Gary
spring,#2Consumer Comment
Fri, March 22, 2002
I am so sorry that your mother was the victim of outrageously high mark-ups that are all too common with regards to diamond (or any fine) jewelry in department stores. Even your mall variety Zales or Gordons jewelers have very high markups. Was the appraised value retail or wholesale?? Your best bet for buying precious stones, is too well arm yourself with information needed to make a smart buy. There are several very reputable diamond dealers on the internet. I recently bought diamond stud earrings (3/4 carat tw) for my wife this way. I compared similar quality at a "mall" retail jeweler and it cost 2X as much. When I compared to places like Sears, I didn't EVEN see anything that was comparable. If your mother was happy with the diamond, and there were no visible occlusions or obvious coloring, so what? It made her happy.