I purchased the following diamond a few days ago from Blue Nile only to hear that the cert. may not match the diamond from a high-end jeweler in SF:
FYI: Before I purchased, I had the supplier provide two sarin reports (in parentheses).
1.71 AGS H VS1
7.71-7.78x4.73
Light Perf.: 0
Proportion factor: 0
Finish: 0
Polish: Ideal
Symmetry: Ideal
Table: 54% (54%, 54.1%)
Depth: 61.1% (60.9%)
Crown Angle: 33.7 (33.6) NOTE THAT 33.6 falls outside of AGS0 cut range but ironically produces a marinally better HCA score?
Pav. Angle: 41.1 (41,41.1)
Girdle .6%-4.4% (Thin-slightly thick)
It scores a 1.9 (Ex, VG, VG, VG) on the HCA based on the cert and 1.1 (Ex, EX, Ex, VG) based on the Sarin. So on paper, this looks like a great stone especially given that it only cost me $13.1 (bank wire, fat wallet discount). Everything else that I was seeing w/ these specs and scoring below 2 on the HCA was in the $15xxx. After eyeballing the stone, and being satisfied w/ my purchase, I took the stone to a local jewel (Goldberry in SF) to view the dimaond using AGS'' new ASET tool.
I showed the owner the cert. and she said it looked like a good stone and asked what I paid. I told her the amount and she said I got a great deal. One minute later, after viewing the diamond through the ASET, she said "something is wrong. This diamond does not match the cert." She said my stone was not an ideal cut and that I should get my money back from BN. She went on to give me her pitch on how I should only be buying a D and at the very least E color and to give her a call when I come to my senses for even considering an H color. Although, there was no doubt that she had an interest in selling me a diamond, I viewed my diamond thru the ASET and I did notice less than Ideal symmetry (arrows that were off). One caveat is that the top of the machine was not on correctly at first, which produced an even greater lack of symmetry. She showed me a picture of a H&A stone in a magazine and said my diamond should look like that. I told her that I didn''t think all AGS000 had perfect arrows and she continued to say that the diamond was at best a VG cut and thus, did not match the cert. despite the number on the girdle matching to the cert. To this end, she would not set the stone as she would be concerned w/ me coming back and complaining. She recommended that I return the diamond, call BN, call AGS, and post an angry message on a forum...and to call her to have her price some stones. While I''m certainly not as angry as she seemed to be, I''d love to get some expert opinions.
While I found her presumptious, threatening, and a bit offensive, that doesn''t discount the fact that the arrows seemed to be more than a little off in the ASET. My amateur guess as to the explanation is that either 1) AGS may have been a little looser when grading the symmetry/cut or 2) the jewelry store owner tilted the diamond in such a way that produced suboptimal viewing conditions.
Specifically, how likely is an AGS000 to have less than Ideal optical symmetry? Additionally, is it possible to tilt the diamond in such a way that shows very poor symmetry in an AGS000? What should be my next steps?
FYI: Before I purchased, I had the supplier provide two sarin reports (in parentheses).
1.71 AGS H VS1
7.71-7.78x4.73
Light Perf.: 0
Proportion factor: 0
Finish: 0
Polish: Ideal
Symmetry: Ideal
Table: 54% (54%, 54.1%)
Depth: 61.1% (60.9%)
Crown Angle: 33.7 (33.6) NOTE THAT 33.6 falls outside of AGS0 cut range but ironically produces a marinally better HCA score?
Pav. Angle: 41.1 (41,41.1)
Girdle .6%-4.4% (Thin-slightly thick)
It scores a 1.9 (Ex, VG, VG, VG) on the HCA based on the cert and 1.1 (Ex, EX, Ex, VG) based on the Sarin. So on paper, this looks like a great stone especially given that it only cost me $13.1 (bank wire, fat wallet discount). Everything else that I was seeing w/ these specs and scoring below 2 on the HCA was in the $15xxx. After eyeballing the stone, and being satisfied w/ my purchase, I took the stone to a local jewel (Goldberry in SF) to view the dimaond using AGS'' new ASET tool.
I showed the owner the cert. and she said it looked like a good stone and asked what I paid. I told her the amount and she said I got a great deal. One minute later, after viewing the diamond through the ASET, she said "something is wrong. This diamond does not match the cert." She said my stone was not an ideal cut and that I should get my money back from BN. She went on to give me her pitch on how I should only be buying a D and at the very least E color and to give her a call when I come to my senses for even considering an H color. Although, there was no doubt that she had an interest in selling me a diamond, I viewed my diamond thru the ASET and I did notice less than Ideal symmetry (arrows that were off). One caveat is that the top of the machine was not on correctly at first, which produced an even greater lack of symmetry. She showed me a picture of a H&A stone in a magazine and said my diamond should look like that. I told her that I didn''t think all AGS000 had perfect arrows and she continued to say that the diamond was at best a VG cut and thus, did not match the cert. despite the number on the girdle matching to the cert. To this end, she would not set the stone as she would be concerned w/ me coming back and complaining. She recommended that I return the diamond, call BN, call AGS, and post an angry message on a forum...and to call her to have her price some stones. While I''m certainly not as angry as she seemed to be, I''d love to get some expert opinions.
While I found her presumptious, threatening, and a bit offensive, that doesn''t discount the fact that the arrows seemed to be more than a little off in the ASET. My amateur guess as to the explanation is that either 1) AGS may have been a little looser when grading the symmetry/cut or 2) the jewelry store owner tilted the diamond in such a way that produced suboptimal viewing conditions.
Specifically, how likely is an AGS000 to have less than Ideal optical symmetry? Additionally, is it possible to tilt the diamond in such a way that shows very poor symmetry in an AGS000? What should be my next steps?
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