Any Diamond dealers on this thread

[ukal123]

I am thinking of opening a Store in Zurich which would offer
Diamonds to much cheaper prices then is offered on Bahnhofstrasse...
and maybe even eventually supply the whole of Switzerland.

Anyone in this sort of business ? What do you think ?

Comments welcome

[Captain Greybeard]

I don't know. On this forum, I see more of a demand for brown sugar and steel-cut oats.

Start out with www.ricardo.ch and see if there is a market here. Personally if I wanted a diamond I would go to Antwerp and look for an old established dealer.

	Quote:	ukal123
	I am thinking of opening a Store in Zurich which would offer Diamonds to much cheaper prices then is offered on Bahnhofstrasse... and maybe even eventually supply the whole of Switzerland. Anyone in this sort of business ? What do you think ? Comments welcome

If you open one give me a shout I'm in the market for an old european cut..

Muchas gracias.

[ukal123]

I have close contacts to the dealers in Antwerp so the amount of money you would spend on the petrol to get there youl give me instead..

I already sell diamonds to people i know privately, so anyone needing one
please message me.

Thanks

And then again any tipps please post

[HollidayG]

How to you plan to market your diamonds?

It seems that most money for business in Switzerland is
for real estate and personnel.

[dino]

	Quote:	ukal123
	I am thinking of opening a Store in Zurich which would offer Diamonds to much cheaper prices then is offered on Bahnhofstrasse... and maybe even eventually supply the whole of Switzerland. Anyone in this sort of business ? What do you think ? Comments welcome

I'm sure the Swiss jewelers' cartel will have some comments for you.

as for me, I think diamonds have little intrinsic value, and consumers pay essentially for their scarcity. 'Cheap' is certainly not something that recommends a diamond. Most Swiss in any case believe that higher prices imply higher quality...

[miniMia]

I have a friend who is a jewelry designer and goes every year to the Basel Watch and Jewelry show and buys if he finds what he wants. Most likely from dealers he knows or has seen around the show. You might look into getting a stand there. Maybe?

[Nil]

	Quote:	ukal123
	I am thinking of opening a Store in Zurich which would offer Diamonds to much cheaper prices then is offered on Bahnhofstrasse... and maybe even eventually supply the whole of Switzerland. Anyone in this sort of business ? What do you think ? Comments welcome

It depends if people are responsible buyers or not. If you have cheap diamonds, what are their quality?

But for me, more important, where are they from? Cheap means cheap labor (aka slavation) or a big cut of expenses somewhere.

I refuse to buy any diamonds from Africa. But this is me.

[grumpygit]

	Quote:	Nil
	It depends if people are responsible buyers or not. If you have cheap diamonds, what are their quality? But for me, more important, where are they from? Cheap means cheap labor (aka slavation) or a big cut of expenses somewhere. I refuse to buy any diamonds from Africa. But this is me.

That is a very important point, if you plan to trade in diamonds and presumably you are aware of the kimberley process, how can you guarantee the diamonds you sell are not blood diamonds?

[grumpygit]

Incidentally, just as an observation, with a public profile of zero information and joined in jan of this year, asking people if they are interested in buying high value gem stones may require you to be a bit more forthcoming about your background. Just an observation.

	Quote:	grumpygit
	Incidentally, just as an observation, with a public profile of zero information and joined in jan of this year, asking people if they are interested in buying high value gem stones may require you to be a bit more forthcoming about your background. Just an observation.

I assume he can guarantee his diamonds the same way anyone else can - with proper certification. Oh Lord, you haven't turned so Swiss already that you think you need a Bahnhofstrasse frontage to sell anything of legitimate quality?

[grumpygit]

	Quote:	economisto
	I assume he can guarantee his diamonds the same way anyone else can - with proper certification. Oh Lord, you haven't turned so Swiss already that you think you need a Bahnhofstrasse frontage to sell anything of legitimate quality?

Well the OP said that he was selling diamonds privately, personally its not the legal perspective that concerns me rather the ethical one. But why don`t we ask him (her) sorry, wether the diamonds he(she) resells bought from whoever is guaranteed and by whom?
A shop in Switzerland selling diamonds (not under the counter in a brown bag) can be inspected anytime, a reseller on a web forum with no personal information cannot .

	Quote:	grumpygit
	Well the OP said that he was selling diamonds privately, personally its not the legal perspective that concerns me rather the ethical one. But why don`t we ask him (her) sorry, wether the diamonds he(she) resells bought from whoever is guaranteed and by whom? A shop in Switzerland selling diamonds (not under the counter in a brown bag) can be inspected anytime, a reseller on a web forum with no personal information cannot .

Stones either come with certification or they don't. Neither inspection, nor a shop front changes that. Beyond that, I don't see your point.

[grumpygit]

	Quote:	economisto
	Stones either come with certification or they don't. Neither inspection, nor a shop front changes that. Beyond that, I don't see your point.

