Menu
Login
I visited the diamonds international store in nassau, bahamas on august 2, 2010. I had been told about the crown of light diamond that was sold at this store. My husband and I traded my diamond wedding band toward the purchase of a new ring. The manager of the store valued my ring at $1600. The crown of light ring that I picked out was valued at $5400. I put the difference on my visa card to be paid when we returned from our cruise. The carnival cruise line shopper was there with us and approved of our purchase.
I returned to my hometown and had my ring appraised so that I could have it insured. The appraiser said the ring's value is $2800. He said that the weight of the ring and the color and clarity of the center stone are not what is printed in the store's appraisal.
When we took this trip we had no plans to purchase a new ring. We got caught up in the romance and excitement of our trip and made a really stupid purchase. We normally educate ourselves about almost everything we purchase and we weigh and measure the pros and cons before we purchase any big ticket items. I feel like the professionals at di know that tourists are caught up in the moment and they prey on us like vermin. I hope that I will be able to talk with them and resolve this issue. However, i've spent the evening reading all of these other complaints and i'm thinking that nothing will come of this. I just hope that someone who is headed to an island destination on a cruise line will read this post ahead of time and will be made aware of the retail dangers that await them in their ports of call. Buyer beware and steer clear of diamonds international!
Malabar Gold & Diamonds
93 reviews
JewelOcean
7 reviews
Vincent Watch
7 reviews
Kay Jewelers
367 reviews
Rado Watch
44 reviews
Ok I am going to put this in the best light I can. The Crown Of Light Diamond is a proprietary cut of D.I. The diamond is from the rough from the De Beers alluvial site in Namibia. The "cut" has been specially formulated to not show color like a conventional R.B. cut. The stone was most likely sold with a EGL cert. do a search on the various issues with EGL, you will not be pleased, for not all certs are the same. It is so very wrong as you said "We got caught up in the romance and excitement of our trip and made a really stupid purchase. We normally educate ourselves about almost everything we purchase and we weigh and measure the pros and cons before we purchase any big ticket items."
In all fairness to D.I. this could have happened at any one of the "super shopper recommended stores" that were not D.I. Also in all fairness to D.I. so you go on vacation buy a ring, and then go to your "appraiser which may well have been a trusted family jeweler at home to have it appraised, do you not think such action bent the jeweler's opinion more than a little bit? Take the ring to an independent appraiser that is not in the business of selling jewelry, you will get a more unbiased opinion, and yes you probably paid too much, we do live and learn don't we?.
Your and your company are such an [censored], first customers complain about what is fair your products are not worth it. And it is true you manipulate the situation to make as fall on your trap. from the smallest to the biggest of your "such professional staff" are trained to do this fiasco. But mark my words you will go "OUT OF BUSINESS" sooner or later. I have seen bigger companies going in bankruptcy and all the suck [censored] like you will be out in the street without a job. FYI worth of mouth is very powerful, you will notice when your sales going down. I am one of the customers involve is this stupid ordeal, my mission is continuing posting reviews about you and your fraud business. Believe me, is a couple of customers drop the sales my job is worth it.
This is my opinion and I hope someone have this too. We are so many people in this awful situation. We all has been playing buy this Co. can we all together do something about it. What about a big law suit from all the customer who has been a subject of fraud, abuse, negligent, personal stress, etc. This is a big thing we need to get a Lawyer firm who will take this big matter. Please we need to help each other and teach them a lesson. DI cannot get away with our money. We need to act.
I have been purchasing high end jewelry from DI for many years. My wedding/ engagement rings were customized in St. Thomas. It is stunning. I also have a pair of 5 carat diamond inside outside hoop earrings along with a few other major pieces. I wish I could post pictures. I also have a hometown jeweler that does all my repair and appraisal work. Please realize jewelry of any kind needs to be inspected on a regular basis. It also needs to be cleaned often. I clean my pieces every week which allows me to feel whether there is a loose stone or not. I have appraisals done every 5 years for insurance as I wear my jewelry. I research what I may be thinking of buying on a cruise weeks before I go. If I buy something, it is because I truly love it and don’t run to an appraiser as soon as I get home. The new piece of jewelry goes at the same time as all my other pieces. I wish I could post pictures. The pieces I purchased at DI over the years are magnificent and have only grown in value. Everything I have been reading here and on other sites sounds like buyers remorse or a case of not taking care of jewelry. I can’t wait to get to DI in 2 weeks! I know what I’m looking for!
