Any concerns with this VS2 plot?

[mwfp]

Hey all,

Should I be concerned with this VS2 plot? The feathers near the girdle a cause for concern?

 

[Andelain]

That looks like AGS. If so, you've got nothing to worry about.

 

[Amour_Et_Diamants]

I would not be concerned.

 

[mwfp]

I'm curious--why no concern if AGS?

That looks like AGS. If so, you've got nothing to worry about.

 

[Amour_Et_Diamants]

AGS is accurate with grading. I would be concerned if It were an EGL, VS2, feather on/near the girdle because it could be an Si2/I1 with a durability issue.

 

[Todd Gray]

That looks like AGS. If so, you've got nothing to worry about.

I want to click on to the next page and ignore this, because I'm 99.999999% confident that what you're trying to say is that the VS-2 clarity grade is accurate because the diamond is graded by the AGSL, which is an assumption that is likely to be accurate.

However I'm concerned that somebody might interpret the statement "That looks like AGS. If so, you've got nothing to worry about." incorrectly and assume that the inclusions within a diamond, feathers in this particular instance, do not present any potential durability risk, simply because the diamond is graded by the AGSL (implying that diamonds graded by the AGSL do not contain inclusions which can be a concern)

While the AGS does consider durability issues as part of their light performance based grading platform, it is only from the perspective of whether the cut quality of the diamond is "resistant to chipping" e.g. girdle thickness.

As far as the inclusions of the diamond are concerned, diamond grading laboratories such as the AGSL and the GIA, merely indicate their presence within the diamond by stating what inclusion types are present within the diamond; and if a plotting diagram appears on the diamond grading report, they will indicate the relative position and extent of the inclusions.

Feathers are minute fractures within a diamond, as such they all have the potential to present durability issues, however the majority of them are not a concern, but some definitely are and I've seen several instances of them spreading upon impact, or having too much pressure applied upon them while being set... Gemologists like Marty Haske, who are called upon by insurance companies for their experience in forensic gemology, will be able to share additional experience with such things.

Inclusion types which present potential durability issues are extensive feathers, or even series of small feathers stacked closely together, knots, cavities, and twinning wisps... I've always automatically rejected anything which contained knots and cavities, since both are surface inclusions and thus I feel they present more of an issue, plus I just don't like the concept of them; but feathers and twinning wisps have a good chance of being perfectly fine, and simply require a more hands-on approach by the vendor to determine whether they present a reasonable risk, or any risk at all, which very often they don't and the "concern" is no greater than the reason why I buckle my seat belt before driving off in my car... something "could happen" but the odds are that nothing will.

 

[WinkHPD]

That looks like AGS. If so, you've got nothing to worry about.

I want to click on to the next page and ignore this, because I'm 99.999999% confident that what you're trying to say is that the VS-2 clarity grade is accurate because the diamond is graded by the AGSL, which is an assumption that is likely to be accurate.

However I'm concerned that somebody might interpret the statement "That looks like AGS. If so, you've got nothing to worry about." incorrectly and assume that the inclusions within a diamond, feathers in this particular instance, do not present any potential durability risk, simply because the diamond is graded by the AGSL (implying that diamonds graded by the AGSL do not contain inclusions which can be a concern)

While the AGS does consider durability issues as part of their light performance based grading platform, it is only from the perspective of whether the cut quality of the diamond is "resistant to chipping" e.g. girdle thickness.

As far as the inclusions of the diamond are concerned, diamond grading laboratories such as the AGSL and the GIA, merely indicate their presence within the diamond by stating what inclusion types are present within the diamond; and if a plotting diagram appears on the diamond grading report, they will indicate the relative position and extent of the inclusions.

Feathers are minute fractures within a diamond, as such they all have the potential to present durability issues, however the majority of them are not a concern, but some definitely are and I've seen several instances of them spreading upon impact, or having too much pressure applied upon them while being set... Gemologists like Marty Haske, who are called upon by insurance companies for their experience in forensic gemology, will be able to share additional experience with such things.