Well thats ok then, if youre in the market for a cheap diamond, he is your man(woman)

[CorsebouTheReturn]

Hi,
I'm not defending the OP who looks dodgey as hell, but:


One need to look carefully for that.
Following recommendations on this forum, I once got a diamond jewel from www.bluenile.com. Very recommended website, american, etc...

I made the purchase and receive the thing with a "certificate" (if it was "the certificate" they talk about. A piece of paper that a 08 year old kid could have done with MSPAINT.)

Also I discovered nicely on a little sticker underneath the box: "made in india". Of course that information was not displayed in the US website at anytime.

Now I don't have a problem with India, but I was basing my trust and quality and ethic on: it's a US diamond, its not blood diamond, it's safe and reliable.


BUT it's actually something made in india, with a poor certificate printed in the USA...


Also, for having been in India many times, I know diamonds are dead cheap there (=profit for bluenile) and that they don't have the same "standards". It's very easy to get what you want with money there, so I quite doubt that the end buyer knows the real "origin".

They did not give any certificate "indian side", nor they inform about the origin, nor bluenile has an interest to verify that.


So at the end yes I can pretend to be confident and happy to have made a safe ethic purchase, but it's actually far from being true.

[grumpygit]

The certification required by the Kimberley process is that every sale of rough and polished diamonds be accompanied by a statement on the invoice of the seller confirming that the provenance of the diamond is not a country or area financing conflict or in contravention of the united nations (or something like that) therefore a shop or retail outlet issuing invoices can be inspected to prove that where they bought the diamond gave the same assurances through the invoice. This cannot be done by a private seller who may be buying diamonds from resellers or innocently buying from an old lady and resetting the stones. Therefore it is not wise to buy a diamond (in my humble opinion) without those assurances as it is an expensive investment and lets face it, it most likely for the future missus who doesnt want to be told later on its not legit.

[cmjohno]

Just a quick one (off topic) on the India observation, but 9/10 diamonds are cut and polished in India, so it is of no real surprise. The link explores this
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15842527/ns/world_news/

	Quote:	CorsebouTheReturn
	Hi, Also I discovered nicely on a little sticker underneath the box: "made in india". Of course that information was not displayed in the US website at anytime. Now I don't have a problem with India, but I was basing my trust and quality and ethic on: it's a US diamond, its not blood diamond, it's safe and reliable. BUT it's actually something made in india, with a poor certificate printed in the USA...

[cmjohno]

The problem with the Kimberley Process is that it was only implemented in Aug-03 and has only been ratified by a handful of governments, which mean that the certificate that you attribute to much importance too is in fact far less substantial. As one previous poster described it being more akin to a "MSPAINT job". Whilst it is certainly worth doing your homework and no decent person would willingly/knowingly purchase a "blood diamond" for knowledge of what they are financing, you can still not be 100% sure. Simply put it doesn't regulate non-compliance and there are plenty of articles and documents pooh-poohing it.

"The Kimberley Process was seriously flawed from the beginning. The Kimberley system of "voluntary self-regulation" on the part of the diamond industry has meant a significant lack of transparency and independent monitoring efforts. The World Diamond Council, initially established to represent the diamond industry at the Kimberley Process, has failed to coordinate effective industry monitoring. Governments, too, have been uninterested in monitoring and regulating the diamond trade. Some say the Kimberley Process amounted to little more than a public relations stunt for the diamond industry, and recent reports by Global Witness and other NGOs have found little evidence of genuine attempts to deliver on industry commitments." http://www.globalpolicy.org/security...y-process.html

	Quote:	grumpygit
	The certification required by the Kimberley process is that every sale of rough and polished diamonds be accompanied by a statement on the invoice of the seller confirming that the provenance of the diamond is not a country or area financing conflict or in contravention of the united nations (or something like that) therefore a shop or retail outlet issuing invoices can be inspected to prove that where they bought the diamond gave the same assurances through the invoice. This cannot be done by a private seller who may be buying diamonds from resellers or innocently buying from an old lady and resetting the stones. Therefore it is not wise to buy a diamond (in my humble opinion) without those assurances as it is an expensive investment and lets face it, it most likely for the future missus who doesnt want to be told later on its not legit.

[Petit Jolie]

	Quote:	Nil
	It depends if people are responsible buyers or not. If you have cheap diamonds, what are their quality? But for me, more important, where are they from? Cheap means cheap labor (aka slavation) or a big cut of expenses somewhere. I refuse to buy any diamonds from Africa. But this is me.

Africa is a continent not a country. The continent houses 7 of the worlds top 10 diamond producing countries. An estimated 65% of the world's diamonds come from Africa.
If one refers to conflict/or blood diamonds in Sierra Leone & Angola (countries), I agree with the above statement.

http://topforeignstocks.com/wp/wp-co...-producers.gif

Diamonds are priced according to Cut
The beauty of a diamond resides not only in a favorable body color, but more importantly in its optical properties

Color, Clarity, Carat Weight, Table Width, Total Depth, Pavilion, Culet, Fluorescence, Symmetry, Polish (and markup)