Who goes to a complaint board to write compliments? Hmmm
I go on a lot of cruises. I will make it a point to go to every port talk and shopping excursion. When the shopping guide starts to tell people we get our diamonds at a greatly discounted price due to them cutting out the middle man and no sales taxes I will start passing around my appraisals and tell everyone how they ripped me off.
As the above complaint sets forth, Diamonds International is a fraud. We purchased two stones, a .61 karat diamond and an emerald. The diamond was priced at $6000+ but was happily reduced to $3000+. When we took the stones to our jeweler to have them put in their sets and appraised for insurance, the diamond was appraised at $2000+ and the emerald did not meet US color standards to even be called an emerald. The fine print on the sales receipt disallows the return of any stone, however you can return the purchase for a store credit, provided you use the credit to make a purchase of twice the dollar amount.
I recommend, if you purchase anything from Diamonds International, offer 15% of the marked price and pay no more than 20% of the marked price.
Hi James, We just purchased a 1.84 karat Crown of Light from DI and the single stone started out at $33, 000 and the setting I picked out started at $2699.00 for a total of $35, 699.00, they came down to $28, 000 and then we offered them 22, 000 and and they were willing to let us walk away. So we offered them $23, 000 and it was still a no go and we made our final offer of 23, 500 and they took it. We always cut the price by 30 to 35%. I took the ring to an independent appraiser when we got home and she appraised the ring for $31, 220. Which we were real nervous that we might of paid to much but luckily we didn't. The problem is the the small diamonds are falling out of the ring. I lost the first one the day after we bought it and now i have another one missing. We will NEVER do business with DI again as they DO NOT back their merchandise and after reading some of the posts of people sending their stuff back and them stating they never received the merchandise and posts stating it wasn't the same stone when they recieved it back. I chose to have a local jeweler fix my ring and replace the diamond but if you read the back of the receipt this VOIDS your warranty with them, which is fine with me because you can't trust this company. The shopping experts on the cruise ships make a commission on ALL sales so of course they are going to talk DI up. Hopefully by posting here and other websites this will save some people from falling victim to Diamonds International. Also look at complaints on /link removed/
iamond purchase from Diamonds International Store # 953 in Grand Cayman on May 25, 2017.
Carnival Cruise Line Ship Breeze (May21-28)
My husband bought me a new wedding ring set on the day of our 21st wedding anniversary while on our vacation in Grand Cayman. We experienced some problems with the purchase & have been trying to handle this directly with Diamonds International and Carnival Cruise Line. Carnival has forwarded our case to Onboard Media representative Nadine Winter, who is the Customer Relations Manager and deals directly with Diamonds International. She has put us in touch with Diamond International’s representative; Kerry Clare.
We communicated the problems about our purchase immediately after returning to the ship and reading through the paperwork. We did not read through any of the paperwork until we got back to the ship as we were about to miss the last boat taking us back. Carnival Cruise Line’s employee stayed behind & held the last boat going back to the ship to ensure that we did not miss the ships departure. When we got back to the ship, we noticed that the stone itself had more yellow in the color than the stone we had expressed interest in before the stone was set in the ring. We read through the contract and paperwork and found that the contract conflicted with everything we were promised when we purchased this ring. The sales person wrote up the contract and placed a written appraised value on the contract and had the stone set in the ring while we went to purchase a couple souvenirs from a nearby store as we were running out of time. Ms. Buxani, store manager & the sales woman said that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to invest in a stone that is priced well under its appraised value of $110, 000 in the U.S.A. She promised to put this value in writing but only wrote a value of $69, 000.
Due to the conflicts in what we were promised verses what was in writing on the appraisals, receipt contract, and the stone being slightly yellow, we felt very uneasy about the entire purchase and decided that we wanted to cancel the transaction. The next day, we tried to cancel our contract and return the purchase within 24 hours at D.I.’s Cozumel store. The manager of the Cozumel store, refused the return of the ring and stated that we must deal with the return directly with D.I. Corporate offices in New York upon returning home.
Carnival Cruise Lines shopping expert, Kelvin met us at the Cozumel store and is a witness to the problem and knows that we intended to return the ring that day. The only thing that we accomplished was that we did get the Cozumel store manager to contact Ms. Buxani and have her email the letter with the promised written guarantee of value. However, Ms. Buxani did not put the promised $110, 000 value that she and her sales person verbally guaranteed to us in the store. She did write a guarantee of value in the amount of $80, 000. The very reason we asked for the letter to be faxed or emailed to the Cozumel store before we left Cozumel was to clarify in writing the things we were promised at the time of purchase in the Grand Cayman store. We were promised this would be included in writing in the paperwork handed to us with receipts and appraisals, but was not. There was nothing written up until we insisted on getting something in writing before leaving Cozumel.
