI1, pay attention to the plot, so you find something eye clean.
Click to expand...
Hi Ame,

Thanks for the suggestion. And yer I quite like the eight prong setting from Brian Gavin. I have just contacted them to ask about shipping. But I guess it is still quite early in America. And the Brian Gavin Signature stone looks very nice! Would you recommend them?
I am a bit worry about going for J SI1. As my e-ring is an H VVS1, and when I look on the side of the diamond, sometime I notice the slight bit of colouring, but I don't particularly mind as from top it is very white and u can't tell at all. And going down to a J it just seems like a lot. And I guess I'm not really expert in diamonds at all. So would it be alright if I could send u something to have a look at when I find them!? If not I guess I would be better to look at something in VS2!?

To be honest, I don't mind putting a bit more money in these, as they will be my everyday earring but I just wanted to keep it bit low incase I loose them...
 
#7
bunzilla said:
Hi Ame,

Thanks for the suggestion. And yer I quite like the eight prong setting from Brian Gavin. I have just contacted them to ask about shipping. But I guess it is still quite early in America. And the Brian Gavin Signature stone looks very nice! Would you recommend them?
I am a bit worry about going for J SI1. As my e-ring is an H VVS1, and when I look on the side of the diamond, sometime I notice the slight bit of colouring, but I don't particularly mind as from top it is very white and u can't tell at all. And going down to a J it just seems like a lot. And I guess I'm not really expert in diamonds at all. So would it be alright if I could send u something to have a look at when I find them!? If not I guess I would be better to look at something in VS2!?

To be honest, I don't mind putting a bit more money in these, as they will be my everyday earring but I just wanted to keep it bit low incase I loose them...
Click to expand...
Well insure them either way so you can replace them less expensively.

You can definitely send me something to look at if you want input, it may be easier to post it in here though so others can weigh in as well.

BGD does a great job with their stones, I have seen some of their work in person and it's been quite nice. They are in my time zone and right now its 11:10am, so they were probably just getting in and working on email. Calling is faster than email to contact them, I will admit. Their signature stones are cut to his specific criteria. If you're concerned about color, you can ask them about the BLUE line, they're stones with fluorescence, which can help cut some of the warmth that is visible in the stone. My ering stone is an H with med-strong blue fluor. It also helps on the cost as they tend to be less expensive than stones without it. It's a natural feature in the stone, and does NOT negatively affect most stones, his blues are stones that are vetted before they are sold, and will not have any negative impact from the fluorescence.

Here are a few of their "prematched" sets to start from just for an idea:

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/d...d_details/CAGS-104063276050/CAGS-104063276122

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/d...d_details/CAGS-104062895052/CAGS-104062034086

*http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/d...d_details/CAGS-104062894086/CAGS-104062036019

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/d...d_details/CAGS-104062036019/CAGS-104062034086

*http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/d...d_details/CAGS-104063537037/CAGS-104063276050

I starred a couple that I think are the best two to consider. There's a lot of smaller table ones. Those are just out of the matched pairs. You could ask them about smaller Blues as well, that are smaller stones with fluor.
 
#8
ame said:
Well insure them either way so you can replace them less expensively.

You can definitely send me something to look at if you want input, it may be easier to post it in here though so others can weigh in as well.

BGD does a great job with their stones, I have seen some of their work in person and it's been quite nice. They are in my time zone and right now its 11:10am, so they were probably just getting in and working on email. Calling is faster than email to contact them, I will admit. Their signature stones are cut to his specific criteria. If you're concerned about color, you can ask them about the BLUE line, they're stones with fluorescence, which can help cut some of the warmth that is visible in the stone. My ering stone is an H with med-strong blue fluor. It also helps on the cost as they tend to be less expensive than stones without it. It's a natural feature in the stone, and does NOT negatively affect most stones, his blues are stones that are vetted before they are sold, and will not have any negative impact from the fluorescence.

Here are a few of their "prematched" sets to start from just for an idea:

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/d...d_details/CAGS-104063276050/CAGS-104063276122

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/d...d_details/CAGS-104062895052/CAGS-104062034086

*http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/d...d_details/CAGS-104062894086/CAGS-104062036019

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/d...d_details/CAGS-104062036019/CAGS-104062034086

*http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/d...d_details/CAGS-104063537037/CAGS-104063276050

I starred a couple that I think are the best two to consider. There's a lot of smaller table ones. Those are just out of the matched pairs. You could ask them about smaller Blues as well, that are smaller stones with fluor.
Click to expand...
Thank you very much for having a quick look for me. And yer their sale assistance has got back to me about shipping and insurance fees. And he quoted me it will be around $80. I think at the moment, I will need to just calculate all the cost. I see whiteflash and james allen provide free shipping to UK too. Do you or anyone else have any experience with them?

And yes maybe I should look into the fluorescence too. I think the fluorescence is quite cool! Oh and one other thing, I have asked about getting the la pousette backing and he has told me that he thinks the normal friction back are just as secure... so now I'm not entirely sure if I should just go with the standard friction back to save the money!?!?
 
#9
I don't patronize WF, and will never recommend them. Their diamonds are fine, great even. But their workmanship was atrocious and their customer service esp after the sale was the worst I've ever dealt with.

