Compilation of shops
Hi all.. I started looking around a diamond ring recently and just want to share my experience.. It's actually going to be part of my blog to share but thought I'd just contribute some of my experience and raise some awareness.
So far I've been checking the main brands around the island..
Lee Hwa (Bishan)
The sales person wasn't knowledgeable and couldn't answer my questions.
He knew how to explain briefly about the carat, color and clarity and that was it. Did not know what is "Fluorescence" on the certificate..
He kept refering to the brochure to sell the diamond.. If I wanted to know more, I might as well read the brochure myself.
I saw the normal 57 facets diamond in Lee Hwa and it doesn't look good. It doesn't stand out.
The Destinee (their signature 57 facets) and Destinee Royale (81 facets) diamond looks good. Can see the difference in the diamond against their normal ones.
But the prices will give you a heart attack.
Was qouted Destinee Royale 0.68 G VS1 for $13k
They provide the Hearts and Arrows scope to see. However, you can only see the arrows since the diamond is already set on the ring.
Soo Kee (Harbour Front)
Their main selling point is their Brilliant Rose. The salesperon was pushing Brilliant Rose diamond alot. She explained that it has a rose cutting which is very unique.
One interesting thing they did was to put a 57 facet diamond next to the Brilliant rose (66 facets) to compare. I could see a big difference in the diamond. The Brilliant rose wins the the 57 facets.
Buttt... when I asked more about the normal diamond that was used to compare with the Brilliant Rose.. she started to fumble...
1) The 57 facet was only a Very Good cut, compared to the Excellent cut of the Brilliant Rose
2) I asked if I could see the 57 facets with the hearts and arrows scope which they obliged. Just as I suspected, the hearts and arrows of the diamond was very bad.
I find that this wasn't a fair comparison. A lousy 57 facets was used to compare with their diamond, which would naturally lose out.
In terms of pricing, the Brilliant Rose is priced very high.
Was qouted Brilliant Rose 0.54 F VVS1 for $7.8k
I went back to do more research and discovered that the Brilliant Rose has another name!! It's was previously known as the Leo Diamond. Apparently its the same cut, but Soo Kee calls it the Brilliant Rose and in the USA, its called the Leo Diamond.
Plus the Leo diamond is actually cheaper. So what you're paying for the Brilliant Rose is more for the branding... although I don't think Soo Kee is a "good brand" in the first place.
Service-wise, was slightly better than most of the other retailers.. more friendly.
Citigem (Marina Bay)
Out of all the shops I've been to, Citigem salesperson was the least knowledgeable...
I couldn't really make out what he was saying... All I remember was him telling me that "the most important is color, not cut, color or clarity". He further explained, "this is because the first thing you see in the diamond is the color and not the cut.... "
But doesn't brilliance and fire of the diamond to do with Cut?!
The diamonds from Citigem were very average.. They carry GIA certificates and have diamonds of their own certificate.
They were pushing for the diamonds that were not GIA certified. It was very cheap... A 0.8ct was about $4k?? But you can immediately tell that there is a lack of sparkle and its a very yellow diamond.
So I didn't bother spending much time there..
Taka Jewelry
Spent less than 5 minutes in the store.
Sales person almost and zero knowledge about diamonds and they don't carry any scopes.
Anyway, I think Taka is more known to have the cheapest and lowest quality diamonds. Just went there to have a quick look to confirm this..
Hi guys!! This is Part 2- Continuation of my retail shopping experience.
Mondial (Paragon)
Sales person was very knowledgeable and seemed to know what he was talking about.
Their diamonds are GIA certified (I tend to avoid shops that sells other certificates like IGI). So this was a plus point for me.
They emphasize alot about the proportions of the diamond and follow a "49 parameters" rule.
They have a Mondial Cut which is their Signature range (57 facets) and limit to D-G Color and Flawless-VS1 Clarity. They don't carry diamonds with fluorescence, which is also another plus point for me.
If I do get from them, I would only consider their Mondial Cut. Was quoted 0.63 F VVS2 for about $7k.
