Oh btw, when u guys went down to Jann Paul, did you tell them ur budget? My budget for the ring is rather low so will they still entertain me?
Check out White Dwarf as well, went there recently to have a look at their diamonds and they are of similar quality to JP's, price is about 15-20% less in comparison considering the price after setting. Only thing is that they don't have a retail outlet, so it's by appointment only if on weekdays, generally after office hours.
Same deal with JP, you get the whole range of scopes to examine the diamonds with. Can take photos using your phone through the scopes but won't have the glitzy scope images that JP provides.
The major downsides are:
1. WD doesn't accept credit card payment because of the smaller scale, so you lose out on credit card cashback, points or miles.
2. Because of their small scale operations, they do not accept their stones for trade in/upgrade. I think JP will take in their stones at 100% for upgrade, so if your SO is someone that is likely to want to upgrade their engagement ring diamond, that's a big factor to take into account.
In terms of price comparison, which I guess everyone is most interested in, I was looking at a 1.10 G VS2 at JP and 1.10 G VS1 at WD.
Prices:
1.10 G VS2 (JP) - 14300
1.10 G VS1 (WD) - 12600
18K white gold setting is around same price as JP for simple settings. For platinum, WD is about 200-300 cheaper compared to JP.
FYI for those looking for the cheapest available quality 1 carat diamond - I was quoted the following at JP and WD:
Super Ideal 1.02 G VS2 (JP) - 13200
WD 1.01 G VS2 (WD) - 10900
I didn't look at the JP stone because it was reserved by the time I asked to look at it, but did look at the WD stone. The WD stone had arrows that were a tiny bit asymmetrical, but ASET scope performance was equally good as the other JP stones that I've looked at.
Just thought I would provide a review of an alternative. For full disclosure, no affiliation to White Dwarf or JP, just have visited both and had great service at both.
