AGS0 - What is comparable in GIA? (newbie)

[StonesThrow]

I''ve been lurking for a while now, and I have to say that the amount of good-natured, knowledgeable people here is far beyond what I experience on my other non-jewelry forums. But I digress

I''m beginning to narrow down my guidelines for a center stone for an engagement ring. My question has to do with ''Ideal Cut'' diamonds. I know AGS0 is indeed ideal. I haven''t been able to get an accurate answer to this question: What do you look for in a GIA certificate to determine an ideal stone? If it''s not there, would a Sarin Report do the trick (i.e. 0''s there is a good indicator?). At first, I didn''t think this would be a problem, as I was planning on going with a true H&A stone, but through my extensive (obsessive?) reading here I''ve decided I don''t need that ''H&A'' label. I''ll be just fine if I can find an ideal cut diamond...as I understand, oftentimes the H&A pattern is visible in many of these stones anyways.

Thanks in advance

 

[sunkist]

Hmmm, sorry I don''t think I have the answer you''re looking for. After much diamond searching myself, I''m finally starting to feel comfortable looking at the numbers in the measurements to see if it''s a well cut diamond. Also I love searching by cut here on PS and it gives you an AGS score even for GIA certed stones.

Welcome to PS and have fun hunting down your perfect stone!

 

[valeria101]

Date: 1/19/2006 12:18:38 AM
Author:StonesThrow

I know AGS0 is indeed ideal.

I haven't been able to get an accurate answer to this question: What do you look for in a GIA certificate to determine an ideal stone?

On the current format, nothing. There should be some new type of certs with Sarin numbers (sort of - look up stuff about 'rounding' on the new GIA certs). With some salt. 'guess you could use the HCA or similar second-guessing means. But... haven't seen these new sort of paper around this forum, or in nature and it may take a while... and there may be a premium on the new GIA cut grades that defeats the whole exercise

My 2c

 

[Garysax]

I think Valeria may be onto something from a bargain standpoint--the fact that you have to look a little harder (see them in person, see Sarin, see idealscopes etc) to determine what a great GIA cut is may be the main thing making great GIA stones affordable. Since most people know they can trust the AGS to usually be a great stone, there''s a definite premium there.

I know it''s not what you want to hear but in some ways it could be a blessing there''s no comparable thing!

 

[StonesThrow]

Not necessarily the answer I was looking for, no, but it is actually helpful. Nice to know what I need to do to get what I want.

So here''s my plan of action, based on reading and responses:
- Continue to use the HCA and Search by Cut here on PS to compare AGS to similar GIA stones
- Don''t count out GIA stones, as I was previously semi-doing
- Insist on asking for measurements, IS pics, etc. where not provided.

And play eenie-meenie-miney-mo and pick a vendor from the list. Most all of them seem to be entirely reputable, and pricing doesn''t seem to have a huge discrepancy, site-to-site.

 

[strmrdr]

A gia certed diamond with a lot of other information from a trustworth vendor is a no problem and your missing some kicken diamonds by counting them out.
Look for info other than the cert.
To be honest just an ags cert isnt enough for me, still need IS and sarin or better yet a helium scan.

 

[tomngo]

Hi,

I knew many people said that a GIA does not shows pavilion/crown angle on its report. I bought my wife GIA certified diamond last year(graded on Oct 17, 2005), it did came with an additional 3x6 sheet of paper(which also from GIA),that lists all of the angle/depth measurement for the diamond.

Tom

 

[valeria101]

Date: 1/19/2006 9:30:41 AM
Author: tomngo

I knew many people said that a GIA does not ...

That must have been the retailers'' report. Preparing these new grades, GIA started to included stats in the retailers'' reports sooner than it did on the commercial paper.

Good point! There may not be too many stones with such ''fresh'' GIA reports though... And I wonder who even has those papers for the stones on virtual inventories - the seller or the current owner, whoever they are.

Thanks for mentioning. I had totally forgotten about those.

 

[Rod]

Your question points out how difficult it is for the uneducated to buy a good stone. For me though, I decided to trust a few things.

1. I would not accept a stone that wasn''t either GIA or AGS graded (I chose GIA)

2. I would not accept a stone that didn''t pass muster with the jeweler I was working with (he liked the stone so much he found that he decided to purchase it whether I bought it or not)

3. I would not purchase a stone I couldn''t see with my own eyes in varying lighting situations

Beyond that, I decided it was a bit more complex to completely understand stones by the numbers. My head was spinning and I was developing a "nervous twitch!" LOL

I know we all want the absolute "best" we can get for our budgets. But, at what point do we begin driving ourselves crazy and over analyze things. For me, it came down to "How Good Is Good Enough?" I didn''t see sarin''s, idealscopes, etc. I just saw a really well cut stone that sparkled a lot and it spoke to me.

I hope you have the same luck as I did...........Best wishes...

 

[JohnQuixote]

Date: 1/19/2006 9:30:41 AM
Author: tomngo
Hi,

I knew many people said that a GIA does not shows pavilion/crown angle on its report. I bought my wife GIA certified diamond last year(graded on Oct 17, 2005), it did came with an additional 3x6 sheet of paper(which also from GIA),that lists all of the angle/depth measurement for the diamond.

Tom

Tom, you got one of the new GIA reports. An improvement over the old ones, minus the fact that those numbers are rounded (crown angle within .5 of a degree for instance). Curious - was there any indication to you on that report that the numbers were rounded? Fine print on the back?

 

[tomngo]

Hi John,

The jeweler whom I bought the diamond from is my mom friend for over 40 years. When we looked at the diamonds, I have noted all diamonds that are over 1.00 carat have the same addional sheet of info, anythings less than 1.00 just have the standard GIA report. The report that came with our diamond was a 2005 hence it did not has the Cut grading on it.
I know now that the diamonds that we bought is not an ideal cut because of the pavilion angle(but is not bad either!, thanks Strmdr). That wasn''t the jeweler fault, it was my wife..she picked it out of ten that was shown to us.

I agree with some of the members that they would only consider diamonds with AGS or GIA only. I personal think that with AGS000 or GIA Cut Excellent diamonds would only helps novice like myself pick a decent one. IMHO,I do not think that any diamonds with a paper that said it is an ideal/excellent cut will quarantee performance.

In the early 70''s my dad bought for my mom a 1.71 carat, D color, VVS1(that''s all I know). I am told that it was very very expensive at that time?. This diamond is one of the most beautiful diamond I have ever seen. My sister HOF is very beautiful but not even come close to compare! I have never seen an EightStar but I have read it somewhere that when you see it from 30 feet away, you would think that the diamond itself was jumping out of the ring(something like that). Well if that the case, then in my layman observation with my mom diamond, from the same distance, her diamond would flies out and hits you on the face!!!

I am sorry that it took so long. John, here is the pic the sheet of info that I was talking about.

Thanks,
Tom