Diamonds are generally far cheaper in HK than the UK.

Usually this is because the UK has a far larger layer of middlemen before the diamond gets to you.

If you are looking for high quality stones, HK is by far a better choice as the selection is better.  The typical retail store in UK/USA will have mid-size stones of VVS2 / I color, which are very overpriced.

The other reasons have already been mentioned, usually the goldsmiths are better, and they usually only charge you for materials, and the labor is free as long as you buy the diamond from them.

I bought a 1.01 Flawless D in HK that was impossible to find in the USA.  So the choices, and therefore prices are more reasonable in HK.  You should be aware though, that size, color, and quality aren't the only things to look for.   You should look at the exact dimensions, as they will have an impact on brilliance when you look at the stone.

Contrary to what people say here, D E F aren't that discernable with the naked eye.  You have to jump from a D to a G to see a big difference.  What you'll notice quickly is the clarity, as IF vs VVS1 is a huge difference when you shine some light into the stone.  An IF will reflect all the light back to you, while the VVS1 will appear slightly flat.  Look at the two side by side and you'll get what I'm saying.

Good luck in your search!

I have to add 95% of the public is obsessed with size.  Its like sex, they think its all about size.  In reality to a great stpne, size is seriously overrate....important yes, but the details of the stone & its cut is far more important. I personally purchased a D VVS1 stone & to this day. 19 out of 20 people inquire about its size over the spec of the stone.  Something for everyone to consider

just got a 1.24 carat daimond from chow tai fook for 40800

its a vs2, H colour diamong!

got it down to 40800 from 45000!

what u guys think? did i overpay?

where are you buying it from ?

chow tai fook on 580 nathan road!

would chow tai fook in NT be cheaper??

But then, isn't everything? ;)

If I get a diamond from a smaller shop in HK, do they also offer certificates, since they are government controlled?

That's a fantastic deal bro...VS2 1.24 carats for around 3500 pounds ...What did you get the diamond set in..White gold or platium...

The price you paid isn't bad, you won't get totally screwed in Chow Tai Fook.  A distributor would be far cheaper, but you would have to know one well.

I tend to avoid the smaller shops whenever possible, as jewlery is one surefire way to get scammed.

yes go with either luk fok, chow sang sang, or chow dai fok

i was in hk a few weeks ago and one of my friends brought a white gold 1ct diamon braclet for a pretty good price. But like everywhere else in hk haggling can knock a fair amount of the price from 14000hk to like 10500hk.

Would you consider synthetic diamonds? They are much cheaper than natural diamonds and are chemically identical to natural diamonds. It is very difficult to distinguish to between the two and the way they test is for impurities in the natural diamond. Synthetic diamonds do not have impurities.

Synthetic diamonds are not fake diamonds. They are real diamonds and identical in every way to a natural diamond except that it has been created in a laboratory. Even the Gemological Institute of America acknowledges that they are diamonds.

A company called Carat sells synthetic diamonds and it's worth having a look before you head off to the big jewellery shops.

The prices of natural diamonds  are by and large controlled by the big boys (De Beers) and they will not let the prices fall. The appearance of synthetic diamonds threatens to shake up the industry and De Beers has embarked on a marketing campaign to protect against them.

I used to buy natural diamonds (loose stones) from a wholesaler in Central through a contact. He doesn't sell to walk in clients unless you buy a lot and my colleague was a big spender. It was an eye opening experience as you can line up the loose stones of every colour and be able to tell the difference in colour.

My tip for buying diamonds is to match the colour to the clarity. A D colour will have to be IF to have the most value. Conversely, you can probably get a cheaper price if you have a D colour with S1 clarity as the poor clarity drags the price down. On the other end of the scale, a H colour IF clarity is also bad combination. So go for a good colour/clarity combination.

[ Last edited by  buaku at 21-2-2010 17:26 ]

Butler: I paid about 12,200 USD 4 years ago or so.

I got it off a distributor to one of the largest chains in HK, so the price, for the exact stone I got was pretty good.  The cut I got was near perfect, and very hard to find, I harassed my friend for months to find it lol.

this is really too much of a loose statement.  Prices like commodities have a worldwide Rap sheet quoted price.  The only diff is overhead or brand name.  Overhead is when you go to main tourist part of UK & pay that premium. Say you go to Tiffany or Harry Winston, you will pay a alot for that comfort (no thinking involve & let you wallet do the talking)

If it was so much cheaper, I would be stockpiling stones & lugging it to other countries for resale

[ Last edited by  sirtiger at 23-2-2010 09:52 ]

You'd also end up in jail for smuggling.

The distribution channels in both countries is far different, and can and usually results in stones being more expensive being purchased from a store in the UK.

If you don't get it, check the price of an item in Tiffany on Bond Street and then check out the exact same item from Tiffany in Central.  You'd be amazed.

I can also say that buying Tiffany in the Philippines can be anywhere from 60-100% more for the EXACT same item purchased in Hong Kong.

Brand names, such as Tiffany or Harry Winston will typically charge anywhere from 3-5x the price you may find from a wholesaler.  However, they do have significantly higher marketing and overhead costs, and from the reaction of girls who swoon once they see that little blue box, it apparently works.

It's great that you got an A in school for Economics 101, but the real world has a lot more factors than that.

^^as said there is a worldwide quotation system that people use universally. Professional stone retailers & wholesellers use Rap sheet worldwide.  However, discount or premium from Rap sheet is common from locations due to overhead as talked about.  

when you say distribution channel you are probably referring to taxation from the govt which varies.

