Can GIA make mistake???

[uixs]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post on PS!
I been reading many posts and you guys helped me a lot for choosing my diamond

I finally got my dream ring last week from James Allen and I'm sooooo happy with my purchase.
(my FI bought me, of course! I picked out the diamond!)
It's a beautiful stone and I love it!!!

My diamond is
1.38ct
K color
VVS1
3EX
NONE Florescent

here is the GIA cert.


All that info, my diamond was just perfect.
With that said, I thought, my stone looked whiter under the sunlight and some other lightings.
Here is my diamond shot with normal lighting

this is under direct sunlight

It's not much difference but I could see little blueness in the diamond under the sun.

So, at home I have a UV light for my nails and I thought it would be interesting to see my stone under the UV light.
Here is under the UV light

It suppose to have no florescent in my stone but it is activated by the UV light!!!!
I was so shocked with this result...
I don't mind having florescent diamond but if I'm getting florescent diamond, I want to know that it has florescent before I make a purchase of course.
And most importantly my GIA cert. shows NONE FLORESCENT!!!!
I believe I have the stone which matches the certificate.
So I have to think that GIA made a mistake??
It's hard to believe that also...

Did anyone had incorrect GIA cert before?
What do you think I should do?

 

[chrono]

Your diamond does not look to have fluorescence in your picture in the UV box.

 

[uixs]

Thank you for your post.

Here is a close up of the UV picture.

I see my stone glowing in there.
I have my ring in the UV box now and I see my stone glowing.
Not strong but definitely faint or medium.

 

[Texas Leaguer]

Judging fluorescence can sometimes be a little tricky especially if you don't have a device specifically designed for diamond grading. Reflections of the light itself can sometimes be confused with actual luminescence. Having said that, GIA can certainly make mistakes. If you take it to a qualified appraiser they will be able to verify the diamond and cert and tell you if the stone has fluorescence. If it does, you can send it back to GIA for an updated cert. I would think GIA would do it free of charge if in fact they did make a mistake.

 

[denverappraiser]

Yes, to answer your question, GIA can make mistakes, just like anyone else.

That said:

"None' in GIA speak isn't anywhere near as precise as you would think. It's hard to tell from your picture but I don't see great concern. Part of the problem is recognizing fluoro when you see it. The light bulbs look blue after all, so the stone reflects the visible blue as well as the blue fluorescence emissions. I point out that the interior walls and floor probably aren't purple (and if they are, that's part of what's being reflected too).

Getting GIA to reinspect it is problematic. For starters, they'll only look at an unmounted stone and they'll only do it at one of their laboratories. Logistically that makes it a bit of a pain. They don't charge for rechecks if they change something but if they hold their previous opinion there's a fee. Either way there are costs and time associated with shipping as well as removing and resetting the stone. If you decide to send it in, have the original seller pull and reset it or it's likely to affect your warranty.

 

[uixs]

I see... Thank you for your advise!
I'm not using the UV light for diamond so, I should go see appraiser to check with the proper tool and get checked about everything else, pretty much...I guess.

I would love to have GIA update my cert but I was concerned about taking my stone off the setting, too. My stone is VVS1 but there is a Feather on the girdle (It's about 1mm? It's actually on the girdle line on the cert so it's hard to see) so I don't want to put my stone back and forth from my setting... Maybe I'm worrying too much?? My diamond is too precious for me that I don't want to take any chances of chipping or something... And if at the end, GIA hold their previous opinion then, I feel like a fool going through all that... haha

Also, I live in Japan and I bought my ring at James Allen which is not easy for me to send my ring back and forth... So, for now I think I will go to local appraiser for inspection and I think that would be enough...

Thank you so much for your answers.
It really helped me to decide what to do

 

[decisively_unsure]

It is very very rare for GIA to make a mistake simply because there are multiple people who grade one stone; it isn't a case of one stone, one grader.

