Accuracy of Shane and Co Appraisals??

[joflier]

Hi - I'm just wondering if there's any consenus on how accurate Shane and Co jewelers are with their diamond appraisals. I found a ring on ebay that has an appraisal from them labeling the center stone as and F VVS1. The price is excellent, so I'd like to snag it if the appraisal is even close to accurate. There are Shane stores in my area, so I'm not at all familiar with the company.

 

[Gypsy]

I would make sure you have a good return policy and get it appraised yourself. There's no way to know who was appraising it that day or whether they are competent or not. Mostly likely if it's an in-house appraisal of an uncertified stone they sold, it's inflated. So base your purchase on the price as if it were an eyeclean VS2 H.

 

[sonnyjane]

Just to be clear, is the stone certified by ANY company? GIA, EGL, or IGI? I know they sell stones that are certified by those companies as well as stones that are not certified by anyone at all. My set came from them (non-certified) and I recently had my ring re-appraised for insurance purposes, as I bought my set in 2008. My center stone was, according to the new appraiser, the same color, but was actually one step higher in clarity. I highly doubt that's the norm, and I was prepared for it to be lower. My side stones were appraised as being smaller than listed (listed as .8tcw and appraised for .5tcw).

I would expect that it is worse than F VVS1 if it's not certified by GIA, but if you like the look of the stone and are willing to deal with the fact that it's probably not as listed, AND the price is right, then go right ahead

 

[joflier]

I don't know if its certified. I assume not as the seller did not include that in the listing. So I'm just going by the appraisal. I would be perfectly fine with it being a couple steps down in clarity/color, as the price is more than fair. I haven't had any experience with the box stores, so was curious if they typically 'up' their diamond qualities.

 

[sonnyjane]

I don't know if its certified. I assume not as the seller did not include that in the listing. So I'm just going by the appraisal. I would be perfectly fine with it being a couple steps down in clarity/color, as the price is more than fair. I haven't had any experience with the box stores, so was curious if they typically 'up' their diamond qualities.

Yes. I am happy with the stone that I got, and I lucked out, as I bought an uncertified stone prior to gaining my Pricescope knowledge. If I had it to do over again, I would have definitely gone with a GIA stone. As Gypsy mentioned, if you do decide to purchase, make sure they have a return policy.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Jewelry store appraisals are meaningless as far as purchasing an ungraded diamond goes. I'd trust one of our PS independent appraisers to give me an initial assessment before sending a diamond back or sending it on to GIA, but I would not count on a jewelry store appraisal to be accurate, plus you have no way to verify that the stone is even the one in the "appraisal", or that the appraisal hasn't been fabricated. My philosophy is that great stones are always going to be graded by GIA (or AGS) and I don't trust anything else. Exceptions can be antique rings which wouldn't have ever been certified. Then, you just have to have a return policy in order to get the item appraised.

 

[mandasand]

I think their grading is pretty accurate. However, I doubt it's certified. I searched on eBay and I think I found the ring that you're looking at. You may want to ask the seller for additional pics because the listing said there is also a wedding band but the pic doesn't show it. If you buy it, have the seller write a letter transferring the ring to you to ensure Shane Co upgrade policy transfers to you. It's really simple, she just needs to state she is transferring it to [insert your name]. I sold my Shane Co old e-ring private party and all I had to do is write the letter. Turns out my original appraisal was less than the current value, so the new buyer had another $1000 trade in money. I guess with the higher price of gold and diamonds nowadays.

 

[MustangGal]

I bought a .48ct round on Craigslist a few years ago that had a Shance Co. appriasal of J/I1. My jeweler rated it G/H SI, not sure who had it right, but either way it wasn't totally off I believe. Just make sure you have it checked out and get a return period.