After corresponding with Kerry Clare about what happened and that we would like to acquire return instructions, we were emailed a response implying that we are lying. We feel that this is not only extremely unprofessional, but feel that D.I. has shown unethical business practices. D.I. has refused to take the ring set back unless we take the ring to “their” specially trained appraisers who work directly with them and has been trained by D.I. on how to evaluate, grade and place a value on their Crown of Light stones in the U.S. They stated that the only allowance they would honor for us to cancel our contract was if the value does not come in at a minimum of $80, 000 by their trained appraiser since we were able to get the letter we insisted on before leaving Cozumel. We feel that requiring us to take the stone for appraisal by D.I.’s appraiser is a conflict of interest. We do not want the ring and do not feel that we should have to pay for an appraisal as we have the right under the 72 hour FTC Cooling Off Rule to cancel this transaction and return the ring set. However, we have consulted with an Attorney who is handling a class-action case against Diamonds International and they recommended that we go through with an appraisal by a highly respected and recommended GIA certified appraiser in our area to prove that the stone is over-graded. We had the ring appraised and the value came in at $28, 500. This appraiser was a certified and highly recommended GIA appraiser and is the third party to value the ring at between $26-29, 000 since returning home.
Immediately upon our return home, we tried to enact the FTC Cooling-Off Rule but D.I. refuses to take the ring back. We have sent letters by Certified Mail to both Diamond’s International and Comenity Capitol Bank, their finance company out of Columbus, OH, to cancel the contract and to ask D.I. for return instructions.
Last but certainly not least; We trusted that our purchase was secure as Carnival Cruise Line’s shopping expert not only promotes Diamonds International as one of the best locations for unbeatable deals on quality diamonds, but also warns against shopping at other stores; telling us that the 925 sterling silver stamped jewelry in some of the stores at the ports on the islands we visited are in fact counterfeit. Therefore, making us believe that we should listen to Carnival’s advice and only shop where they tell us to in order to be safe from scams. We feel that Carnival Cruise Line should certainly take some of the responsibility of the problem and certainly should be helping us to resolve the matter.
Caroline, can you please let me know the attorney dealing with the Class Action Lawsuit with Diamonds International please?
Wandie did you ever get the name of the attorney Class Action Lawsuit . I would also like to know that information. Thank you!
Listen this is very important if a lawyer took your case there many people like me interesting on finding an attorney to start a sue to DI. I am been looking around so far can I find no one but, if this attorney got a good result on your case, maybe can help more than one person. Plese, provide the info from this Attorney.
Is there anyone out there with a class action suit against DI that you know of? Please contact me at irishgirl7913@aol.com
Respectfully submitted,
s/Mark Hammervold
Mark Hammervold, FL #[protected]
Hammervold Law, LLC
155 S. Lawndale Ave.
Elmhurst, IL 60126
(T) 405.509.0372
(F) 615.928.2264
mark@hammervoldlaw.com
Attorney for the Plaintiff, Julia Genevy
My husband bought me a 1.16K F colour VS2 clarity diamond from DI on our cruise trip to Alaska in July 2010 for $15000. Still feeling painful nearly 2 years on! Too fearful for getting the stone appraised. Even if the stone quality is as they claim, it was still way too overpriced then what I could get back home. Must spread the word of caution to all those who go on a cruise!
I wish I have read this before my went on the cruise. I purchased a Crown of Light pendent (center stone .4K, with small stones around it total .25k) and stupidly paid $3200 for it. When I got home I did some research and found many bad reviews about D.I. and decided to go to a local jewelry store in NJ to get an appraisal. I got $950 from that appraiser. I filed a complain and DI told me I have go to get a NAJA appraiser (the only one they accept). I went to one in NYC, the gemologist told me since DI is the only one that sells this type of cut (which makes it a "premium cut") they can sell it at any price they want. And since his quote can be used for insurance purpose, the # is higher than a regular cut. He appraised it at $2200 (still $1000 more than I paid for!) BUT if i turn around and sell it, it's only worth $550! His recommendation is don't purchase "premium" cut. I learned a very expensive lesson. Now my only hope is that DI will give me the $1000 back!