They seem to be better priced compared to the other retailers.. but need to read more about their "49 parameters" rule..
Charlotte (Wisma)
Famous for the Tolkowsky diamond cut, their Signature diamond (also 57 facets).
He is famous diamond cutter to come up with the Ideal proportions of a diamond in the 1900s.
They've also got another diamond called the Gabrielle cut (105 facets). Almost double the facets of a normal round!
They did a diamond comparison for me with the Gabrielle and a 57 facet diamond. The Gabrielle looked much better.. However, the 57 facet diamond they used for comparison was not their Tolkowsky cut, but a lower quality one. (I realized alot of shops do this with their special cuts.. using a lousy 57 facets against their higher faceted diamond).
One thing I discovered though is none of their diamonds are GIA certified. They use their own certificate called the Tolkowsky or Gabrielle cert.. essentially, they certify their own diamonds. The lady explained to me that diamonds with these certificates would appreciate in value over the years because their certificates are more special and limited.. Personally, I'm not too sure about that.
Was quoted Tolkowsky 0.58 G VS2 for $10.5k
Gabrielle cut 0.55 G VS1 for $9.5k
I guess you're paying more for the story of the diamond..
Gold Heart (Wisma)
They seem to carry quite a number of different brand cuts that can be quite confusing..
They have the normal 57 facet diamond and also another range called the Arctica Ice (also 57 facets). From the name itself, their diamonds are from the arctic region which makes it more special? They don't have a tight quality control of it as they carry Very Good Cuts and above.. I'm not sure is it my eyes, but I find that the diamonds from the Arctica Ice range looking very dark... Not as in it looks more yellow but like a darker shade of grey.
They have a modified Round too called the Celestial cut (73 facets).
A Celestial 0.58 F SI1 will set you back $6.8k. Most of their diamonds are SI quality and they didn't have any VVS-VS for me to look at when I was there.
Hi all.. I started looking around a diamond ring recently and just want to share my experience.. It's actually going to be part of my blog to share but thought I'd just contribute some of my experience and raise some awareness.
So far I've been checking the main brands around the island..
Lee Hwa (Bishan)
The sales person wasn't knowledgeable and couldn't answer my questions.
He knew how to explain briefly about the carat, color and clarity and that was it. Did not know what is "Fluorescence" on the certificate..
He kept refering to the brochure to sell the diamond.. If I wanted to know more, I might as well read the brochure myself.
I saw the normal 57 facets diamond in Lee Hwa and it doesn't look good. It doesn't stand out.
The Destinee (their signature 57 facets) and Destinee Royale (81 facets) diamond looks good. Can see the difference in the diamond against their normal ones.
But the prices will give you a heart attack.
Was qouted Destinee Royale 0.68 G VS1 for $13k
They provide the Hearts and Arrows scope to see. However, you can only see the arrows since the diamond is already set on the ring.
Soo Kee (Harbour Front)
Their main selling point is their Brilliant Rose. The salesperon was pushing Brilliant Rose diamond alot. She explained that it has a rose cutting which is very unique.
One interesting thing they did was to put a 57 facet diamond next to the Brilliant rose (66 facets) to compare. I could see a big difference in the diamond. The Brilliant rose wins the the 57 facets.
Buttt... when I asked more about the normal diamond that was used to compare with the Brilliant Rose.. she started to fumble...
1) The 57 facet was only a Very Good cut, compared to the Excellent cut of the Brilliant Rose
2) I asked if I could see the 57 facets with the hearts and arrows scope which they obliged. Just as I suspected, the hearts and arrows of the diamond was very bad.
I find that this wasn't a fair comparison. A lousy 57 facets was used to compare with their diamond, which would naturally lose out.
In terms of pricing, the Brilliant Rose is priced very high.
Was qouted Brilliant Rose 0.54 F VVS1 for $7.8k
I went back to do more research and discovered that the Brilliant Rose has another name!! It's was previously known as the Leo Diamond. Apparently its the same cut, but Soo Kee calls it the Brilliant Rose and in the USA, its called the Leo Diamond.
