Appraiser requires to see GIA certificate. Is this common?

[bigfish007]

I will be purchasing a diamond from Abazias likely in the next week or two. Looking at 2ct, G, VVS1, Excellent. Heeding the advice from the wise, I wanted to schedule for the diamond to be independently appraised by a local gemologist. I have never got a diamond appraised before but I was surprised when the appraiser told me that he needed to see the GIA certificate during the appraisal. Is this common? I thought the idea is to get it appraised independently (without the appraiser seeing the lab grading ahead of time) then compare the appraised results with the certificate. Would seeing the certificate ahead of time cause the appraiser to be biased? Wouldn't he tend to agree with the certificate?

 

[stone-cold11]

Re: Appraiser requires to see GIA certificate. Is this commo

Without the GIA report, how else is he going to verify the stone is what you bought?

 

[denverappraiser]

Re: Appraiser requires to see GIA certificate. Is this commo

I always ask to see the lab docs. There are several reasons for this:

1) Clients want to know if it's the same stone, if it's undamaged and if there are any discrepancies in the grading (clarity and color are not the only areas by the way)

2) Especially on mounted stones, it contains information that isn't availalable to the appraiser. Exact weight and crown/pavilion angles for example.

3) People are concerned about pricing. A GIA graded stone is worth more than an otherwise similar non-GIA graded stone. The data present on the GIA and the fact that it has a GIA are both important value characteristics (as I'm sure you know).

4) The usual purpose of the appraisal report is for insurance replacement. It is going to become what amounts to the purchase order for the replacement in the case of a loss. You want this to include as much inforation as possible so that your insurer can do the best possible job of replacement with 'like kind and quality'. This means replacing with a GIA graded stone, and this means including a copy of the GIA in the appraisers report.

For new purchase clients, I'll ask if they have the GIA with them but generally grade the stone loose first, before I actually look at it. I'll then go over the report with them and discuss point by point any discrepancies and how those might affect a purchase decision. Obviously this can't be done in a helpful way without the GIA.