I also bought a crown of light diamond from diamonds international. I was very happy with this . I needed to get it insured and was told to have it appraised. I looked up the Diamonds International website which recomends qualified appraisers. They had a list and I choose one close to me in Texas. They sent me to Armstrong Gemmology. He took my money and gave me an "appraisal" I sent this to Chubb who rejected it as he is not an Appraiser. He is not a graduate gemologist, he is a "registered Gemologist" which is an unknown degree and made up by some school on the internet. I contacted the state of texas board of licensure and they stated they couldnt find this "business" registered anywhere in texas. Apparently he is some shady operator working out of his home. I called Diamonds International who appologized profusly and found a qualified appraiser. Yes one who is registered with NAJA. LIVE AND LEARN, BEWARE OF THE HACKS
I bought a Crown of Light diamond solitaire ring recently on my cruise. I love the ring, didn't need it for sure, but just loved the fire and quality of the diamond, and "allowed" myself this endulgence. I know its not an investment, but it will always have value and in that respect you are exchanging cash for something that will hold some value. Remember, all jewelry is marked up allot on the retail level.
I came home and started doing research on the Crown of Light diamond and was very disheartened by these complaints. Thankfully, I did follow thru with my research and found some very good reviews by educated jewelers and just wanted to share here some things that have helped my feelings towards my purchase. 1) the crown of light is a patiented cut, as the sales rep said, and in that respect only Diamonds International is the patient holder and thus can sell the diamond for any price they want. Ultimately the law of supply and demand works, and if you haggle the price and find that "no deal" point, I think you are getting the best deal on that purchase. 2) It is a cut that demands more time and effort, having 90 cuts while a normal round cut has 57. It does have lots more fire and improves the quality of the stone just by the cut. Not putting down other diamonds, and beauty is in the eye of the beholder...some may not like the cut. So, if you love this cut, then get it and treasure it. 3) Many appraisers who responded to these complaints said that your local jeweler may be displeased with you for purchasing a diamond from anyone but them, and may downgrade your diamond. Plus many appraisers may not be educated on that diamond and not know how to value it. I saw one story of a woman who paid big bucks for a crown of light and her jeweler told her it was a piece of junk, and she wound up taking $400 for her crown of light and exchanging it for what her jeweler told her was his superior diamond. Man, what a shame. Didn't she even think that many HE was being dishonest? Fact is, if you haggled for your jewelry and got the lowest price, love your diamond and are proud of it, then wear it with joy and don't let these naysayers talk you out of your joy.
You obviously work for them or are tied in with them. Your wording is exactly the way the representative stock. Nice try.
SCAM!
Why do you people think the ships, and the ships so called "SHOPPING GUIDES" promote diamonds international people!
Think, its common sense, and for those who don't know, let me tell you now... for every sell done on the ship, the port and shopping guides make 10% commission. LOL..10%!
Those VIP cards are not meant to save you money, its so the stores know which ship you came from and which "port and shopping guide" get the commission.
you would be surprised how many people dont know that, do you really think the port and shopping guide stands all day in Diamond International stores out of the goodness of his heart LOL... He is there to make sure you buy, and to make sure he gets his 10%
The fact that the cruise lines allow this is horrifying, its just a matter of time someone sues them.. its scary, how they operate
My situation is too long to detail, but Diamonds International is definitely a dishonest company with low integrity sales people. The onboard shopping guide is also a scammer. I cruised on Carnival in February and upgraded my diamond ring in Cozumel (purchased at Diamonds International a few years prior). I think when they know they have someone vulnerable that they think is going to buy; they overwhelm with quotes and sales people. There were three "helping" me, one sales person and two "managers" along with the onboard shopper and it was overwhelming. I chose a setting and they coerced me into putting a diamond in the setting that was in a pendant and I said I didn't like sacrificing color for size. They assured me I wouldn't notice the color and it would be beautiful. The ring was ready two hours after promised and they gave it to me five minutes before I had to leave for the ship. I was extremely disappointed in the ring because of the diamond, which when removed from the pendant the low-quality color was even more noticeable. The shopping guide said "Grand Cayman" will work with me to find a new one. There they said I needed to spend at least $1, 000.00 more to exchange and I later saw on the receipt that it was a bold-faced lie. The Crown of Light ring I traded for and paid-up for ended up being defective with prongs that were snagging my clothing. Once home, I immediately filed a claim and it was two months of back and forth with them and they would only give store credit even though the ring was defective. The cruise line guarantee is from a third party called Onboard Media and they were no help. How do these people sleep at night? The cruise lines should be ashamed for allowing their valued passengers to be conned by these deceitful people. Now I have $5, 000.00 in store credit I have to use and I don't ever want to go back to that store, but I have to. DON'T SHOP AT DIAMONDS INTERNATIONAL!
