Abazias?

[lenhejo]

Hi all.

Has anyone ever heard of Abazias. They seem to be a large, public discounted diamond retailer with a huge inventory?

Thanks.

 

[oldminer]

We have appraised several stones for customers of this firm. I believe they are doing a good job. We have not seen any problems.

 

[Iceman]

Dont mistake a huge inventory for lists of paper. When you see many people posting the same diamond thats a clue they dont own it.

Not that is a bad thing, but I just dont want the public to think different.

I found out my next door neighbor who is retired put up lists of paper showing people he has diamonds ! He orders them then from me ? I guess anybody can be a jeweler now a days

As long as he pays upfront

People dont have a clue who they deal with some times

 

[GlitterGal]

----------------
On 5/26/2004 4:19:30 PM Iceman wrote:

I found out my next door neighbor who is retired put up lists of paper showing people he has diamonds ! He orders them then from me ? I guess anybody can be a jeweler now a days

As long as he pays upfront

People dont have a clue who they deal with some times

----------------

Hi Corey,

Does he have his GG?

Kindest regards always,
Linda

 

[niceice]

The company has been around for awhile. Is it two years now? Three? Five? Time seems to be flying along. They seem to sell a lot of diamonds... Corey is right however, long lists of diamonds don't necessarily make for a reliable or reputable dealer, just long lists of diamonds which every dealer here on PS has access to because it is simply a copy of the multiple listing service which is available to the trade by subscription. Nothing against Abazias, but selling diamonds off of virtual lists seems like such a disservice to the public because it seems to us that there is an assumed trust by the public that the dealer has actually seen the diamond being offered for sale and that is so rarely the case. Price is not everything, you can end up paying more in shipping and appraisal fees than you stand to save by buying a diamond from a virtual vendor who drop ships diamonds to customers without ever seeing them... We suggest working with a vendor who actually physically inspects the diamonds being represented before agreeing to sell them. We end up rejecting a lot of diamonds "off paper" and during our physical evaluation process that our clients may have purchased because they simply don't know better... We had a client ask us to take a look at a 1.69 carat, H, VS-2 off of another vendor's virtual list this morning because it was interesting to him and we had already passed over the diamond because of the extensive feathering located on the underside of the stone, his response was "I guess this is why I'm not a diamond buyer!" and he's right, that's our job. If you want to work with Abazias because of the price point, we think that's great, but do yourself a favor and make Oscar provide you with some detailed clarity photographs of the inclusions and a scanned copy of the original lab report before you agree to purchase the diamond so that you're at least making a purchase based on detailed information rather than a couple of lines of text that is being copied from virtual dealer to dealer. Feel free to post a link to the Diamond Details page here on PS for additional comment.

 

[limey]

Work with a dealer that has hand picked their stones such as niceice, goodoldgold, whiteflash - ever purchased anything else so significant without looking at it? In the case of these vendors you get to see it via photographs, detailed reports and most importantly their expert eyes.

 

[mini]

We would like to let everyone know that we do inspect diamonds for our customers. We provide pictures and honest evaluations of any diamond that a customer would like. We always try to go above and beyond expectations for customer service. We take pride in educating and helping each and every individual. We provide detailed information and also let a customer know when a particular diamond is not up to a high standard of quality.

Along with us, there are several other companies on pricescope that share a database and in addition, provide their own selection of personal inventory.
We believe that we offer a great service to our customers, giving them extensive selections from which to choose. Any diamond that is not in house, we always offer to bring in for examination and pictures at no cost or risk. We desire our customers complete satisfaction and comfort.

We apologize that we do not always have time to post or respond here and it is quite often that we find misinformation posted about our company and the services we provide. We strongly recommend researching any company and having knowledge before making an important purchase and just wanted to make sure accurate information is received.


Sincerely,
The Staff at Abazias
www.abazias.com

 

[Brian Knox]

Hi All,

Robin & Todd hit the nail on head.

