Below is a transcript of a story originally aired on FOX News Chicago February 13, 2001.

It was a pretty gutsy move. Online jewelry retailer Blue Nile, daring FOX to compare the quality of their diamonds to traditional jewelers. "We knew from doing our homework about Blue Nile that we probably have the best diamonds for the best value," said Robin Codner of Blue Nile.

Well, we'd be the judge of that. We logged on using a different name, so Blue Nile wouldn't know it was us, and we started searching. With a $4,000 budget, we clicked home what Blue Nile said would be a 1.1 carat; round solitaire; H color and SI2 clarity — a pretty decent ring.

Blue Nile was our barometer when we went undercover to three traditional stores: two wholesalers on Chicago's long established jewelers row and one chain store at a local mall.

It was a little intimidating, considering we were diamond dum-dums. Overall though, the sales people were very helpful. They offered us real diamond guides to replace the crumpled up piece of paper we were carrying around. One place even gave us a box of candy for our purchase.

But how were the diamonds?

We took all four stones to a well known Chicago gemologist to find out which merchant gave us the best bang for the buck. Graduate Gemologist, Richard Drucker, told us, "It's the 4 c's: color, clarity, cut, and carat weight, and those values combined will ultimately give us a price for a diamond and which is a better value." We didn't tell him where the stones came from, instead we labeled them from a to d.

Diamond "a" , which came from jewelers row, had an average cut, above average color, above average clarity, it was just under a carat, and cost $3,900. "This diamond has the highest clarity grade", said Drucker.

Diamond "b", which was from our mall retailer, was rated below average in cut, but it had the best color, and was above average in clarity. It was also just under a carat and cost us $3,800. Drucker told us, "a diamond poorly cut may require a reduction in value of anywhere from 20-30%."

Diamond "c," which came from Blue Nile, was rated above average in cut, above average in color, and average in clarity. It was the biggest stone at just over a carat and cost us $4,000.

Finally, diamond "d", from another wholesaler on jewelers row, had an average cut, the worst color of the three, but above average clarity. It was also just over a carat and cost us $4,300.

All of the rings came as stated on their appraisal certificates, and all of the rings cost us less than our gemologist appraised them for. According to Drucker, the environment is very competitive.

But you know where we got the best deal? Blue Nile!

"We're glad that it worked out and that everybody can see the value that we do offer" said Blue Nile representative Robin Codner. And what a value it was. We paid $4,000 for the ring, but according to our gemologist the retail value was $8,480!

The only downside to shopping online, is unlike "regular stores," you don't really get to see the ring till you get it. And there's something to be said with having a personal relationship with a jeweler.

Blue Nile in the News
Fox Chicago http://www.foxchicago.com/default.htm

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