I feel your pain. I was recently screwed by DI recently in St. Thomas. I purchased a Crown of light diamond in a band to the tune of $23.450. A 1.15 C, color G and VS1. The first thing I did when I came home was take it to my personal jeweler. He said the ring is overpriced by more than 3 times. I tried working with their royal media customer service to no avail. I don't want their store credit and I don't want to jump through hoops having one of their listed independent appraisers. I spoke with one of them and they added to me that, their hands are tied as far as the appraisal goes. DI purposely makes it high so they can share their profits with all those involved. By the way, the independent appraiser admitted they were scamming people, and she said she felt bad for me. I'm not the first person this happens to and I won't be the last. By the way if you check with the Better Business Bureau DI has an F rating. How can cruise ships endorse them with that reputation. There should be legal action taking against all that engage in this fraudulent activity. I can't say it enough. Stay away from DI. If you think it won't happen to you and go in there anyway, you'll be another victim.
I recently visited DI, as many I was drag into the great deals you can get by the shopping expert at the carnival cruise. I feel better that I am not alone, but so sad to see that they do this to so many people. I was originally sold a ring and earrings, the certificated was misleading and 2 hours later of the purchase I realized that they sold me sterling silver with a very high price. Went back and the carnival sales rep was at the store, he told me not to return the items, that we had no time (1.30 hours left to be back on the ship) that it will be sort out onboard. Later that night he said returning them on the next island will be trafficking. I spent 5 days of my cruise trying to solve this. On the last island they trade it the items for a crown of light ring and some diamond earrings. To make me happy they said they gave me 35% for the ring, they only offer a max of 20%, and 70% off for the earrings total price tag over $4000.00. Came home went to see an independent appraiser, I refused to disclose where I bought the jewels and how much I paid. The appraisal came back lower by several hundred dollars. It has been a really bad learning experience, I am trying to get an store credit. Their prices online are realistic (that is what the store manager told me after I show her pics of the prices online) that the prices at the store where not, in other words highly inflated in order to full you and make you think you are getting a good deal. That's why they only give you a written certificate, not an official one. It is a rip off and their practice is misleading, the worst part is that the cruise line aloud their staff to be part of it. Getting a commission should not be a reason to loose customers. I will never sail on carnival again.
I almost got myself into trouble! Yes the DI has a lot to offer.. If you don't know diamonds beware what you buy! The only think I bought was earning for $199 and got a free necklace. I wanted to buy the Crown of Light diamond. After reading everything on thia complaint board I'm glad I didn't spend a penny more!
I went on NCL cruise line and we made port to st.tomas..there you had all kinds of shops and yes D.I was one of them. We walked inside just to take a look and we ended up talking to a female rep who was very kind in showing is the crown of light diamond. Next thing I know I'm holding a pair of wedding rings...they were beautiful! They wanted $9, 000 for the set...for about an hour they kept at it on how lovely they look on me...we haggled our way to $7, 000...we were so close to buying the rings when I looked at my husband and told him another time...over hearing us the lady kept saying that the rings won't be here...we still ended up walking away...spent the better half of the day at D.I...thank goodness I didn't buy anything there! I just wish I could get my 4 hours back lol. I'm sure all that did buy is wishing they never walked in that store! So please...for anyone who's reading this now...Do not buy from D.I! Enjoy the beach and not worry about a diamond that's gonna make you homeless or close to it! Went on the cruise on May of 2015.
We purchased a Crown of Light from DI in Grand Turk and the issue is some of the smaller stones keep falling out. DI has replaced the first ones and now we are sending it back for more replacement. Never heard of stones just falling out of their settings. For the money we spent it seems like the quality is not there.
Have you ever noticed that Crown of Light diamonds are NOT sold in USA ? That's because this "cut" is not recognized by GIA. A crown of light diamond is cut like a miniature golf ball. There are facets all around, shines brightly like the eclipse, however, there is NO table to this diamond and you will NEVER get back what you paid for it so if you buy one, you better LOVE it and be prepared to pay through the roof for it. I've been on more than 57 cruises, visited more D.I. stores than I care to admit to and have purchased two rings in my lifetime of cruising, both of which I overpaid by gross amounts...yeup...finally learned my lesson after the second ring. These scam artists do not stand behind their product, and as soon as you enter their store and look like a target, you will be encroached upon. Even if you pretend to look at their jewelry, you will be asked "which one do you like?" and before you know it, you will be embroiled in a stress-ridden situation of process-of-elimination and you can't figure out how you got there in the first place. Just stay out of their stores. Period. Shame on the cruiselines for promoting D.I., obviously, the kickbacks are just too good.
