I do hard-data price comparisons for diamonds, mainly rings. And this incredible Costco 4-carat emerald cut diamond ring in a platinum setting is of the most beautiful, and most expensive, that I’ve compared so far.
Does Costco have the best deal on it?
Can my “go to” winner, James Allen, beat Costco even on this one?
Or will Costco’s reputation for bargains for the householder prove to be too much for James Allen?
Let’s find out by the hard numbers.
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Costco’s offer on this diamond: $102,999.99
You can see this offer live as item number 100351503 at Costco (at least, until someone pulls the trigger and buys it.)
CUT SHAPE: Emerald
CUT QUALITY: Not graded.
(This isn’t a deal-breaker. In truth, no 3rd-party grading lab, such as the GIA, grades the cut quality of anything except Round Brilliant Diamonds. But it’s concerning that, this being Costco, nothing at all is said about the quality of the cut.
Another reason that’s concerning, in this case: at Costco, you can’t see the exact diamond that you’re considering buying. As you’ll see below, at James Allen, you can view their competing diamonds with 3D imaging technology. Meaning: you can see the exact diamond you’re considering buying, at James Allen, in great detail, from every angle, and magnified.)
On the other hand, you can copy and paste the GIA report number, 6173539358, into the GIA report checker. And you’ll see the report, including the diagrams of it. That’s a very nice diamond.
That’s good. It’s not as good as being able to see 3D images, as you can on similar diamonds at James Allen (you’ll see later in this study/comparison, below). But it’s good enough.
CARATS: 4.01 carats
COLOR: F
CLARITY: VVS2
SETTING: Platinum, with two baguette diamonds. Baguette diamonds are long, flat diamonds that you see on either side of the main center diamond, of course. We can see by looking at the total carat weight of this Costco diamond (4.32), that the baguettes each weigh about 0.15 carats each.
(4.32 total carats in the ring minus 4.01 carats of the main center diamond equals 0.31 carats split between two baguette diamonds.)
(I’m just nailing down all the details, so that when we compare at James Allen, we’ll compare an almost exact replica of this ring.)
Beautiful diamond ring. But is it a great deal, as the unsuspecting might assume, since it’s from Costco?
The first thing to notice: by the specs, this is an incredibly beautiful diamond.
But is it the best deal on such a diamond? This work of art costs $100,000! If you can save, you may be able to save enough to buy a compact car.
Let’s find out what James Allen may charge for a very similar diamond ring.
James Allen’s offer on a virtually identical ring: $80,2010. You save $22,790.
No need to list all the same grades here. This diamond is virtually identical. So is the ring.
The baguette diamonds on either side of the center diamond are insignificantly smaller. Otherwise everything is the same.
And the price is hugely less. About $23,000 less.
Here’s how to get that deal at James Allen, beating Costco’s deal, in two steps
Step 1: Select this setting for your ring.
Step 2: Go to the diamond sorting page and set your sliders as shown in this image:
There’s a way to save even more, too.
It’s by choosing a Lab-Created diamond at James Allen. As you know if you’ve read my diamond shopping analyses here, lab created diamonds are 100% the same as earth created diamonds. They were just created in a lab, not mined out of the earth.
Choose a Lab-Created identical diamond (it’s 100% the same as an earth created diamond, except for origin), and save close to $50,000 off the Costco price.
Because the price difference is so great, I know I need to repeat:
Lab-created diamonds are 100% chemically, physically the same as earth created diamonds. They were just made in a lab mimicking conditions deep inside the earth.
Enjoy your shopping.
It’s easy to get great deals on better diamond jewelry — for less money! Here’s how:
- Scroll up to the section on “How to Get the James Allen Deals.”
- Follow the easy directions there.
- Feel 100% confident that you bought the best diamond for the money
How to search this site to save up to tens of thousands of dollars at trusted diamond retailers, vs most any Costco, Kay, Jared, or Zales ring you’re considering
Search and save. You could save enough for a new compact car. Or a honeymoon. Or several expensive dinner dates. Or that guitar you’ve been wanting.
Read this very short note on how easy it is.