James Allen doesn't have an 8 prong setting on the site, but they do have a 6 prong setting, so if that's something you're ok with, that's worth considering. Those are more of a standard offering across the board so they'd be cheaper than most 8 prongs.

Here are a few of theirs.
http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-...r-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-pair-152407,41139

http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-...-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-pair-199873,198754

http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-...-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-pair-176881,183889

http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-...-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-pair-184794,152407
 
#10
bunzilla said:
Thank you very much for having a quick look for me. And yer their sale assistance has got back to me about shipping and insurance fees. And he quoted me it will be around $80. I think at the moment, I will need to just calculate all the cost. I see whiteflash and james allen provide free shipping to UK too.
Click to expand...

In my experience (as an American living in the UK), shipping costs are generally the least of your worries. On items like jewellery, you're going to have to pay both VAT (at least 20%) and customs duty tax (at least 2.5% with code 71162019 for precious gems/metals). This is in addition to the cost of the items, and the cost of the shipping and insurance. You're looking at at least a 25% mark-up for shipping from America. I'd advise to do what you could to buy from elsewhere in the EU if at all possible...
 
#11
AndieAbroad said:
In my experience (as an American living in the UK), shipping costs are generally the least of your worries. On items like jewellery, you're going to have to pay both VAT (at least 20%) and customs duty tax (at least 2.5% with code 71162019 for precious gems/metals). This is in addition to the cost of the items, and the cost of the shipping and insurance. You're looking at at least a 25% mark-up for shipping from America. I'd advise to do what you could to buy from elsewhere in the EU if at all possible...
Click to expand...

Thanks for the definitive estimates, Andie! I've been very very tempted by the US prices but knew the charges would bring up the costs quite high.

Since UK gold and diamond prices are so dear, do you have any EU recommendations? Though £££ is doing badly against the € (and pretty much every global currency atm :tdown:)
 
#13
AndieAbroad said:
In my experience (as an American living in the UK), shipping costs are generally the least of your worries. On items like jewellery, you're going to have to pay both VAT (at least 20%) and customs duty tax (at least 2.5% with code 71162019 for precious gems/metals). This is in addition to the cost of the items, and the cost of the shipping and insurance. You're looking at at least a 25% mark-up for shipping from America. I'd advise to do what you could to buy from elsewhere in the EU if at all possible...
Click to expand...
Yer I very much understand that, but I guess I can never compare it directly as no diamonds are the same and they are all slightly different price. And as far as I read today in detail about the duty and custom cost, so if my information is correct, US still work out to be pretty similar.

here is my comparsion,
Bluenile.co.uk, Signature Idea-cut, H, VS2/VS1 0.68cttw with Platinum four-claw setting: £1214 before VAT, with VAT £1456.80

BrianGavin: BGSignature H&A, H, VS2, 0.65cttw with Platinum 8prongs Setting.
Total Wire Price: $1597 convert this to GBP exchange rate this month is about 1.5133.
So that would be £1055.31 + Duty 2.5% (£26.3827) + VAT 20% (£211.0619) + Shipping which he quoted me $80 (around £52.86) then Grand Total= £1345.62

Please correct me if I am wrong... !?
 
#14

I recently purchased a pair of diamond studs myself and I've become quiteinterested diamonds. There's a lot of mention of fluorescence diamonds andtheir decreased cost. From my understanding of what was said, it seems itdecreased the warmth’s in lower colors. How would this effect the look of a Jcolored or lower diamond. Would a faint, medium, or strong fluorescence be preferred?

 
#15
bunzilla said:
Yer I very much understand that, but I guess I can never compare it directly as no diamonds are the same and they are all slightly different price. And as far as I read today in detail about the duty and custom cost, so if my information is correct, US still work out to be pretty similar.

here is my comparsion,
Bluenile.co.uk, Signature Idea-cut, H, VS2/VS1 0.68cttw with Platinum four-claw setting: £1214 before VAT, with VAT £1456.80

BrianGavin: BGSignature H&A, H, VS2, 0.65cttw with Platinum 8prongs Setting.
Total Wire Price: $1597 convert this to GBP exchange rate this month is about 1.5133.
So that would be £1055.31 + Duty 2.5% (£26.3827) + VAT 20% (£211.0619) + Shipping which he quoted me $80 (around £52.86) then Grand Total= £1345.62

Please correct me if I am wrong... !?
Click to expand...

That could be about right, but I'm no expert in import law. I'm just speaking from my personal experience (for instance, this year my grandmother sent me a pair of designer gloves for Christmas and somehow I got charged more than the value of the gloves in customs duty/VAT!).

To save £100, I would still not choose the American option. You may have a greater selection by shopping American stores, but you're almost completely chopping yourself out of the return market. With BlueNileUK, if you get the earrings and aren't happy, you can send them back for different stones. You can also take advantage of their upgrade program in-country. By contrast, if anything goes wrong with the BG-US ones, you will be stuck paying shipping/insurance there and back all over again, risking duty/VAT twice.

For me, I'd still try and shop European. Just my opinion, though!
 
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