Are there any reputable wholesale sites? I am in Austin.

I am asking here because I know this board gets value.... Thanks

No. What's your email and I can give you a lady in Houston that can get you below wholesale.

https://www.idonowidont.com/

What ever you don't ever look at it as an investment.

What price range and size are you wanting? Color clarity cut etc are all super important. If you can find the right person, you can get a much better diamond.

I just pulled this card from my stash:
Daniel Mushin
DM Wholesale Diamond Corp
Houston Tel Aviv
713-622-6666

He is great, but if you go through the lady I posted about earlier, Mushin will cut you a better price.

He is also like 6'4 and jacked. Ex IDF. Not a guy Id ever f with.

Diamond Doctor in Dallas is pretty good.

Get her a nice band but don't get suckered on the rock: www.diamondssuck.com

As much as I don't like Dave Ramsey, I wish he would rant against diamonds as much as he does all other "depreciating assets"

bluenile.com

I 2nd Blue Nile. We shopped around for a while and they had the best prices. We paid about half what we would have at a jewler.

Blue Nile

Depending on how much background research you want to do, I would recommend whiteflash.com over Blue Nile. Blue Nile will have a larger inventory but overall the price points will be pretty comparable and much below what most brick and mortar stores would charge you. White Flash has the added benefit of uploaded idealscope images, Hearts & Arrows images, ASET scope images and an eye clean guarantee for some diamonds.

Just my $0.02. I recently purchased a loose diamond for an engagement ring and really liked what they had to offer versus some of the other online retailers (Blue Nile and James Allen specifically)

Find a jewelry trader. I got a loose diamond for a huge discount from a jeweler that buys and sells jewelry, both new and used. This was in Boca Raton FL, a really wealthy area. It was diamond they bought from someone else. I shopped a few different jewelers and this place was by far the best prices.

Drive to Houston and visit Jonathan's Fine Jewelers (make appointment). They are in the wholesale building not too far from the Galleria. Recently bought my fianc's engagement there and it was beyond easy. You will get much more bang for your buck. He will make any style setting you like also.

I worked with Jay Friedman FYI. He's a great dude.

Just once I want to hear someone say "man, I ****ed when I bought my ring" hell I'd settle for "it was a fair deal."

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Just once I want to hear someone say "man, I ****ed when I bought my ring" hell I'd settle for "it was a fair deal."

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Exactly. I challenge anyone who thinks they got a screaming deal to try and re-sell their purchase for 75% of what they paid. The classifieds board is littered with examples.

How about this? I have no earthly idea if I got a good deal, a fair deal or was taken to the woodshed on the one I bought my wife. Who really knows. I should have gone to see Doug the Head...

Again, please contact me. I can get you a GREAT deal. Blue Nile etc are a joke.

Daniel is the best. He did most large country music and TX stars rings. If it's $1000 in a store, it's $300 with him. He can get IF A 3.0+ or I J .1. He isn't going to bull**** you, and I brought back a diamond 12 YEARS later with a GIA certificate showing a slight inclusion that dropped an IF to an VVS and he not only provided an IF, but didn't ask for the VVS back. We gave it back to him, and he wrote us a check for the diamond plus 6% interest.

That's a man who knows business.

Duncan and wessimo are preaching the truth.

Your stories are the biggest crock of s***.

Don't see you providing a name.

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Again, please contact me. I can get you a GREAT deal. Blue Nile etc are a joke.

Daniel is the best. He did most large country music and TX stars rings. If it's $1000 in a store, it's $300 with him. He can get IF A 3.0+ or I J .1. He isn't going to bull**** you, and I brought back a diamond 12 YEARS later with a GIA certificate showing a slight inclusion that dropped an IF to an VVS and he not only provided an IF, but didn't ask for the VVS back. We gave it back to him, and he wrote us a check for the diamond plus 6% interest.

That's a man who knows business.

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What are you talking about? I gave my opinion on several well known online retailers above.

Ok let's take these one at a time.

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$1000 in a store, it's $300 with him

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So you know a guy who sells certified stones at 70% discount to wholesaler prices? Riiiight. I've got some oceanfront property in Idaho too.

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He can get IF A 3.0+ or I J .1.

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Currently Blue Nile shows 101 total round cut diamonds that are rated IF or FL, D-F color range (that's internally flawless or flawless, the two highest clarity grades, and stones considered colorless for people not familiar with the scale, A is actually not used in any diamond parlance I've ever seen, only in MaysAggie world) and ideal cut. So it's not like that's a big deal that he can get his hands on big rocks with good clarity. As for the I J .1 I have no idea what that means (unless you were referring to I and J colored stones which are significantly down the color scale and available at a discount anywhere) and really think you just did that thing where you try to talk over people's heads and hope they don't notice, but I digress.

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GIA certificate showing a slight inclusion that dropped an IF to an VVS

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No s*** GIA drops something for a slight inclusion. By definition he didn't sell you an IF stone if it had inclusions. IF means internally flawless.

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he not only provided an IF, but didn't ask for the VVS back. We gave it back to him, and he wrote us a check for the diamond plus 6% interest

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I don't even know where to start. VVS stone that's >3.0 ct wt is gonna be valued at $60k plus. I'm sure he was just dying to let you keep the stone.

This is some mfbarnes level crap.

tx-ags14, nice comeback. But you should give the kid a break. He is a newly gradiated all knowing Mays Business school BAMF! I am sure he could also get you a sweet timeshare deal thrown in.

Probably some season tickets too and teach me all about the finer points of shorting the f*** out of German bonds. Totally let him derail the thread but I get so sick of his know it all schtick on very friendly, welcoming boards and this was finally something I knew enough about to tell him he was full of it.

To OP, sorry for derailing your thread. I don't know anything about Austin area dealers but if you're interested in buying online or from Houston area shops, I know a couple of the guys in the area. Also can point you in the right direction if you're looking for some good online resources to educate yourself on diamond basics and tools to help you make a selection. Really a lot of cool info out there. PM me if I can help out at all (I just bought a loose diamond for my future fiance's ring and had the ring built by a Houston area guy).

Here is the diamond, the ring, and the wedding bands. Sorry to burst your bubble. ~60k is a good guess. The side are ~.75 each. So add that on top.

ROFL at you guys.

Not gonna feed the troll anymore. You are a weird dude.

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Not gonna feed the troll anymore. You are a weird bunch of dudes.

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FIFY. There are at least two people, possibly three, who use that account.

your grandmother seems like a nice lady.

If i were going to throw $60k away, I'd buy a Range Rover.

We have one.

MIL wanted to try it on.

So weird.

Staff why no ban for this troll? He troll posts on multiple boards and there seems to be multiple users on the same account

+1 on buy a loose diamond and get a custom band made. It will be more special and may save some money.

Main thing is, once you buy the diamond...never, ever look at diamond prices again wondering if you got a good deal.

Because you told me I didn't have a diamond that I did. Now instead of saying , "man I was wrong" , you want to hurl insults. Let me guess, the GIA paperwork won't suffice because you are right. ROFL.

Typical Texags.

The diamond is only as good as the setting. If the setting is crap, it won't highlight the center stone well and will result in a washed out look. I don't know if Chuck is on this board, but it go for clarity, color and cut before size.