A Questions For Our Experts

[Calliecake]

A fiend of mine got engaged a few months ago. Last week she looked down and noticed a chip in her 1 carat diamond (with her own eyes, using no magnification) The ring is insured. She took the ring to the jeweler they purchased it from and was told the chip in no way affected the value of the diamond. They reset the diamond so the chip is now located under a prong.

She was also told that by polishing the chip it would bring down the carat weight to under a carat. She was told not to polish the chip.

How can a chip that is visable to the naked eye not affect the value of a diamond. All things being equal would anyone buy a diamond with a noticeable chip? Am I missing something here.

 

[chrono]

A chip does affect the value of the diamond, if it is eye visible. It can bring a VS stone down to an SI, depending on the size of the chip. People have purchased diamonds with chips and set/hid it under a prong, the same way she did so, in order to stretch their budget.

 

[Calliecake]

A chip does affect the value of the diamond, if it is eye visible. It can bring a VS stone down to an SI, depending on the size of the chip. People have purchased diamonds with chips and set/hid it under a prong, the same way she did so, in order to stretch their budget.

Hi Chrono,

Thank you for replying to the question. If you had insurance on the diamond and had only had it for three months, would you replace it? Would this be a big deal to you or would you wear the ring and forget about it?

 

[chrono]

With it being eye visible and that a repolish will bring it down below the 1 carat magic mark (and price jump/drop), I would submit an insurance claim for a replacement.

 

[RADIANTMAN]

A chip definitely affects the value of the diamond and if fixing it will bring the weight below 1 carat the effect is likely substantial. Most insurance policies cover damage to the diamond.

You should get an estimate for the repair costs including labor, recertification and loss of value due to weight loss and changes in spread, cut quality etc. and then decide whether you'd rather fix this diamond and get compensated for the cost of repair and loss of value or whether you'd prefer a new diamond.

Replacing the diamond would definitely be the easiest route so if the insurance company will do that you probably should consider it. The one thing you should NOT do is put a prong over it and pretend it's not there unless for some reason it turns out not to be covered by insurance.