Consumers are better served by dealers that stock diamonds, and are able to describe, compare and show photographs, etc from many diamonds at a time.

Furthermore, I submit that the better diamonds (stronger SI's, etc) are purchased by "stocking dealers" and the rest (the bad and the ugly) are sold by the paper.

Ducking

 

[hoorray]

I am also going to have to duck after this post, but I take the opposite perspective.

I think the broader choice you have the better. I think all of these stocking vendors bring a lot to the table talent and integrity-wise, but they can reasonably only stock a certain number of stones. If they happen to have the perfect stone for you, then lucky you. If not, then you need to branch out to those who will have the same integrity and knowledge and can find the stone for you off of these dreaded lists! (THere are still many quality diamonds out there....)

I've never dealt with Abazias (when I've inquired on stones, I haven't been able to get enough information efficiently enough to keep their stones in the running, but that is a different issue...). So, I'm not making an integrity or knowledge comment on them either way, but I don't think you need to discount the "list" stones. Many vendors these days are taking a hybrid approach with in house stock and lists, and are willing to bring the list stones in for evaluation. I just don't see how that can be a bad thing.

 

[solange]

I just bought a beautiful ring from Whiteflash. Some vendors, such as Whiteflash, will look for a stone for you that is not in their inventory or on the multiple data base if you call them and tell them what you are looking for. Perhaps Abazia provides this service as well.

Lesley located a perfect stone for me and had it shipped to Whiteflash for inspection. Brian, who is their ACA cutter, discussed the stone at length with me and highly recommended it.
I got a beautiful stone at a great price and they did an excellent job mounting it in their new knife edge Tiffany style custom mounting.
You can see my ring on Show Me the Ring. You can save a lot of time by contacting vendors directly, telling them your requirements and then determining if they are responsive and willing to provide the information,such as Sarin, photos, etc.
I would not have considered making a costly purchase without having the vendor see the ring and be able to give specific information with the stone,not a piece of paper, in his hand.

I also had the stone sent to an independent appraiser who verified the Sarin,also did an OGI, verified the GIA report and said it was a perfectly proportioned stone and matched the vendor's description. If you go this route, you may find that there are excellent stones that may not ever get to the multiple vendor list because merchants know which vendors have customers for particular stones and will contact them before they list them.
I did not have to pay for the stone until it was set and ready to be shipped by overnight Fedex.

 

[niceice]

We're REALLY glad to see that Abazias is beginning to stock a personal inventory and will provide verification and evaluation services for their clients! Very happy to see that indeed! That IS the responsble way to work off those lists! So do customers need to specify that they would like their diamond purchase evaluated so that they will be provided with detailed clarity photographs, proportions analysis, etc. or are you doing that automatically as diamonds are ordered by clients?

How are the diamonds in your personal inventory separated from the diamonds that are provided by the virtual list? We took a quick cruise of your web site and found two diamonds which appear to be in-stock as "specials" one of which is a 1.12 carat, G, VS-2 "Amore Hearts & Arrows Diamond" Stock #111 that shows this picture as an example of the "Hearts & Arrows" pattern:

with a file reference of: http://www.abazias.com/image/round-ha-large.jpg so is that an actual image of the actual "Hearts & Arrows" pattern exhibited by this particular diamond -or- is this a generic file photo because there is no reference to the diamond grading report number or the stock number in the file name so we kind of assume that it is a generic photograph. We backed a copy of the picture up to our server just so there won't be any mistake at some later date that this is the picture originally provided with the diamond off of your site, here is the pic on our server:

and here is the file name: http://www.niceice.com/images/abazias_ha111.bmp

Is that what you're calling "Hearts & Arrows" these days or is that file photo a mistake?!?!

 

[mm]

Although I am still looking for a diamond, Abazias have been the most impressive internet vendor for me to date.

They always respond to my email queries- within a day. This is unfortunately not the case with at least 2 other well known pricescope vendors- one of whom is still to respond to 2 emails sent over a week- despite their website caliming all responses within one business day!

