A Question about or for Dave Atlas

[diamond_buyer_2004]

Has anyone on this site sent a diamond to Dave Atlas for evaluation, from a pricescope recommended retailer, and had him tell you that you should not purchase the diamond? I only ask because many of the sellers I am dealing with are quick to recommend him. Thus, in my mind there is one of two things going on:

1) He and his company are simply the best, and the sellers that recommend him are proud to illustrate that they carry a great product.

2) He and his company are cozy with many of the pricescope sellers, and they help each other out, i.e. he recommends their stones although they are not a great as non-pricescope retailers, they recommend his appraisal whether they are accurate or not, and they all make money.

So, which is it??

 

[anothernewbie]

Do a little research on David and I think you will find that the answer is #1. I used two of the P-Scope recommended appraisers recently while purchasing a diamond, and I would rate AGA well above the other. I am still working with Christian at AGA on my final appraisal and am very very satisfied with their work.

 

[2Bmarried]

I recently sent two diamonds to AGA to get them checked out. One of the diamonds was from a very reputable (Pricescope) online vendor & the other was from a local jeweler in my area. After speaking with Christian (Chris) while they were taking care of this for me, I became very comfortable. He was extremely objective and, in the end, said that it was pretty much my call as far as which diamond I went with. They were both great performers. Due to MY OWN reasons, I decided to go with the local diamond. I felt NO PRESSURE whatsoever from Chris, nor any attempt to sway me towards the online vendor. As a matter of fact, they (AGA) have my diamond in their hands today as they are laser inscribing it and updating the certification & appraisal.

I'd highly recommend their staff & services. And if you look at David's resume' and company history, I think it speaks for itself as to the validity of his business and their underlying professionalism.

But, hey, I'm just one guy with an opinion.

 

[2005corvette]

I just had two stones at Dave's AGA to be appraised, and they were both great stones according to Chris and the GIA cert and all the numbers. I personally saw one of them and other jewelers in my area said it was a great stone too. I went with the second stone because dollar for dollar it was a better buy. These stones were not small,inexpensive stones either. They were in the 3 carat range and approxiamately $40k. Chris did a fantastic job evaluating both stones and there was no pressure whatsoever for me to purchase one stone over the other. In fact there was no pressure to purchase ANY stone. He was very easy to work with and always quick to respond to me and answer all questions. I could not be happier with their services. The prices are right too. There is only one drawback to them and that is they don't have all the extra equipment that GOG and Bill Leibrum have to make the colorful graphs and charts. Not that there is anything wrong with the charts and graphs but I think that Dave has a particular reason for what he does. I just received my stone today and it is a tremendous stone. Fantastic sparkle and brilliance. I knew it would be a great stone but it's beyond what I could have ever expected. My wife is pretty happy too with it.

 

[diamond_buyer_2004]

Thanks for the input, anyone else?

 

[hoorray]

You can read his personal story under the Who's Who section here. It is pretty telling. You can also to a search on his posts here to get a feel for his objectivity and professionalism. He is very well respected...

 

[oldminer]

We have no cozy relationship with any Pricescope vendors. We LOVE all of them..... We also sincerely love to serve the public in their quest for doing a good job at shopping.

I have seen so many dissapointed customers over the years who failed to shop properly that this new opportunity on the Internet has been extremely satisfying for me and my staff.

The tools at GOG and at Bill L's place are wonderful and good for marketing. They demonstrate visually what might be a difficult subject when approached verbally. These devices don't do for us what they might do for a consumer with only a small amount of knowledge. Experience and good eyes count very heavily in the diamond world. These tools don't make the difference in RESULTS or I would own them. I have a very major investment in the necessary tools of my trade and have also played around with all the toys, too. The things we use are what we need to use. The things we don't use, we believe we don't need to own. Others may hold slightly different views and we accept that there may be differences of opinion. We are committed to doing a thorough job for anyone who comes to us.

 

[niceice]

Who is Dave Atlas?

JUST KIDDING - we can't explain why, but we just had an incredible urge to do that

A lot of people wonder about the "relationship" that vendors might share with appraisers, but we can tell you with all truth that we have sent diamonds to just about every independent appraiser listed here on PS and at one time or another each one of them has rejected a stone or two for one reason or another... Not many mind you because we're extremely selective, but one or two, here and there, for whatever reason. The fact of the matter is that the appraiser has a fiduciary responsibility to represent the needs of the client who he is working on behalf of, in this case, if you are paying for the service, you are the person the gemologist is working for.

 

[Diamondeek]

WOW, such nice things about us..hehe...Thanks for the kind words, you guys are awesome..Never an issue to help and there really are NO stupid questions...have to handle each person with personal attention and total respect, it's big $$$ we're talking about and all the research that can be done on the net these days is great, but it certainly does not make everyone a gemologist. So, basically saying that I am here to help..and the reward? The positive responses and the great people I get to meet along the way..
Thanks again for the kind words... (also, doesn't hurt when the boss sends his employee the thread..hehe..)
Thanks All...
Chris (AGA)