For all my ranting about being ripped off in Australia, it seems that America has taken the proverbial cake.

For those of you who read my post about my recent engagement, you might recall how happy I was with the jeweller that sold me the rings. The store was RS Durant, and they’re located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. If you’re NOT American (or a fan of Sex and the City like my Fiance), the UES is the rich part of NYC.

I bought a diamond solitaire and a wedding band with small diamonds all the way around from RS Durant. Unfortunately, while I was impressed with their service, it seems that I didn’t receive the great deal they they lead me to believe. Especially considering they told me that because I am in the military, they wouldn’t charge me any tax.

RS Durant didn’t (wouldn’t?) give me an appraisal by the GIA (Gemmological Institute of America) which is the recognised body of authority on stones, but instead gave me their own appraisal. This is perfectly acceptable, and the professionals allow a one increment difference of clarity and colour when jewellers provide their own appraisals.

Just recently, I took said rings to a valuation service in Brisbane. The lady who does the valuations is a Fellow of both the Australian and Great Britain arms of the Gemmological Association, so I would think she’s officially accreditted.

The differences in appraisals are alarming. To begin with, the total value of the rings was appraised as being only slightly above HALF what RS Durant stated they were worth.

RS Durant told me that the engagement diamond was a .51 carat, whereas it’s only 0.45. That might not sound like a lot if you haven’t researched diamonds, but the price of a diamond increases dramatically once you go above the 1/2 carat mark. It’s like buying a car that’s $10 above the “Luxury Car” limit, and being hit with a fortune in taxes – it significantly changes the value of the car.

Next, RS Durant told me that the diamonds on the wedding band totalled 0.7 carat, when in fact they only total 0.36 carats. Once again, barely above HALF what I was quoted, and again being on the wrong side of the 1/2 carat marker. The other issue with the diamonds is that RS Durant state that the 36 little diamonds have a clarity of VS-1, when they are, in fact, P1. That’s a difference of FIVE increments and is a difference between inclusions being invisible to the naked eye to being QUITE visible. (Learn all about the 4 c’s of diamonds here)

They also told me that the wedding band was 18K white gold, but it tests at 14K. Not a HUGE difference, but again you would expect that this would effect the value of the ring.

So even though the rings have been valued for insurance purposes at slightly more than what I paid, RS Durant have valued them at almost double what the official, recognised valuer appraised them at.

I call this post an update, because tomorrow, RS Durant will be receiving quite a nasty e-mail from me insisting that they make an offer to resolve this issue before I speak to a lawyer. A friend in the know of the diamond trade in America has put me in touch with a couple of other organisations over there, and they will be getting e-mails in the near future as well.

I appreciate that every business on the planet has the occasional bad day, but some of these errors can’t be defended by that. In my opinion, RS Durant have engaged in practices that are at least deceptive, if not deliberately fraudulent.

Stay posted – once all this is resolved, I will submit a post of the outcome – with a full apology if it’s warranted, although I can’t see that happening at this stage.