Abazias offer a pricematch policy- so they can match the lower prices available from other vendors.

They will also call-in the diamond to inspect before sending, and have offered pictures of the diamonds, and light leakage photos (although these are supplied with a H&A scope, which is not a very effective measure of light leakage, and probably should be done with a idealscope or firescope instead).

Some vendors offer call-in service- but they don't pricematch.
Some vendors pricematch, but won't call in and provide photos or light leakage.
Abazias has offered both to me.

I can't vouch for their actual sales service etc, but so far thay have impressed me.

cheers
mm

 

[niceice]

----------------
On 5/26/2004 9:25:34 PM mm wrote:

They will also call-in the diamond to inspect before sending, and have offered pictures of the diamonds, and light leakage photos (although these are supplied with a H&A scope, which is not a very effective measure of light leakage, and probably should be done with a idealscope or firescope instead).----------------

That's all right, we're not "convinced" that the Ideal Scope and the Fire Scope actually indicate "leakage" so we wouldn't worry about that, but Oscar would probably provide you with Ideal Scope images if you asked him for them, they're easy enough to take and most of the dealers here on PS have at least one I.S. on hand because people do ask about that from time to time... If he can take pictures of the H&A patterns, he can take pictures of the I.S. images.

We've heard great things about Abazias and we're happy to see that they're beginning to house physical inventory... You should do well by them.

 

[pricescope]

Why people make such big fuzz about drop shipping? IMO, if a customer has money back guarantee and an option to verify it with independent appraiser, it is up to the customer to decide which vendor or service he/she wish to choose.

Gentle reminder to all the vendors: do not create fear-based doubts in consumers' minds. (forum policies 8.d.)

 

[hoorray]

Good point leonid!

I bought my 2.5ct E, VS2 stone from a drop ship vendor. Some people here would call me crazy for that. They drop shipped it to an appraiser where we reviewed it in person with him. We had done our homework in selecting the stone, and had asked for opinions and help from the good people here, before having it shipped, and all worked out well! I love the stone and don't regret the drop ship method one bit. Since then, I have worked with vendors who stock stones. I bought some SI2 stones for earrings, and was glad to have pics and live opinions before hand on those stones, since clarity was going to be more hit and miss.

I think it depends on the situation, but done right, there is nothing inherently wrong with buying drop shipped stones.

 

[AbaziasTom]

Hi All,

First, I would like to let everyone know that we are not just a "drop ship vendor." The owner, Oscar Rodriguez, has had a jewelry store front for nearly 15 years. About three years ago, he decided to venture into the rapidly developing online diamond business. Since the very beginning, we have offered to have diamonds called into our office for picture taking and professional analysis. Here are some examples of pictures you can expect to receive from us:

That is a 1.60 E SI1 AGS certified stone.

All of the diamonds we sell are certified by reputable companies like GIA and AGS, who mark the inclusions on a plot of the diamond. The customer sees a copy of the certificate before we even call the diamond in our office, so there are no surprises as to the size or nature of the inclusions. If a customer has a specific concern about an inclusion, I can take a higher magnification photo clearly outlining it (as seen above).

It is our personal preference and strong recommendation that we have ANY diamond we sell sent to our office before the customer receives it. We like to check out the stone and make sure there is nothing about it that would displease the customer, because if the diamond is returned, it just wastes time and shipping money and is overall an unpleasant experience. It's our full intention to make these very important purchases as smooth as possible, and we like to do it right the first time.

However, occasionally a customer will be in a rush, and MUST have a diamond the next day, leaving no extra 24 hour window for the stone to come to us first. While this is not our ideal method of conducting a transaction, we still have a ten day no-questions-asked return policy, so in the event that the customer is not satisfied, they can ship it back to us and we will help them choose another stone.

Many customers also opt to have their stone verified by an independent appraiser, which is an excellent choice. An unbiased review by such a contractor is very important when making such a large purchase. A customer should have as broad of a spectrum of opinions as possible to confirm that they are getting what they're paying for, and that the stone is accurately, competitively priced.

