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Jewelry Experts
Question:
: Also, a : stone which is GIA or AGS certified will have "papers" with it : detailing ALL of these things. A "certed" stone sells for a higher : price than a similar non-certed stone — usually $700 – $1000 more for a : 1ct stone. This is due to the fact that you can’t really argue about : the specs of a certed stone. [Whereas a non-certed stone may be rated : as "SI2" by one jeweler and "VS2" by another. Unfortunately, a lot of : it is judgemental.] One jeweler told me a cert was a good idea with expensive diamonds because it doesn’t allow insurance companies any "wiggle room" if they have to replace the stone. Since the specs are there on paper, they have to replace it with a comparable diamond. If you don’t have a cert and you let the insurance company choose the replacement, they can get away with giving you a lower-quality diamond. However, another jeweler pointed out that getting a few reputable places to assess the diamond was almost as good, and far less expensive. In my experience, the cert didn’t push the value of the diamond up by as much as you said, but I think it depends on the jeweler. : Buying a diamond can be a very involved thing. I made the mistake of : becoming very educated on the ins and outs of diamonds before selecting : one for my fiancee, and it made it VERY difficult to decide! One of the : hardest things was finding a jeweler I trusted. I, too, spent a reasonable amount of time learning everything I could about diamonds and what differentiates them. Of course, I was far from being an expert, but I think it did help. One expert I spoke to gave me some excellent advice: she said that no matter how much I know about diamonds, I shouldn’t lose sight of what we were trying to do – buy a stone that both my fiancee and I would be happy with. The specs are good to know, so you know what you’re getting, but the important thing is how you feel about the diamond. So she advised me to just look at each diamond for a while, and see what it "says to me" before worrying about its clarity, cut, color, etc. If we didn’t like it, it would be a waste of money to buy it no matter what quality it was. That really helped put things in perspective. Bob Pitha Molecular Simulations Inc. (617) 229-9800 x242 Burlington, MA 01803-5297
Response:
>a stone which is GIA or AGS certified will have "papers" with it >detailing ALL of these things. A "certed" stone sells for a higher >price than a similar non-certed stone — usually $700 – $1000 more for a >1ct stone. This is due to the fact that you can’t really argue about >the specs of a certed stone.
It is possible to choose a stone and then have it certified by GIA or AGS. You will need to shop around until you find a diamond *broker* who is willing to do this — usually only for stones of 1ct or more, though sometimes they will do smaller stones that are especially fine. I managed to bully a broker into getting a .58ct diamond certified by GIA, and it cost $100. — — Michal Impressive amounts of material can be accreted in this manner.
Response:
>Start off by going to a jeweler and asking him for the GIA brochure >on diamonds — it is a pamphlet which describes the different grades >of clarity (VVS => SI), color (D => J, and "fancy" coloured stones), >cut (round, marquis, princess, square, etc). Carat weight is the >easiest descriptor, but not the most important! Any good jeweler >will be willing to take the time to discuss diamond attributes with >you and show you examples. Ask the jeweler to point out to you >the imperfections in some SI or VS diamonds, so that you know what >to look for.
Actually, the clarity ratings go like this: IF Internally Flawless [extremely, extremely rare!] FI Internally Flawless, may have slight flaws on outside VVS1 Very very small inclusions VVS2 VS1 Very small inclusions VS2 SI1 Small inclusions SI2 I1 Inclusions visible to naked to eye I2 I3 The more you go up the list, the more "perfect" the clarity is (and the higher the cost). The color ratings are something like: D-F colorless G-I near-colorless J-L slight color M-Z obvious yellow or brown tiny [Anything M or lower is usually not considered "gem" quality and is often used for non-jewelry purposes, such as diamond-tipped saw blades, etc. from what I understand.] There are LOTS of other measurements which most jeweler’s CAN’T tell you (things like the size of the culet, girdle, table, etc.) A VERY good jeweler will be able to provide some of these measurements. Also, a stone which is GIA or AGS certified will have "papers" with it detailing ALL of these things. A "certed" stone sells for a higher price than a similar non-certed stone — usually $700 – $1000 more for a 1ct stone. This is due to the fact that you can’t really argue about the specs of a certed stone. [Whereas a non-certed stone may be rated as "SI2" by one jeweler and "VS2" by another. Unfortunately, a lot of it is judgemental.] The GIA and AGS [Gemological Institure of America / American Gemological Society] have comprehensive testing instruments which accurately determine the various qualities of a diamond. [For instance, I've seen the machine (which costs >$10K!) which they use to determine the color of a diamond by passing a precisely calibrated beam of light through the diamond and then measuring the wavelength of the light reflected by it.] Buying a diamond can be a very involved thing. I made the mistake of becoming very educated on the ins and outs of diamonds before selecting one for my fiancee, and it made it VERY difficult to decide! One of the hardest things was finding a jeweler I trusted. (By the way, she got her ring as a surprise… wouldn’t have it any other way! I simply had it mounted it in a solataire setting and after I placed it on her, told her she could pick out the setting she wanted. Turns out she LOVES the solataire setting and is keeping it just the way I gave it to her. It’s worth the surprise, especially since I’m only planning on doing something like that once in my life. 