I have no issue if its a little cheaper but far cheaper statement is a bit of a stretch imo. In the world, I seem to get best deals on rolex in HK upwards of 20% discount where i get about none to 10% in other countries.  So with rolex there is a price difference but how much is considered far is a relative term.

I would use the analogy of Gold price, if its at 1100 per oz, I am sure are some deviation from country to country but not a large mark up difference.

Just to clarify, there is only 3 components.   Cost of goods, tax, & overhead for a product.

With rap sheet, there is a cost of the product.
Then there is what you call the channel which is taxation which by bringing it international without declaring would be considered smuggling
Then there is overhead which places like Japan or London has higher rents & marketing costs like HW

Most of retail buyers may save on overhead if they buy in the right country.  Tax is negligible depending where you are from.  

Now in terms of diamond trading , NYC has the BEST discount for diamond stones.  Ask ANY SIGHTHOLDERs about trading stones market.  There is a a real macro economics to this as well as micro which is the tax & overhead.  I apologize if I was not clear but to verbalizing online has its limitations.

FYI, ask any CG in the industry& ask if triple X stones are common esp. in asia.  you will get an interesting answer

[ Last edited by  sirtiger at 23-2-2010 11:48 ]

Your posts are completely off the mark.

Now you are trying to make some measurement of "how much is considered far is a relative term"?

Diamonds in the UK are generally far more expensive than the same stone you would find in HK.  This is fact.

There are many reasons why this is so, including ones you neglect to mention, such as distribution and logistics, and tax on additional value-added components on the retail side for the consumer.

Buying gold in one country to another differs, but not much, IF YOU ARE BUYING ON A WHOLESALE LEVEL.  If you are a regular person buying jewelry, then there is a HUGE difference between what your $1 USD will buy you versus $7.8 HKD.  That you are guessing without any facts to back it up is laughable.

10-20% on a Diamond/Gold/Expensive Watch is pretty significant.  Would you like to argue over what is considered far cheaper?

Lastly, I have no idea on where is the best place in the world to trade diamonds, but somehow I think you'd have to qualify why NYC when Antwerp is the site of the world's largest diamond exchange.

Do you actually have any evidence to back up what you are guessing at, or are you going to try and give another university economics lecture on what should be, and not what is?

[ Last edited by  markreyes at 24-2-2010 00:57 ]

are you sure you are comparing the same quality? that is key.

From my understanding, there is a LOT of marketing to make the general public believe one thing some things are pretty opaque to the common people.  

I personally know many people in the dia trade.  People who are sightholders have said that nyc is center for trading diamonds.
Even main Rappaport is located in nyc & indicates USA is a big driver of the this industry.  The main GIA headquarter in USA. The ny gia office is right down the block from where I work on 5th avenue which is main training school.
http://www.rapnet.com/Info/AboutRapNet.aspx

If you want more concrete evidence, I am can provide this but then it would req. to ask people I know in the trade to provide "evidence"

Of course not!  I'm comparing a 5.01 carat IF-D in the UK to a 1.01 VVS2-I in Hong Kong!

I think I know my way around to be able to compare quality and prices of diamonds between different countries.

I've actually been in the UK looking at diamonds and also in HK, and to wit, on the retail level, there is a big difference in price between the UK and HK.

This is a practical answer to what was a practical question posed by this thread.

Your useless posts on how diamonds should be the same worldwide because of arbitrage and worldwide wholesale pricing is totally missing the point.  Nobody here is asking where they should set up to engage in diamond trading.

Secondly, my original post said it all, that the difference in pricing is mostly due to the layers of middlemen that handle the stone before it gets to the retail level, where MOST people will buy their diamond.

Personally, I buy any diamonds for myself or for friends from a friend of mine in HK, who supplies one of the biggest jewelry chains.  So I do know how much the retail chains mark them up, and trust me, the markup is far greater in the UK.

And lastly, your claim that you would be able to buy them and transport them if the prices were far apart is ludicrous.  It's far harder than you might imagine to begin an international-business trading precious stones.

I was referring not just the 4Cs.  I brought up the example of a triple X stone, are you familiar with what it is and how tough come across it. Reason I bring it up as an example is the actual supply of certain stones at can move a price on a retail level

For practical reasons, of course prices can differ on a retail wise. I am saying there r various factors.  as we posted, If NY has sales tax of 8.875% and say HK has none, I sure there is a diff.

I am still sure there is still a world quoted price of stones that comes out bi-weekly. My point about world prices was that whatever it sources from, its a starting point of setting the tone of the retail prices. Ok, I just talk to my good friend who is a diamond trader via txt.  The big IF is if a large HK wholeseller buys directly from isreal or Antwerp directly, the savings is about 2%. So in theory the savings pass down to reg. folks like us is minimal. weell, I guess a potential 2% is still 2% right? So once stones hit retailers in london, ny or hk, the big question is markup & tax rate .  

hey if you have friends on the INSIDE now, we are not talking retail anymore right? ;)

Sigh, now you are trying to divert the topic onto stuff like perfect stones, worldwide wholesale pricing, and availability of such.

The real point, which you insist on not acknowledging and instead are now blowing smoke to cover your mistake is:

FACT: Diamonds in the UK are far more expensive than in HK.  

None of your posts try and dispute that, you are just talking nonsense now.

I am sure there is a worldwide grading and pricing of stones, on a level of purchase that most people in the world cannot avail of.  Therefore, we are talking about normal retail prices, and differences in different countries, because this is what most people can access.

It is USELESS to discuss prices on a wholesale level, because almost none of us can buy them at this price.

I've mentioned this on my previous posts, which you totally disregard.  You are now just grasping at straws to try and defend your senseless posts.  

You are WRONG.  Just deal with it.