The advantage to stocking so few stones is that we have the ability to offer diamonds for prices incredibly lower than many retail vendors. The idea that the appraisal process and any extra shipping fees (I would approximate no more than $350) exceeds these vast savings is absurd.

Regarding Robin and Todd's comments about the pictures of the 1.12 G VS2, I am the one that takes all of these photographs, edits them accordingly for website display in Photoshop, and chooses the file names. At the time that I took the pictures for the RB 1.12 G VS2 and the PR 1.49 H SI1, we had only one round and one princess, so I didn't see the need to call the file "rb-112-g-vs2-h&a.jpg."

Since the original addition of these stones to our website, we also acquired a 1.40 G VS2 amore, which was just sold this week in a beautiful three-stone ring. Here's a picture for the curious minds:

While the stone was on the website, the filename WAS specified as "amore-140-ha.jpg" Since we had so few in-stock specials, I didn't consider renaming the pictures of the 1.12 to be necessary. If we had an in-stock selection any larger than that, I would definitely make sure to be more accurate and thorough in the organization of the filenames.

Saving the picture to your server is completely uncalled for, as Abazias and I have nothing to hide. I hope this explanation clarifies your concerns.

 

[niceice]

----------------
On 5/27/2004 11:44:20 AM AbaziasTom wrote:

Saving the picture to your server is completely uncalled for, as Abazias and I have nothing to hide. I hope this explanation clarifies your concerns.----------------

We've learned over time to do so based on experiences with other vendors where statements have been made regarding statements made on their web site which were quickly replaced with the correction followed by "we never said that".

We appreciate the clarification regarding the structure of the file names as we're sure that your customers will appreciate more specific file names in the future since many of them will save those images to their computer for future reference, build personalized web pages based upon those images, etc. and it will make them more comfortable with their purchase knowing that the images being provided do in fact represent the specific diamond they have purchased. Your efforts to do so after becoming aware of the importance will increase the public's perception of your reliability as a vendor which is of course important in our virtual world.

Leonid, we know that you don't see a problem with virtual vendors and the virtual sale of diamonds... And we recognize that it is a viable market, but the public should be perfectly clear on the fact that they are purchasing a virtual stone which has not and never will be seen by the vendor offering the stone for sale before the customer receives it. Most people are not aware of this fact, their perception is that these dealers actually have this phenomenal inventory and they "think" that the vendors drop shipping these diamonds have carefully evaluated the diamond that they are placing their trust and tossing a large portion of their (average) financial net worth into cyber space to purchase. Think it's not a problem? Shibbel's thread two weeks ago titled Got my ring from a PS dealer =( is a perfect example of the kind of problem that this method of sales can cause. Was Shibbel under the impression that the trusted dealer was drop shipping a diamond ring that had never been seen? It certainly doesn't seem like it, no, there was an assumed trust that the vendor was actually representing the interests of the client and KNEW what he was talking about when he sold the diamond and the ring to Shibbel. But that wasn't the case, was it? Everything was drop shipped without the dealer ever seeing a thing!

Look. It's one thing to say "search our live inventory" and another to say "search our virtual inventory". Likewise, it is one thing to expand your offerings by offering virtual inventory that will be brought in for evaluation once a client expresses an interest in it and another matter entirely to drop ship diamonds to people without seeing them when there is a basic assumption on the part of the public that the dealer has actually seen the stone!

We think that this thread is actually an excellent advertisement for Abazias. It has served to clear up some common misunderstandings about their operations, one being that they are virtual dealers when in fact they have stated that they operate a retail store and maintain a physical inventory of diamonds AND that they are willing and able to provide their customers with detailed clarity photographs of the diamond, Hearts & Arrows images, proportions analysis, etc. just like those provided by ourselves, GOG, WF, and SC. We think that is excellent! As more and more of the virtual dealers begin to offer such service to their clients, there will be fewer and fewer posts such as Shibbel's here on PS and the reliability of buying diamonds via the internet will improve dramatically which will be beneficial to all of us. Thank you Abazias for the clarification

 

[Richard Sherwood]

I just finished appraising the above 1.60 E SI1 AGS stone for a consumer purchasing it from Abazias.

