Due to the length of my experiences, I’ll separate Part 2 into reviews of a few businesses at a time. Just as a reminder, these were my personal experiences and do not reflect a scientific study.
Photo Source: maps.google.com
Jared’s
8113 Leesburg Pike, Vienna, VA
(703) 893-0154
www.jared.com
Being one of the most advertised jewelery chains, J and I decided to begin our quest here. This is a large, stand alone building and we went in with expectations of lower quality service and higher prices because that’s a stereotype of chains. When we entered, we were greeted by one sales person and this person stayed with us throughout our visit, showing us different diamonds and explaining things in detail. The service was excellent and personal.
J and I had walked by and seen diamonds before, at which time the “Leo Diamond” really appealed to us. We asked about it, at which time the salesperson explained the difference between the Leo Diamond, the Peerless Diamond, and the regular Brilliant Round diamond. A brilliant round diamond will have a standard 58 cuts. The Leo Diamond differs by having a patented 66 cuts. The Peerless Diamond is an ideal cut diamond which is additionally tested by Gemex for Very Good ratings in White Light/Color Light/Scintillation.
I wanted to see the diamonds side by side so i could compare with my eyes. What I saw was that the Peerless had the most small/quick sparkles of orange/red flashes. The Leo had slightly slower sparkles but larger, blue flashes. The round brilliant of similar rating had moderate white sparkle. This was side by side, under the same lighting conditions.
Both the Leo and Peerless diamonds are certified by AGS or IGI and tested by Gemex for light ratings. Unfortunately, their certifications are not done by GIA, which is the standard in the US. This means that although the ring may state it is a Very Good cut/SI1/E color diamond by the AGS/IGI certificate, if you submitted these diamonds to GIA, the rating may be lower and it’s possible the insurance value or “buy back” value will be lower. But in order to compensate for this, Jared’s has a 100% buy back, where they will give you a store credit when you want to upgrade your diamond. Another strength of Jared’s is that you can take advantage of this “buy back” option in any store and on their website. But a big weakness is that they require the upgrade diamond to be at least twice the cost of your original. We found most other retailers don’t have this requirement. I personally like the Leo Diamond a lot, but they are costly and unless your heart is set on a Leo or a Peerless or some other “non-conventional” diamond, you could probably save money and get a better buy back deal elsewhere. Also,
Jared was one of two places that pressured us to purchase a ring that same day. The other was a store at an outlet mall which didn’t have high quality diamonds.