Inclusion types which present potential durability issues are extensive feathers, or even series of small feathers stacked closely together, knots, cavities, and twinning wisps... I've always automatically rejected anything which contained knots and cavities, since both are surface inclusions and thus I feel they present more of an issue, plus I just don't like the concept of them; but feathers and twinning wisps have a good chance of being perfectly fine, and simply require a more hands-on approach by the vendor to determine whether they present a reasonable risk, or any risk at all, which very often they don't and the "concern" is no greater than the reason why I buckle my seat belt before driving off in my car... something "could happen" but the odds are that nothing will.

My "guess" is that you have nothing to worry about with this plot.

HOWEVER! I agree with Todd that you MUST see the diamond and inspect it carefully to know for sure, and even then it is not a 100% deal. Unlike Todd, I do not automatically reject a diamond with a cavity or knot, especially in VVS and VS1 clarity grades, as they are usually so tiny as to be insignificant, but I do give them extra extra scrutiny. (Yes, Virginia, there is the possibility of a cavity in a VVS diamond, I just looked at a VVS2 with one earlier this week. Certainly rare, and no, I did not reject the diamond because of it.)

I am a firm believer that there will be times when you accept or reject a diamond based on the paper alone, but once you have decided it is a possible accept, then you must ALSO SEE THE DIAMOND to know if YOUR eyes like it. Otherwise you might just be buying a bridge in New York.

Wink

 

[Karl_K]

While I agree that inclusions need to be evaluated on a case by case basis an AGSL grade vs2 feather has a high probability of being fine.

I do not like cavities or knots either.

Let me tell you a story about someone very close to me ring.
They did not have a lot of money starting out and they bought their wedding sets at Sears.
Her princess cut had a large eye visible feather on one side i1/i2 for sure.
Fast forward a few years, she dropped her ring in the sink and almost 1/2 the diamond shattered.
In the totally intact side good as new was the large feather the other side which was loop clean to me was diamond shards.(an expert grader may have seen something in there but I didn't.)

 

[WinkHPD]

While I agree that inclusions need to be evaluated on a case by case basis an AGSL grade vs2 feather has a high probability of being fine.

I do not like cavities or knots either.

Let me tell you a story about someone very close to me ring.
They did not have a lot of money starting out and they bought their wedding sets at Sears.
Her princess cut had a large eye visible feather on one side i1/i2 for sure.
Fast forward a few years, she dropped her ring in the sink and almost 1/2 the diamond shattered.
In the totally intact side good as new was the large feather the other side which was loop clean to me was diamond shards.(an expert grader may have seen something in there but I didn't.)

Just guessing, but if the diamond had been examined under crossed Polaroid filters, I bet there was tremendous strain prior to the breakage.

Wink

 

[Karl_K]

While I agree that inclusions need to be evaluated on a case by case basis an AGSL grade vs2 feather has a high probability of being fine.

I do not like cavities or knots either.

Let me tell you a story about someone very close to me ring.
They did not have a lot of money starting out and they bought their wedding sets at Sears.
Her princess cut had a large eye visible feather on one side i1/i2 for sure.
Fast forward a few years, she dropped her ring in the sink and almost 1/2 the diamond shattered.
In the totally intact side good as new was the large feather the other side which was loop clean to me was diamond shards.(an expert grader may have seen something in there but I didn't.)

Just guessing, but if the diamond had been examined under crossed Polaroid filters, I bet there was tremendous strain prior to the breakage.

Wink

Could have been, at the time I had no idea strain even existed.

 

[Texas Leaguer]

Understandably there is quite a bit of regular discussion around durability risk, and in particular that posed by feathers because of their nature. I thought it might be constructive to share our experience gained from running a popular trade-up program for 14 years.

First let me state that we deal mostly in AGS and GIA graded diamonds and mostly Si1 and above, with some Si2. We deal primarily in engagement ring diamonds so these are stones that have been worn every day for up to 14 years, in all kinds of conditions and activities.

I spoke to a couple of our staff who work directly with diamonds in our quality control system to see if they ever remember a round diamond coming back with anything other than a minor scratch or chip. Specifically I asked if there was ever a case of a feather extending or cracking a stone. There was generally a sense maybe one time in all the years a stone came back with some damage that could have been related to a feather, but it was uncertain whether the feather was directly related or just happened to be in the vicinity of whatever impact caused the damage.

From that testing ground, I would say that round diamonds in the VS and above range (AGS/GIA) have a superlative record of durability, whether or not feathers are present.

 

[Karl_K]

Thanks Bryan.
Good to see you posting here.