Great stone at a great price. Client was very pleased. Abazias is definitely a contender.

 

[Dancing Fire]

----------------
On 5/27/2004 8:32:36 PM Richard Sherwood wrote:

I just finished appraising the above 1.60 E SI1 AGS stone for a consumer purchasing it from Abazias.

Great stone at a great price. Client was very pleased. Abazias is definitely a contender.----------------

Rich
Is that a H&A stone? the reason i ask because the above pictures is kind of fuzzy.

 

[valeria101]

This thread seems like a call for formal H&A grading.

But what could possibly be wrong about calling those patterns "Harts and Arrows" ? It easy to see that the descriptions of "true H&A" on PS associates the "H&A" name with a more restrictive definition. But down the same front page is the "Cut Adviser" link with it's related idea that the H&A standard and light return are good cousins but not identical twins

Maybe make room for H&A grades somewhere? And leave room for the "Holloway Ideals" along it, just maybe...

It's great to have a sample of stones standing for the top that technology can deliver, and the knowledge to show why they are tops on all grounds. Any scale of value usually makes the top stand out instinctively, if anything

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Vtigger- no, the diamond is an AGS 0 which was not cut as a Hearts & Arrows stone.

Even still, the optical symmetry is very good for a non H&A stone.

 

[strmrdr]

niceice is right this thread has changed how I think of Abazias.
I had written them off as just another "drop shipper" and now that I know they also offer full service will take another look at them.

I dont see it as them creating fear I see it as them pushing for change in the way some dealers sell diamonds on the net and I agree with them.
I would not buy nor recomend anyone buy without first having a diamond expert I/they trusted look over the diamond first.

All of the stocking dealers here say that there is a large portion of the diamonds they get in that they reject for various reasons.
By buying from a "drop shipper" you are missing out on that very important filter.
Like hca,idealscope or other scope images,h&a photos, clarity photos, sarin/ogi, b-scope; the vendors eyes and experence is a filter to pre-seperate the diamonds so the consumer does not waste time and money having to seperate the diamonds themselves.
In my opinion a trusted vendor is the most important filter of all because as good as the other things are they do not tell everything about a diamond.
By pushing people away from drop shippers I feel that R/T is doing the buying public a great service.

Yes they are outspoken but I like that because so am I :}

 

[hoorray]

strm...I agree with you that stocking vendors provide a very useful service to consumers buying over the web. However, they are limited in what they can carry, and if you are looking for something specific, it can be hard to find.

I found in my search that many of the vendors pushed other stones since they didn't have anything in the range I was looking for. With some of them the bias to stones tey had made it hard to tell what was really true and not. (Niceice didn't do this btw -- they told me they thought I had found a nice stone elsewhere). An appraiser can help be the filtering eyes if the stocking vendors don't have the right thing. Especially if you send more than one stone to them to choose from. And, you get the benefit of their objectivity. There are more than one ways to accomplish the same goal!

 

[AbaziasTom]

----------------
On 5/28/2004 5:29:05 AM valeria101 wrote:



This thread seems like a call for formal H&A grading.

----------------

Actually, EGL does certify Hearts & Arrows. Here's a .50 F VS2:

 

[strmrdr]

----------------
On 5/28/2004 10:33:49 AM lop wrote:

An appraiser can help be the filtering eyes if the stocking vendors don't have the right thing. Especially if you send more than one stone to them to choose from. And, you get the benefit of their objectivity. There are more than one ways to accomplish the same goal! ----------------

Yes that is true but that route costs more money and time.