Sorry if I’ve been rambling. Regards, Ed (July 9, ‘94) — Ed J. Gurney N8FPW Hewlett-Packard Company Vancouver (USA!) Division "Failures are divided into two classes– those who thought and never did, and those who did and never thought." John Charles Salak
Response:
>What I am wondering is how I >should know what is a good quality ring, if I am being ripped off, what >kind of jewelry store should I be looking for, how big is a one karat >diamond etc., the different options I have in terms of bands and >settings etc. For those of you who are engaged or married out there, how >did you find all this information out when you shopped for your rings?
The best thing to do is to go to a number of *reputable* jewelry stores in your city and compare diamonds of different cuts, colors, clarity, and carat-weight. Ask the jewelers to show you *unmounted* diamonds, and ask to use a loupe (a jeweler’s 10x magnifier). If they won’t let you use a loupe to look at the diamonds then they are *not* a reputable jeweler and you don’t want to do business with them. In most rings, the diamond (or other fancy gem: emerald, ruby, etc) is the biggest portion of the cost. Any stone can be mounted in a variety of settings. The best thing to do is to choose the gem(s) and then have the mounting done to suit you. The reason this is best is because mounted diamonds are very hard to assess, which makes it easier for the jeweler to pass off a middling-quality stone as a good one. Start off by going to a jeweler and asking him for the GIA brochure on diamonds — it is a pamphlet which describes the different grades of clarity (VVS => SI), color (D => J, and "fancy" coloured stones), cut (round, marquis, princess, square, etc). Carat weight is the easiest descriptor, but not the most important! Any good jeweler will be willing to take the time to discuss diamond attributes with you and show you examples. Ask the jeweler to point out to you the imperfections in some SI or VS diamonds, so that you know what to look for. By the time you’ve spent a couple of afternoons looking at loose diamonds through a loupe you’ll develop an eye for the task. Then it becomes a matter of going to different jewelers and comparing the prices they ask for stones of comparable quality. Remember to consider service and convenience, in addition to cost! (eg, if you’ll be choosing the ring without consulting your SO then make sure it’s returnable at *full* value, or at least exchangeable!) Good luck — and happy looking. — — Michal Impressive amounts of material can be accreted in this manner.
Response:
I am planning on getting engaged in acouple months and I would like to have the ring beforehand when I pop the big question. What I am wondering is how I should know what is a good quality ring, if I am being ripped off, what kind of jewelry store should I be looking for, how big is a one karat diamond etc., the different options I have in terms of bands and settings etc. For those of you who are engaged or married out there, how did you find all this information out when you shopped for your rings? Thanks for your help! This is something I did with an ex-boyfriend at a time when I *thought* things would work out (obviously they didn’t). We went into the Tiffany’s in Boston and were just looking at the wonderfully sparkly rocks they had on display. This really nice salesman came up and offered to tell us more about what to look for in a diamond. He even gave us a little booklet that explains the stuff about cut, clarity and color (the 3 C’s in diamonds). I found it rather educational and what was even more wonderful was that this guy wasn’t pushy and did not have his nose in the air! Check out a very reputable jewelry store. They guy we spoke to gave us his card and it said that he was a gemologist. Can ya beat that? Course it helps to be nice to customers who might by some sheer stroke of luck be ABLE to purchase a nice piece of ice from their store Hope this helps! – eva — = Eva Chan | Never lose my youth, I hope it never ends. = = on IRC: bunny | – Bosstones = = | =
Response:
I am planning on getting engaged in acouple months and I would like to have the ring beforehand when I pop the big question. What I am wondering is how I should know what is a good quality ring, if I am being ripped off, what kind of jewelry store should I be looking for, how big is a one karat diamond etc., the different options I have in terms of bands and settings etc. For those of you who are engaged or married out there, how did you find all this information out when you shopped for your rings? Thanks for your help!