I have a 3.03 carat Crown of Light diamond with a GIA appraisal. So, yes they are recognized by GIA.
Butt kisser
Actually a certification from GIA. They do not do monetary appraisals. Sorry
We were really excited to be going on a cruise and shopping for a ring in St. Thomas.we had heard that was the place to shop.My husband bought the circle of light ring in St Thomas and went back to the ship.Not two hours later my ring had split where it had been sized.Luckily we were in St.Thomas the next day.The staff were amazing but I guess that's what they are paid for.I supposedly got a bigger diamond but I get get home and notice a black spot in the diamond that dimishes the value.I get the ring appraised and they tell me the ring is only worth $1200.00 and I paid $3200.00 Canadian.What a ripoff.
I went on a Royal Caribbean cruise last year with my fiancé. After the cruiseline bombarded us with Crown of light propaganda we decided to check them out on St. Martin. My wonderful man bought me a $10, 000 ring against my objections about the price. Hey I love nice jewelry so I gave in pretty quickly. The manager of the D.I.hailed us a cab and paid the fare to return us to the ship. Upon our arrival home we went and had it appraised for insurance purposes. We we so upset to learn it was only worth half of what we paid. So...$5, 000. After many many emails, phone calls and threats of a lawsuit those rip offs finally took the ring back but only for store credit. I've been on many cruises and have never gotten ripped off by a big name store in the Caribbean until I unfortunately went into Diamonds International. Stay away from these scammers.
I'm in love with my crown of light crown brilliant ring. I feel I paid a correct price of 2400.00 for it. They came down a lot to get it to where I wanted it. Was even able to haggle a new ring 14k white with diamonds for my man too. They were about to close but we made the deal happen. Very happy with my purchase. Second ring I've gotten from Di first being a beautiful blue and white diamond ring which I adore. I also love being able to go back and either upgrade or be treated to deals as a repeat customer.
Another BS story from someone that either works there or is a friend of the business. I hope you fall down a set of stairs for being a liar.
I have come to this thread a little late I know, but thought that some of my comments may help those thinking about buying Crown of Light diamond or who have recently bought one.
I am a professional Jewellery Valuer and Gemmologist based in the UK and do see quite a few CoL diamonds coming across my desk. One of the most typical complaints I see is after the purchase has been taken to an Appraiser who then values the item at significantly less than the purchase price. Nearly always this is due to the Appraiser / Valuer taking an incorrect approach to the valuation. In most cases the error stems from the fact that the Valuer has valued the stone on the basis of a replacement with a brilliant cut diamond or at least has used the brilliant cut diamond price as a starting point and applied a formula to arrive at what they think the CoL diamond should be value-wise. This is a big mistake.
Love 'em or hate 'em, Crown of Light is a trademark cut and an internationally recognised brand and as such needs to be valued on the basis of a replacement CoL. And since Diamonds International are the sole distributors of this brand, the replacement route (and therefore replacement cost) should relate to what that particular stone would typically sell for (notice I didn't say what it is priced at). This approach should be used for all established branded jewellery and watches, and is not peculiar to CoL.
Additionally, Diamonds International and their Crown of Light cut attract a good deal of discussion within my profession. There is a significant percentage of appraisers, mainly those who are also Jewellers who show a high degree of prejudice towards Diamonds International and the way that they do business (which may or may not be justified), I have seen this sometimes severely influence the resulting value, in an attempt to "make a point".
I strongly recommend that new owners of CoL take their purchase to an Independent Jewellery Valuer rather than a retailer to obtain an opinion on value and also ask the Valuer exactly what the resulting value represents.
There are several lists of professional valuers who can provide service to you, no matter what country you reside.
You might want to consider starting with the list of professional appraisers on the Jewellery Appraisers of the World directory, some of whom have specifically put themselves up to value CoL using correct methodology.
These Appraisers and Valuers can be found on this page:
http://www.ja-world.com/consumer/crown-of-light.html
Disclosure: I am professional Jewellery Valuer and my business is also listed on the page mentioned above. I am also the Administrator for the JAW Directory. I am not receiving any payment in cash or kind from anyone for posting this comment. My intention is to try and better educate consumers so that they can make better buying decisions and thus enjoy are harmonious relationship with the jewellery.