If one of the stocking dealers doesnt have what I want they can get it and they have built that trust by the quality of the diamonds they select.
Like I said im taking a second look at Abazias and if I recomend one of their diamonds I will stress having them look at the diamond first and not have it dropped shipped the same as I would recomend they do if buying off a list from one of the stocking dealers.
I have no problem with and recomend asking one of the dealers to hunt for a diamond for someone.
Just make sure they view it first and dont drop ship it. :}

 

[niceice]

----------------
On 5/28/2004 10:37:59 AM AbaziasTom wrote:

----------------
On 5/28/2004 5:29:05 AM valeria101 wrote:

Actually, EGL does certify Hearts & Arrows.----------------

That may be, but actually WE would not consider the diamond referenced on the EGL lab report provided above to be a "Hearts & Arrows" diamond and herein lies part of the dilemma regarding what is and is not Hearts & Arrows.

Now this statement has NOTHING to do with Abazias and we want to make that clear! This is about H&A and only H&A.

The fact that a diamond might exhibit a pattern of hearts and arrows does not automatically qualify it as a "Hearts & Arrows" diamond. Any round brilliant cut diamond will exhibit some sort of pattern of hearts and arrows simply because the hearts are a distorted reflection of the kite shaped bezel facets from the top of the stone and the arrows are a distorted reflection of the pavilion main facets which extend outwards on the bottom half of the diamond from the culet point towards the girdle edge. The separation between the tips of the hearts and the chevron's beneath them is not sufficient to be considered as a Hearts & Arrows stone and there is variance in the size and shape of the hearts. Send that puppy to the CGL or Zenhokyo Laboratories in Japan and you're going to get "I don't think so" but are we suprised to see this type of grading in the U.S. market? Not really, it's a less precise game than the Asian market where the H&A market is much more defined. We grade by Japanese standards.

It would be a lot of fun to see what Brian at WF has to say about the H&A image on the EGL report provided here because he would be able to not only confirm that based upon the photo that this isn't a good example of H&A, but would also be able to tell us exactly why the sections are bleeding together from a technical perspective

 

[niceice]

----------------
On 5/28/2004 10:33:49 AM lop wrote:

strm...I agree with you that stocking vendors provide a very useful service to consumers buying over the web. However, they are limited in what they can carry, and if you are looking for something specific, it can be hard to find.----------------

All you have to do is ask, the reality is that all of the stocking vendors here on PS have access to most of the diamonds being listed by the virtual dealers, after all, we all subscribe to the same multiple listing services. It is simply that some of us choose to re-publish the multiple listing and others do not.

Approximately half of the diamonds that we sell never make it on to our Private Reserve listing, the sales are the direct result of specific searches conducted on behalf of clients who are looking for a specific diamond with exacting characteristics. We recently sourced a 2.46 carat, E, VVS-1 for one such client and he was continually amazed by our evaluation process. To begin with, we rejected several diamonds that were brought in specifically on his behalf after carefully evaluating the paper - diamonds of this value are not inexpensive to ship, so you might imagine that we considered the paper aspects of the diamond very carefully before having them shipped in... We could have easily sold one of those diamonds to him, but we didn't and eventually he came to realize that our interest in our clients goes way beyond simply selling them a diamond. There were some days when he would call up and beg for us to find him a stone because his fiance was about to kill him, and he learned that while we appreciated his plight, we still weren't going to sell him a sub-standard diamond. Some days he would email us links to two or three virtual stones found on other dealers web sites and unfortunately they were always links for diamonds which we had already rejected just off of the paper aspects of the stone... In an effort to conduct his own due diligence, he would double check our statements with the opinion of a trusted GIA Graduate Gemologist who he had hired on his own volition to protect his interest in the selection process. It took us more than three months to find the right stone for this particular client, but when we informed him that we had found the stone, all involved agreed that we really had found "The Stone". The GIA had graded the diamond as having no fluorescence, we sold it as having faint blue - an identifying characteristic. The Gemologist asked us "are you sure?" and we said "you'll have the stone tomorrow, tell us what you think" and the G.G. confirmed, faint blue.