Plus the Leo diamond is actually cheaper. So what you're paying for the Brilliant Rose is more for the branding... although I don't think Soo Kee is a "good brand" in the first place.
Service-wise, was slightly better than most of the other retailers.. more friendly.
Citigem (Marina Bay)
Out of all the shops I've been to, Citigem salesperson was the least knowledgeable...
I couldn't really make out what he was saying... All I remember was him telling me that "the most important is color, not cut, color or clarity". He further explained, "this is because the first thing you see in the diamond is the color and not the cut.... "
But doesn't brilliance and fire of the diamond to do with Cut?!
The diamonds from Citigem were very average.. They carry GIA certificates and have diamonds of their own certificate.
They were pushing for the diamonds that were not GIA certified. It was very cheap... A 0.8ct was about $4k?? But you can immediately tell that there is a lack of sparkle and its a very yellow diamond.
So I didn't bother spending much time there..
Taka Jewelry
Spent less than 5 minutes in the store.
Sales person almost and zero knowledge about diamonds and they don't carry any scopes.
Anyway, I think Taka is more known to have the cheapest and lowest quality diamonds. Just went there to have a quick look to confirm this..
Hi guys!! This is Part 2- Continuation of my retail shopping experience.
Mondial (Paragon)
Sales person was very knowledgeable and seemed to know what he was talking about.
Their diamonds are GIA certified (I tend to avoid shops that sells other certificates like IGI). So this was a plus point for me.
They emphasize alot about the proportions of the diamond and follow a "49 parameters" rule.
They have a Mondial Cut which is their Signature range (57 facets) and limit to D-G Color and Flawless-VS1 Clarity. They don't carry diamonds with fluorescence, which is also another plus point for me.
If I do get from them, I would only consider their Mondial Cut. Was quoted 0.63 F VVS2 for about $7k.
They seem to be better priced compared to the other retailers.. but need to read more about their "49 parameters" rule..
Charlotte (Wisma)
Famous for the Tolkowsky diamond cut, their Signature diamond (also 57 facets).
He is famous diamond cutter to come up with the Ideal proportions of a diamond in the 1900s.
They've also got another diamond called the Gabrielle cut (105 facets). Almost double the facets of a normal round!
They did a diamond comparison for me with the Gabrielle and a 57 facet diamond. The Gabrielle looked much better.. However, the 57 facet diamond they used for comparison was not their Tolkowsky cut, but a lower quality one. (I realized alot of shops do this with their special cuts.. using a lousy 57 facets against their higher faceted diamond).
One thing I discovered though is none of their diamonds are GIA certified. They use their own certificate called the Tolkowsky or Gabrielle cert.. essentially, they certify their own diamonds. The lady explained to me that diamonds with these certificates would appreciate in value over the years because their certificates are more special and limited.. Personally, I'm not too sure about that.
Was quoted Tolkowsky 0.58 G VS2 for $10.5k
Gabrielle cut 0.55 G VS1 for $9.5k
I guess you're paying more for the story of the diamond..
Gold Heart (Wisma)
They seem to carry quite a number of different brand cuts that can be quite confusing..
They have the normal 57 facet diamond and also another range called the Arctica Ice (also 57 facets). From the name itself, their diamonds are from the arctic region which makes it more special? They don't have a tight quality control of it as they carry Very Good Cuts and above.. I'm not sure is it my eyes, but I find that the diamonds from the Arctica Ice range looking very dark... Not as in it looks more yellow but like a darker shade of grey.
They have a modified Round too called the Celestial cut (73 facets).
A Celestial 0.58 F SI1 will set you back $6.8k. Most of their diamonds are SI quality and they didn't have any VVS-VS for me to look at when I was there.
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Anyway we walked into JP and was given a 2 hour lecture on diamonds by David, which we find informative and enlightening. For me Personally, i felt HCA formula makes sense (angle of cut = angular light reflection = grade of diamond). In addition, having the ability to see the sparkle of the rock, color distribution and cut from the scope put us at ease. Thus, We finally settled on a rock from JP 