 

[telephone89]

Reflecting light =/= fluorescent

 

[Dancing Fire]

Buy a cheap UV flash light and point it at the stone if it turns blue then you have a stone with fluor.

 

[JDDN]

Do you just want to know if it truly does have fluorescence for your own personal satisfaction? Because if that's the case, I would just do what Dancing Fire suggested as that will be inexpensive and not a lot of trouble. If you're not going to return the stone or submit it for re-certification, then you'll be saving yourself the fee from the appraiser.

Recently I purchased a GIA stone with no fluorescence on the report and had my stone appraised by an independent appraiser. She found it to have medium blue fluorescence. I looked in her UV light box and sure enough it was glowing a bright blue color. I know that GIA is supposed to have safe guards to avoid mistakes. I guess it happens from time to time. My main concern was that stones with fluorescence tend to sell for a bit less, so I personally would've wanted that reflected in what I paid. I ended up returning it for a different reason so I never pursued the subject.

Good luck to you!

 

[Rockdiamond]

In my experience, GIA is more likely to err on Fluorescence than other grading aspects.
That is to say, we've personally experienced more GIA grading errors on FL than color or clarity.
We do submit quite a few stones, and errors are truly rare.

I also agree that the pics are not conclusive.
Sometimes you really need an MB or SB diamond to use for comparison so your eyes can see the difference between a true UV "reaction" and a simple reflection of the UV light, as has been suggested.
Maybe you can find an appraiser- or even a store, with a medium or strong blue stone and they will do a comparison for you under a UV light made specifically for diamonds.

 

[partgypsy]

Just wanted to say, regardless of what you find out, your stone looks beautiful to me!

 

[Cricketcat]

Yes, I agree. It is lovely. It also looks good on your finger.

 

[uixs]

Thank you all for your response!

I see, I can buy cheap UV flash light to check myself before deciding to ask appraiser. That would save me money! That's great!
I'm not planning to return my stone and I love my stone. I feel my stone is in my hand from all the way from Canada(my stone is mined in Canada) to Japan because it's meant to be like a fate. I just want to know the truth about my diamond.

I was just shock to see the different result from GIA cert. because I trust GIA cert. you know.
I actually put my two full eternity rings in the UV box and I saw some of the stone had None, faint, medium, strong blue fluor and some had orangeish fluor. I put my e-ring with my eternity ring and I could see my e-ring glowing faint. I will buy UV flash light to be more confident of the result but I'm sure I'm looking at fluor in my diamond not the reflection of the UV light.

It is difficult to believe that GIA makes mistakes but I see some of you had experienced.
And I guess if it conforms that my diamond have fluor then, I'm the rare case.

Thanks for all your comments about my diamond, too

 

[Dancing Fire]

Fluor or not I'd love the proportions of your stone...

 

[telephone89]

Shots of the eternity fluor also appreciated!

 

[uixs]

Yes! I ordered UV flash light! So I'll post pictures when I get it!

 

[uixs]

I got UV flash light but I just can't take good picture for you to see
So, I try putting black cloth on the UV Box and took picture! It actually worked great!

Here is the picture with my eternal rings!

 

[Texas Leaguer]

In that photo the diamond in your engagement ring does appear to be fluorescencing.

 

[telephone89]

I agree, that photo sure DOES show some fluor. The eternity rings look so cool!

 

[uixs]

Can you tell from the picture if my engagement ring have faint fluor or medium fluor?

 

[chrono]

Definitely not inert. As to where it lies on the chart, I'll let the experts who have more first hand experience comment on that.

 

[Texas Leaguer]

Can you tell from the picture if my engagement ring have faint fluor or medium fluor?

Hard to tell the exact strength. The grading lights and procedures at the labs are quite specific. But based upon this photo it seems likely that the grade of "none" is incorrect.

There is some reason for you to consider resubmitting the stone to the lab. First, you want verification that the stone is actually the one you purchased. Secondly, if you ever sell or trade the stone you don't want this to be an impediment. In actual fact, fluorescence could be a plus for you as many people feel that lower colors benefit from this trait.

