Great site with lots of valuable information. From knowing very little about diamonds a month ago I can say this forum and the people that contribute to it have educated me quite a bit. I have been seriously looking for a diamond for over a month now and at various times have ranged from buying a ring at Costco to getting an AGS0 stone from an online vendor to sacrificing cut to get a bigger stone. Since I have not seen an AGS0 next to just a good cut stone it is difficult for me to judge what is worth paying for. Initially I thought I would just buy a ring and totally (somewhat) surprise my girlfriend. But she and I do a lot of things together and I thought it would help me and she would enjoy the process of selecting a diamond. From that we narrowed down the type of band and that a diamond down to an I in color and VS1 in clarity would be best. We looked at a couple of SI1''s and she could see the inclusion while I could not. She has very good eyesight and I do not.
I am away on business for the next few weeks and by chance ended up visiting a local jeweler right down the street from where I am staying. He store and displays are all very nice and he said he would give me a 35% discount off the "Rap" sheet including a tiffany platinum setting. The certs on his diamonds are mostly EGL and the one I am interested in came up as a 3 using the HCA. The grading scale is: 0-2 Excellent, 2-4 Very Good, 4-6 Good, 6-8 Fair, and 8-10 Poor. The diamond is a 1.51 I VSI and the price would be around $7,500 including the platinum tiffany setting.
I would prefer an AGS or GIA certificate and the EGL does not have all of the information I would like. I did not ask the jeweler if he has an IdealScope. My girlfriend looked at the diamond using a loupe and loved it. But she also likes alot of the diamonds we have looked at online and at Costco. Without looking at them side by side I find it is difficult for me to judge.
Thoughts anyone? If I decide to buy from this or any jeweler should I have it sent out for appraisal and how does that process work with the jeweler? Is that commonplace for the jeweler to send it to an appraiser of your choice?
I will post all of the specifics I got from the EGL cert as soon as I find the piece of paper again. He told me I could make a copy of the cert but I just wrote everything down.
Thanks for anyones opinion on this.
I am away on business for the next few weeks and by chance ended up visiting a local jeweler right down the street from where I am staying. He store and displays are all very nice and he said he would give me a 35% discount off the "Rap" sheet including a tiffany platinum setting. The certs on his diamonds are mostly EGL and the one I am interested in came up as a 3 using the HCA. The grading scale is: 0-2 Excellent, 2-4 Very Good, 4-6 Good, 6-8 Fair, and 8-10 Poor. The diamond is a 1.51 I VSI and the price would be around $7,500 including the platinum tiffany setting.
I would prefer an AGS or GIA certificate and the EGL does not have all of the information I would like. I did not ask the jeweler if he has an IdealScope. My girlfriend looked at the diamond using a loupe and loved it. But she also likes alot of the diamonds we have looked at online and at Costco. Without looking at them side by side I find it is difficult for me to judge.
Thoughts anyone? If I decide to buy from this or any jeweler should I have it sent out for appraisal and how does that process work with the jeweler? Is that commonplace for the jeweler to send it to an appraiser of your choice?
I will post all of the specifics I got from the EGL cert as soon as I find the piece of paper again. He told me I could make a copy of the cert but I just wrote everything down.
Thanks for anyones opinion on this.