Chocolate Diamonds

[roadwarrior]

Talk about turning chicken pooh-pooh into chicken salad: http://jewelrywisebl...olate-diamonds/

We're getting bombarded by commercials promoting these stones during today's NFL broadcast.

They're not cheap either!

http://www.kay.com/en/kaystore/le-vian%C2%AE/1000550000/100020/1/0/0/0/100020.100023.100055?cm_mmc=google-_-keywords-_-Collections-_-chocolate_diamonds&gclid=CIfv0vjrn7QCFQsGnQodjxYAcA

[Fishing Rhino]

Hmmmmm, every kiss begins with K(ay). Must be a Hershey Kiss.

[Bassn Blvd]

You ain't kidding. My wife never wore jewelry until she met me. I spoiled her and now she sends me e-mails all time of different jewelry she likes. We went through the "chocolate diamond" phase by Le Vian a few years back, she has several pieces. Now she's on a watch kick. Have you seen the copper/rose colored watches? They seem to be the "in" thing thes days. Not too expensive, either.

Funny you brought this up. The wife said she would like a set of earings for Christmas. I found some Cognac/Chocolate earings for 126K. I showed them to her and she said, "Yuk! Babe, Im not an old lady!" Hahahaha. Thank goodness she doesn't have expensive taste. I thought they were SWEET!

[tomustang]

It's been months now, see the hint finally got to you to buy some for the misses before x-mas

[roadwarrior]

You ain't kidding. My wife never wore jewelry until she met me. I spoiled her and now she sends me e-mails all time of different jewelry she likes. We went through the "chocolate diamond" phase by Le Vian a few years back, she has several pieces. Now she's on a watch kick. Have you seen the copper/rose colored watches? They seem to be the "in" thing thes days. Not too expensive, either.

Funny you brought this up. The wife said she would like a set of earings for Christmas. I found some Cognac/Chocolate earings for 126K. I showed them to her and she said, "Yuk! Babe, Im not an old lady!" Hahahaha. Thank goodness she doesn't have expensive taste. I thought they were SWEET!

Only $126,000? You better get a bracelet to go with them!

[Bassn Blvd]

Haha. 126k is about 125k out of my budget. Besides, she has more tennis bracelts than I have rods.

[roadwarrior]

[retiredbosn]

The three C's (cut, color and clarity) of diamonds go right out the window with these chocolate diamonds. Thankfully my bride doesn't like them, but while dating my wife introduced me to the fourth C carat, and I introduced her to the fifth C cost.

[Bankbeater]

I think the bait monkey has met his match.

[jeb2]

I've purchased a lot of diamonds for my wife over the years. A LOT of them. But I won't buy the colored ones. I consider them industrial grade garbage that they're just trying to foist on an uneducated buyer. She kind of likes some of them, but knows she's not getting any from me.

[SuskyDude]

All diamonds are worthless in reality. DeBeers did a good job convincing women otherwise though.

[SirSnookalot]

Buying jewelry is one thing, buying investment grade diamonds is another. Far and away the dimaond jewelry bought in retail chain stores has been marked up quite a bit thru a series of middlemen, most of it has little chance for any significant increase in value. For example, and I'm not privy to exact numbers, a stone one may buy for $2000 retail, wholesale may only cost $500 or so. Any dealer or pawn shop can buy one cheaper, why would they purchase yours for more than their wholesale price? Personal experience, I bought a very nice 2.08 brillant cut stone, d quality for $1200 in 1969 at cost which is below wholesale price, retail was about 3k then, it isn't worth a heck of lot more than I paid for it I wanted to sell it to a dealer.

Investment grade diamonds are a totally different entity, you need to know someone to buy and sell them, many of these investment stones are never set, their held in safes and deposit boxes like bars of gold, they do increase in value. Some of the finer jewelers like a Harry Winston, will set them into top of the line jewelry, not with the retail mall shopper in mind.

On a sidebar, if not the largest but on of them is company called Sterling Jewelers out of Akron Ohio, started nearly a 100 years ago. Moving ahead some 60 years or so a family member became CEO of this company, over 1500 stores were created in malls. Ever notice 2-3 or 4 different jewelry stores in a mall, they owned them all creating their own competition. In time came some free standing stores called Girards, this company was sold to an English company withing the last 10 years or so.

Never have I been affiliated with the company or have had any involvement other than some family conversation, mainly thru my son in law who was employed there. I was able to buy jewelry at extremely favorable prices.

[Sam]

Snookalot, I purchase jewelry from my wife from a private source that charges cost plus 10%.

I just purchased a silver bracelet with a lot of different stones for $195. The bracelet retails for $495.

He can get anything you want. He has catalogs from the top of the line jewelry manufacturers.

The markup of jewelry is out of sight. This guy brings some sanity to the process.

[Bassn Blvd]

Yep, Sirsnook is right. Jewelry is marked up 300% in the retil stores. I wouldn't buy from the stores as an investment. The only investment I put on it is the investment that the wife likes it, regardless of it's value. If she likes chocolate, cognac or yellow or white. I'll buy the piece for her (if affordable) because she likes it, not because she wants an investment. I left the department store yesterday feeling numb and sick to my stomach because I bought her a set of diamond earings, knowing dang well that money could have bought me a couple mor NRX's, lol. But what the heck, she's a good girl and takes good care of me and our kid. The investment I made with her by giving her the earings is worth a million time more than the "diamonds" in the earings.

For my investment, I go to my friend who is a diamond cutter. He cuts, shapes, grades from the raw. Like previously mentioned, my friends personal investment collection stay in his safe.

[SirSnookalot]

I bought a wedding ring for myself for $125, retail $895, thru family contacts. Contrary to that my wife and I were in a local jewlers back in Detroit, she liked a diamond necklace, I paid retail with no qualms, as Bassn says that was my investment.

[K_Mac]

Way to go BB! Investing in your wife will give a much better return on investment than a couple of NRXs.

FWIW you have to change that avatar man. It is really creepy...

[tholmes]

I've purchased a lot of diamonds for my wife over the years. A LOT of them. But I won't buy the colored ones. I consider them industrial grade garbage that they're just trying to foist on an uneducated buyer. She kind of likes some of them, but knows she's not getting any from me.

I just told my wife (who really has no interest in expensive jewelry) " forty years ago those 'chocolate' diamonds would have been on an oil rig drilling through rock."

Tom

[Ratherbfishing]

I think it was Linus from Peanuts who once asked, "Would diamonds still be valuable if they looked like raisins?"