International · Remote commission · 6 min read
A London-based diaspora buyer commissions remotely.
He had been working in London for nine years, was about to propose on a trip to Cape Town in May, and did not want either the price tag of a Bond Street stone or the uncertainty of an unseen online purchase. He found us through a search query in March. The ring was on her finger by mid-May.
The brief
He emailed on a Tuesday afternoon, London time. The brief was four lines: oval, 1.30 to 1.50 ct, F-G colour, VS or better, GIA-Excellent, platinum solitaire setting in a size H½, hand-over by 8 May at the latest because he was flying back to South Africa on 9 May. Budget in GBP, with a small contingency. Nothing more.
Four lines is the dream brief, and it is also the difference between a buyer who has read the 4Cs guide and a buyer who has not. He had. He knew the cut grade was the non-negotiable. He had decided his trade-offs ahead of the email.
The shortlist
On Wednesday morning, Johannesburg time, we sent back three matching ovals from current Procut DCW inventory and one from the upcoming Friday De Beers DBCM viewing that was likely to fit the brief if the rough delivered as expected.
| Stone | Carat | Colour | Clarity | Cut | L:W ratio | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 1.32 | F | VS1 | Excellent finish | 1.40 | Slightly elongated; very classical oval |
| B | 1.42 | G | VS1 | Excellent finish | 1.36 | Slightly fuller oval; bigger face-up presence |
| C | 1.48 | G | VS2 | Excellent finish | 1.42 | Largest of the three; eye-clean SI behaviour |
Each shortlist entry came with: GIA Diamond Grading Report PDF, full measured proportions, high-resolution loupe photography, 360° video, and a candid plain-text note from the bench on what each stone was doing well and where it traded off. Stone A was elegant but slightly narrow; Stone B was the all-rounder; Stone C was the biggest face-up presence with the most spread for the money.
The viewing
On Wednesday at 17:00 Johannesburg / 16:00 London, we held a video viewing on Zoom. The three stones sat on a black tray under microscope and gem-grade lighting. We walked through each one face-up, side-up and through the pavilion; we read the GIA reports together; we showed the inclusion plot for stone B’s VS1 against the actual plotted feathers under loupe; and at his request we held each oval against a 1.50 ct comparison stone for face-up-size context.
He chose stone B. The full GIA-Excellent finish, the slightly fuller oval shape, the G-VS1 spec sitting in the sweet spot of his colour-and-clarity preferences, and the 1.42 ct shy of the 1.50 ct magic number all compounded.
Settlement and dispatch
Thursday morning, his bank wire arrived from Barclays London via SWIFT. Settlement was in GBP, converted at the spot rate on receipt to ZAR, with the cross-rate disclosed in writing before he initiated the wire.
The bench made the platinum solitaire setting in 11 working days. Two weeks before his flight, the ring was ready at the viewing room. Because he was about to fly in person, we offered a choice: insured international dispatch via Ferrari Group to a London address ahead of his flight, or hand-over at the Bedfordview viewing room on the day he landed.
He chose the second option. He wanted the inscription match in his own hand and his own loupe, and he wanted the ring in the box on the flight to Cape Town with him.
The hand-over
He came directly from the airport on a Friday. We sat at the viewing-room table; the ring on its black tray; the GIA report between us; the loupe in his hand. He matched the inscription on the girdle to the report number, ran the report number against the GIA Report Check service on his phone, signed the cert across with the date, and slid the ring into a small velvet box. The whole hand-over took twenty minutes.
He proposed in Cape Town the next week. She said yes; he sent us the photo. The GIA report and the cert sleeve sit in their flat in London. The ring goes back and forth across the Atlantic with her.
What made the chain work
Four things, in order:
- He came in with a clear brief and the technical literacy to discuss it (the 4Cs and the GIA report walk-through had done the brief-clarification work for him).
- The bench had stones in stock that fit the brief, plus a candidate from an upcoming viewing as a backup (the EBC contract structure is what makes this kind of inventory pipeline possible).
- Video viewing under microscope, with the GIA report on screen, did the work that an in-person viewing ordinarily does, with the upside that he could see and review the conversation later.
- SWIFT settlement closed inside one business day, and the bench had buffer time built into the timeline for the platinum mount.
The arithmetic, briefly
For a London-based buyer, the same 1.42 ct GIA-Excellent G-VS1 oval set in platinum bought through a heritage boutique in 2026 commonly prices within the published boutique-retail markup range (80-150% over polished wholesale, per Bain & Company, JCK, and McKinsey). A major online retailer commonly prices within the chain-retail range (60-120%). Bench-direct from a working SA cutting house, the same stone trades at the polished-cost-plus figure (8-15% over polished wholesale). The wholesale-vs-retail pricing guide explains why the spread sits where it does.
For an international commission like this one, the /international/ page documents the full process, brief, video viewing, SWIFT, dispatch, customs, Consumer Protection Act coverage, hand-over, in step-by-step detail.
If you are reading this from outside South Africa
Most international commissions complete in 4-8 weeks from first email to ring in hand. The brief format that works best is the four-liner above: shape, carat range, colour range, clarity range, budget, deadline. We will come back within 48-72 hours with a shortlist or a clear timeline.