Next came the matching pear shape accents, we rejected the first two pairs sent out by a well known supplier of matching fancy shape diamonds... The perfectly matched pair wasn't so perfectly matched IMO because one of the diamonds exhibited faint blue fluorescence and the other did not. We know this because we carefully oversee every step of our selection process, right down to the accent stones. We sifted through a parcel of pear shape diamonds containing 24 "matching" 6 x 4 mm pear shape diamonds and rejected all of the stones... In the mean time our client was going insane, he wanted the project to be over with, but he also confirmed that he wanted it done right. The accent stones needed to be as carefully selected as the center stone, his statement, not ours. Two weeks later, we sifted through another parcel and found the perfect pair, both with faint blue fluorescence and those went out to the G.G.

The ring is now being made by Mark Morrell and once again, the client will wait several weeks for perfection

We're not saying that Abazias and other dealers do not provide their clients with the same level of careful (anal) detail... Based upon their statements contained above in this thread, we're getting the impression that Oscar and his staff certainly will upon request... All we're trying to do is clarify the fact that those of us who stock inventory (1) have access to just about every other diamond listed by the virtual dealers - if - the diamond is actually available and not previously sold and hasn't dropped off the inventory list yet... And (2) the major advantage to working with a stocking dealer who is willing to reject a diamond as opposed to selling it (just to make the sale) is that the customer ultimately receives better service than they ever possibly can from a dealer who has nothing to offer but a line of ASCII Text.

 

[noobie]

----------------
On 5/28/2004 1:06:25 PM niceice wrote:

----------------
On 5/28/2004 10:33:49 AM lop wrote:





strm...I agree with you that stocking vendors provide a very useful service to consumers buying over the web. However, they are limited in what they can carry, and if you are looking for something specific, it can be hard to find.----------------

All you have to do is ask, the reality is that all of the stocking vendors here on PS have access to most of the diamonds being listed by the virtual dealers, after all, we all subscribe to the same multiple listing services. It is simply that some of us choose to re-publish the multiple listing and others do not.

Approximately half of the diamonds that we sell never make it on to our Private Reserve listing, the sales are the direct result of specific searches conducted on behalf of clients who are looking for a specific diamond with exacting characteristics. We recently sourced a 2.46 carat, E, VVS-1 for one such client and he was continually amazed by our evaluation process. To begin with, we rejected several diamonds that were brought in specifically on his behalf after carefully evaluating the paper - diamonds of this value are not inexpensive to ship, so you might imagine that we considered the paper aspects of the diamond very carefully before having them shipped in... We could have easily sold one of those diamonds to him, but we didn't and eventually he came to realize that our interest in our clients goes way beyond simply selling them a diamond. There were some days when he would call up and beg for us to find him a stone because his fiance was about to kill him, and he learned that while we appreciated his plight, we still weren't going to sell him a sub-standard diamond. Some days he would email us links to two or three virtual stones found on other dealers web sites and unfortunately they were always links for diamonds which we had already rejected just off of the paper aspects of the stone... In an effort to conduct his own due diligence, he would double check our statements with the opinion of a trusted GIA Graduate Gemologist who he had hired on his own volition to protect his interest in the selection process. It took us more than three months to find the right stone for this particular client, but when we informed him that we had found the stone, all involved agreed that we really had found 'The Stone'. The GIA had graded the diamond as having no fluorescence, we sold it as having faint blue - an identifying characteristic. The Gemologist asked us 'are you sure?' and we said 'you'll have the stone tomorrow, tell us what you think' and the G.G. confirmed, faint blue.