Oops: That last part should read "...and thus enjoy a harmonious relationship with their jewellery".
Apologies.
So where do you go from there? We have received an appraisal by an accredited appraiser (not affiliated with a jewelry store) at 1/3 of the price paid for COL ring. We have filed a dispute with Diamonds International who will send you to another appraiser. This appraiser will not actually appraise the ring but call someone (presumably at DI) and obtain an appraisal value from them. He is forced to use that value on his appraisal. Sounds like fraud to me.
Really? ugh the same thing happened to me. I am in a fight with them now over the ring .
did you resolve anything? was the ring returned or exchanged?
My Dear Husband and I found ourselves in the DI of Tortola on our 24th Wedding Anniversary. That being said... we certainly allowed ourselves up for fresh bait. We were caught up in the romantics of the purchase. We allowed ourselves to be wooed by the "Trusted and Professional" Sales Associate and his Manager. Beer and Champagne, the trading of personal stories... making for an emotional involvement...
Let me just say... we are properly chaste for our naivete and absolutely take responsibility for our own ignorance. We have learned a very valuable lesson! The ring we purchased is a priceless token of our Love. I am only sad that the money we spent is in the hands of a Shady Company and representatives and not a Company and people with integrity. Lesson well learned... Not a nickle more from this family!
Doesn't a consumer need to take into consideration the profit earned for selling the diamond to us? For example If I bought $7000 Crown of light from DI, isn't there a commission for the sale and the store profit included in that $7000? My hope is that when I finally get my ring valued by a gemologist, that the value is as close to my purchase price or higher.. Then I wont feel as bad. I've been wearing my ring for three weeks now and I am definitely scared of what people are saying about diamonds falling out and the ships promoting a rip off company. The ship port consultant also promotes buying diamonds with a lesser clarity because nobody knows what's in the diamond by the naked eye. I did score though on the ship, I won a diamond chip necklace from DI from the port consultant giveaway drawing. I also got two free tanzanite necklaces and free charms for the free bracelet they gave away to anyone who wanted it on the boat. I pray that I made a great purchase...
Boy, wished I had seen all these complaints prior to my trip. Now I don't feel like a total idiot. I too thought I was dealing with a reputable company. I too tried to return an item I purchased the day before. I have gotten the same run around. Never did I expect not to be able to return an item I purchased. I attended the briefing on the ship as well. When I realized I had a problem, I went to the ships representative that gave the briefing, He told me I misunderstood. The clerk at the store told me they couldn't give me a refund, that I had to contact their customer service dept. too obtain a return authorization number, and then follow their instructions . Took three weeks before I finally got to speak with a rep. That was only after I sent an E-mail, as I had left several messages on the number I was instructed to call. Never, would I have thought that the cruise line would promote and misled there customers in such a way. I blame the cruise line as much as the DI organization.
We need to go after these cruise lines for promoting a company that is known to be fradulent . Royal Media is the company that handles this for Royal Caribbean. Let's stop being victims and fight back to bring down these ship representatives.
We had the same experience as many people on this thread. We purchased a ring and bracelet from DI in Philipsburg, St Maarten. The cruise shopping advisors were with us through the entire process. They helped negotiate a significant amount off the total price.
Got home and the items appraised for 60% of the purchase price!
Unfortunately I did not read the prior posts and fell into the trap of the on board shopper with DI. I was specifically looking for earrings to match a beautiful Korite necklace which I purchased at another location. The earrings were perfect yet, very expensive - more than the pendant-.As I was about to leave, the manager came over, had me sit down and offered me a cool drink. As he continued to kibbutz he placed a magnificent bracelet on my wrist. It was beautiful and his way of enticing me to purchase something else. I was taken back when he kept asking me how much I could afford a month and became flippant when I said that I couldn't. "You can't afford $______this monthly?He then brought out a ring - Crown of Light and placed it on my finger. I told him that the ring is lovely but I'm not interested e persisted and intimidated me with the how much can you afford a month until I finally agreed. WIThin 24 hours, I realized that I made a mistake.. I called immediately and was told that there is nothing I could do unless the ring is damaged. When I got back home, I contacted DI, filed a complaint with NYC. I went to a certified gemologist in NYC with the ring. The value came back at 1/3 of the price. When I filed the complaint, I immediately heard back from DI. I was to go to their appraiser. I checked her references - she had NONE. I was later asked to go to another appraiser (DI would pay). I did. She was a certified gemologist about 50 miles from my home. Besides checking the stones and counting them, she admitted that DI Crown of Light is unique and they are the only people who set prices. She had to contact the for the price...ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS! I am not stopping this scam. I want want everyone to know about their practices. PS they offered to give me a credit to purchase something else. Sure, I might...NOT.
did you get your money back or a credit?