I would not be concerned about unmounting or re-mounting the diamond. A tiny feather in a VVS stone would pose no elevated risk. Any competent jeweler could do this for you.

 

[AdaBeta27]

Your ring looks great, and I thought your diamond was about 2cts until I looked at the report.

I don't have a special black light for diamonds. I have a Stink-Finder light from the pet store. Diamonds that have no appreciable fluor look "strong purple" under it, so from that photo, I would probably estimate no fluor for your e-ring diamond, just based on my at-home experiences with my own rings. (Which does not make me an authority on the subject.) The diamonds with fluor light up blue, orange, red, yellow. Mele' stones can fluoresce some interesting colors. lol

I'd just have a local jeweler check it, if I felt it was that important. Pricescope loves blue fluor if it is not strong blue that makes the diamond look milky. But other places, it's usually makes the diamond worth less money if you are buying/selling/trading-in. If I thought I paid a fair price, and I liked the diamond, and the inclusions match the report, perhaps I'd just leave well enough alone. (Unless I was considering returning the stone to JA and exchanging for something else.)

fwiw, I bought a pawn shop OEC diamond years ago, like in 1993 or 1994. I had it appraised by one of the top-end jewelers in the city. They made no note whatsoever of blue fluor on the appraisal, but that diamond has at least medium blue if not strong blue. It is unmistakable under even the Stink-Finder blue light.

 

[decisively_unsure]

You can clearly tell from the picture that it is not strong, looks faint to medium IMO. Still it could be camera angles, but some of those smaller stones look like strong flouro.

 

[uixs]

Thank you all for your response!
I would like to get GIA recheck my stone but I feel it would be too much hassle... Especially sending it from Japan...
So, for now I'm not planning to sell or return my stone so, I'll keep my GIA cert as its is.
It was surprise to see my stone to have fluor but in my case it's helping my stone look whiter so, I guess it was a good surprise
This time turned out good but when I buy a stone from Internet, there are limited information about the stone since I can't see the actual stone in person. Even JA gave me lots of information about the stone(like 360 degree video and 40x image), there are still more thing not seeing from those info. So I rely and trust the repot GIA showed me, like fluorescent.
I believe that GIA mistakes are rare case but it happens. I wish it doesn't but in my case, I can say it did.
Hope this topic helpes someone with same siuation as I am!

 

[MollyMalone]

uixs, there is a GIA lab in Tokyo

 

[chrono]

The fluorescence is much too weak to have any impact on making your diamond appear whiter in sunlight.

 

[oldminer]

For the most part, the GIA grading system for diamonds works just fine. The one area of weakness is the grading of "None" in regards to UV fluorescence when there is a tiny amount. AGSL has coined the use of the term "Negligible" for such diamonds and it is a much better use of terminology. Now, the GIA could adopt such a term and only use inert or none when those words are used with no possible misinterpretation. I think the lead dog, GIA, might resent using the suggestion from any secondary dog, AGSL in this case, and prefers to just lead on like nothing at all is even a tiny bit wrong.

The diamond in question has negligible UV fluorescence and as you have been already advised, that amount makes zero difference in any respect to appearance, quality or value. My trusted scientist friends tell me that all diamonds fluoresce. Not all fluoresce with the application of UV light, but can fluoresce due to being hit with other wavelengths of light, both visible and outside the range of our ability to see them. The fluorescent effect is our eyes detecting visible light emission because of this exposure to some other wavelength in the electromagnetic spectrum which cause electron excitation with a visible light produced. We only test diamonds with UV lighting, as that is the most common effect due to UV being in sunlight and many other forms of lighting.

 

[uixs]

Thank you for your comments and inputs!
I see, I felt my stone looked whiter but if fluor is not affecting the stone's appearance then maybe it was reflecting blue sky!?
I like the term "Negligible" much better than "None".