AGS "000" is all hype?

[rbjd]

This is a new thread to follow up an earlier post.

I finally figured out that there are three grades on an AGS report:

Cut
Color
Clarity

Each has its own scale of 0 to 10 with 0 being the best. Thus a TRUE "000" would be 0 Cut, 0 Color, and 0 Clarity.

The mythical "000" that people are always referring to is really a CUT 0 GRADE only.

Here is my question: AGS cut grade includes Polish, Symmetry and Proportions. Will AGS ONLY CERTIFY POLISH AND SYMMETRY AS IDEAL IF THE PROPORTIONS ARE ALSO IDEAL OR WILL AGS CERTIFY PROPORTION GRADES OF 1 AND 2 WITH IDEAL POLISH AND SYMMETRY?

Put another way, according to AGS, is a diamond only ideally symmetrical and polished if it ALSO HAS IDEAL (according to AGS) proportions?

That would seem ludricrous to me. Why couldn''t a poorly cut and non-symmetrical diamond have a perfect polish?

This is starting to seem like a marketing scheme designed to bring AGS more business, which has less to do with FACTUAL INFORMATION ABOUT DIAMONDS and more to do with MORE PROFIT FOR AGS.

It makes me question the ethics of the people in charge at AGS and give kudos to GIA for being more on target with the scientific method.

Am I wrong? Comments?

 

[rocknovice]

My understanding is that the term AGS000 refers to the three cut parameters. I can't see why a diamond couldnt have Ideal Symmetry and Proportion but only Excellent polish. It's cut grade would not be 0 but it would be less than 1 and it would not be an AGS000. I think an AGS000's certificate number will begin with 000 and non 000's will not. Maybe that's where the slang term AGS000 comes from

 

[StevL]

Any one of those items (proprtion, polish or symmetry) can be something other than ideal (one grade down is excellent) and the cut grade would drop to 1. All it takes is one of those ideals drops to excellent.

If two drop to excellent the cut grade is still 1. They take the single lowest grade to report the total cut grade.