Has anyone involved an attorney?
I have wondered that myself?
I just went on my 1st cruise to the Caribbean. I did not buy anything from Diamonds International because of my financial situation. I just wanted to comment on the posts because I think everybody should be subjective when making a big purchase. I say this because I have experienced a jewelry situation myself. In the late 1950s my mom purchased a jade bracelet with 4 huge jade pieces and paid $80 for it. This worked out well because I have 3 other siblings. She gave us 1 jade each mounted on a white gold ring. The jeweler who mounted told us heirloom pieces like these should be appraised about 1thousand dollars in the 1970s. In the 1980s I had the ring appraised by a jeweler for insurance reasons and he told me that the jade was soft and easily broken and appraised the ring about 400. He pointed out that 400 is the value that it is based on what a jeweler would pay me to buy it and then they would mark it up to sell for a profit. Everybody in in business to make money. My feelings about the Crown of Light diamond is that it is beautiful of the brilliance and shine but because they are the only game in town selling a diamond with 90 facets they can set their own prices. Supply and demand. Charge as much as the consumer will pay. If I am able to return to a port which has a Crown of light diamond I would buy a loose diamond and have someone else mount it because of the negative posts about mounting issues. I would not stress over appraised value because I would hope my wife would enjoy it for it's brilliance and not be greedy to see how much I could make by making it an investment. That is why I keep my Jade ring locked in a safe deposit box and hope someone enjoys it as a family heirloom and not sell it. If I wanted an investment I would buy gold. The price of gold has more than tripled in the last 20 years.
I liken appraisals of jewelry to be like appraised value of a car. You are always going to lose value in a car and if you wanted to retain a smaller loss on the car you should sell it by owner rather than trade it in on a new car purchase. Why? because the dealer will have to mark up the price they paid you to turn a profit. simple economics. If I sell it myself I can get the retail value of the car and reducing the mark up by cutting out the middle man. Another point I would like to make is suppose you live where peak temp reaches 120+ do you think I could sell a car with 440 air? To explain 440 air in roll down all 4 windows and drive a minimum of 40 miles per hour. Not likely because refrigerant air conditioning is a must in areas like that.
In closing, I took my wife to Hawaii for her birthday and she bought a pearl earring from a lady on the Waikiki. The pearls were free but to get them I had to pay for the mounting. I didn't care how much it cost as long as she was happy. The moral is a happy wife means a happy life. My advice to all the negative posts is enjoy your purchases and don't worry how much it is worth. You can't take it with you when you pass. Unless you have someone like the Chinese do to honor the deceased by burning houses, slippers and money to use in the afterlife, Stevie
Very true - I inherited my grandmother's engagement ring (Ireland, 1909) - 18K gold with diamonds and rubies. The appraisal gave a decent appraisal and noted that the centre ruby was a simulated ruby BUT he also noted that it was common as simulated rubies were becoming popular at that time. I commented that I cherished the ring because it was one of the few things from my Irish grandparents. The appraiser congratulated me on a fine ring and the connection to my grandparents. It could be worth four times the appraisal and I would not part with it. Buying jewelry as investments is mugs game - some of my most precious pieces are not all that expensive but remind me of a trip (Lapis/copper earrings from Chile). If you see them as investments, you need to have LOTS of money.
You whiny people are all whack! I have purchased several pieces of jewelry for myself and my wife in various ports while cruising over the years as well as several other pieces of jewelry in the US. Of course unregulated jewelry stores in other countries are going to try to get top dollar for their merchandise from unknowledgeable foreigners. If you find a piece of jewelry you like at one of these places only purchase it at a price you are willing to pay because you love it, not because you want to run home and get an appraisal to see if you got ripped off. Quite frankly, most of you complaining on this forum can't afford and never should have purchased in the first place if you are worried about it that much. And yes, I know for a fact that most jewelry store appraisers in the US are biased against the international jewelry stores because you can purchase jewelry duty free and also with no sales tax, which they hate because it puts them at a disadvantage. So if you're going to purchase any jewelry outside or even inside the US do your homework first, only pay a price you feel comfortable with regardless of the value and enjoy your jewelry while you are alive. Life's too short to have regrets.