Next came the matching pear shape accents, we rejected the first two pairs sent out by a well known supplier of matching fancy shape diamonds... The perfectly matched pair wasn't so perfectly matched IMO because one of the diamonds exhibited faint blue fluorescence and the other did not. We know this because we carefully oversee every step of our selection process, right down to the accent stones. We sifted through a parcel of pear shape diamonds containing 24 'matching' 6 x 4 mm pear shape diamonds and rejected all of the stones... In the mean time our client was going insane, he wanted the project to be over with, but he also confirmed that he wanted it done right. The accent stones needed to be as carefully selected as the center stone, his statement, not ours. Two weeks later, we sifted through another parcel and found the perfect pair, both with faint blue fluorescence and those went out to the G.G.

The ring is now being made by Mark Morrell and once again, the client will wait several weeks for perfection

We're not saying that Abazias and other dealers do not provide their clients with the same level of careful (anal) detail... Based upon their statements contained above in this thread, we're getting the impression that Oscar and his staff certainly will upon request... All we're trying to do is clarify the fact that those of us who stock inventory (1) have access to just about every other diamond listed by the virtual dealers - if - the diamond is actually available and not previously sold and hasn't dropped off the inventory list yet... And (2) the major advantage to working with a stocking dealer who is willing to reject a diamond as opposed to selling it (just to make the sale) is that the customer ultimately receives better service than they ever possibly can from a dealer who has nothing to offer but a line of ASCII Text.
----------------

Robin and Todd,

You get my vote for the best non-self promotional; self promotional, customer testimonial post of the month

. Not that I mind at all, I enjoy reading them. I just want to give you my kudos for doing it so well.

 

[AbaziasTom]

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On 5/28/2004 12:46:42 PM niceice wrote:

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On 5/28/2004 10:37:59 AM AbaziasTom wrote:

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On 5/28/2004 5:29:05 AM valeria101 wrote:

Actually, EGL does certify Hearts & Arrows.----------------

That may be, but actually WE would not consider the diamond referenced on the EGL lab report provided above to be a 'Hearts & Arrows' diamond and herein lies part of the dilemma regarding what is and is not Hearts & Arrows.

Now this statement has NOTHING to do with Abazias and we want to make that clear! This is about H&A and only H&A.

The fact that a diamond might exhibit a pattern of hearts and arrows does not automatically qualify it as a 'Hearts & Arrows' diamond. Any round brilliant cut diamond will exhibit some sort of pattern of hearts and arrows simply because the hearts are a distorted reflection of the kite shaped bezel facets from the top of the stone and the arrows are a distorted reflection of the pavilion main facets which extend outwards on the bottom half of the diamond from the culet point towards the girdle edge. The separation between the tips of the hearts and the chevron's beneath them is not sufficient to be considered as a Hearts & Arrows stone and there is variance in the size and shape of the hearts. Send that puppy to the CGL or Zenhokyo Laboratories in Japan and you're going to get 'I don't think so' but are we suprised to see this type of grading in the U.S. market? Not really, it's a less precise game than the Asian market where the H&A market is much more defined. We grade by Japanese standards.

It would be a lot of fun to see what Brian at WF has to say about the H&A image on the EGL report provided here because he would be able to not only confirm that based upon the photo that this isn't a good example of H&A, but would also be able to tell us exactly why the sections are bleeding together from a technical perspective

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If you were to look at this stone in person under the Hearts & Arrows viewer, you would see that there is a signifigant space between the hearts and the chevrons. Unfortunately, my current camera won't pick up that very fine detail (I've tried repeatedly). So, unless you want to take the stone on memo, you're going to have to take my word for it.

This IS a true Hearts & Arrows stone.

Abazias is ALSO a "stocking dealer who is willing to reject a diamond as opposed to selling it (just to make a sale)."

Wishing everyone a splendid Memorial Day weekend...

 

[10X]

Hi Abazias Tom,

What you need to do is play with your depth of field (f-stop) and manual focus, aiming for less focus on the culet and more on the arrowheads at the tip of the chevron. If you were able to accomplish this I think you could avoid sending the diamond out on memo to prove your point. I believe it is a beautiful H & A diamond and could be considered an excellent diamond by American standards.

Attached is a picture focused on the culet similar to yours. And in the next post, the same stone properly focused.