August Vintage Lab grown diamonds poll

[OoohShiny]

Ooh, lots more stock has arrived - and in a wider range of colours, down to an M, from what I can see!

Some of the info on the IGI certificates is excellent - I'm loving the ray-tracing analysis and the ASET imaging (Although what is 'blue nuance' in this stone?! It sounds cool!)

 

[MelloYello8]

If only I was in the market for new bling right now.
I love these warm rocks, and the prices aren’t bad either!

https://www.augustvintageinc.com/co...-m-vvs1-laboratory-grown-diamond-lg_337823506

https://www.augustvintageinc.com/co...t-m-vs1-laboratory-grown-diamond-lg_337844477

Maybe I could learn to like icy colors with this .99ct unicorn.

https://www.augustvintageinc.com/co...t-d-vvs2-laboratory-grown-diamond-lg_10639902

 

[MakingTheGrade]

If only I was in the market for new bling right now.
I love these warm rocks, and the prices aren’t bad either!

https://www.augustvintageinc.com/co...-m-vvs1-laboratory-grown-diamond-lg_337823506

https://www.augustvintageinc.com/co...t-m-vs1-laboratory-grown-diamond-lg_337844477

Maybe I could learn to like icy colors with this .99ct unicorn.

https://www.augustvintageinc.com/co...t-d-vvs2-laboratory-grown-diamond-lg_10639902

Oh man....so many options!!!
hmmm 3 more years until my 35th birthday. Maybe I'll start stalking the lab grown diamonds for a big ol warm old euro cushion....

 

[SandyK]

Not specifically related to Rhino, I know, but Yoram is asking for comments on CVD rough vs Mined rough!
https://www.instagram.com/p/Brfn5nJnG17/

If he receives positive comments regarding how people like the end, polished article, and how the original form is ultimately relatively irrelevant, hopefully he might be encouraged to cut some!!


*cough*octavias*cough*

I'm glad you posted this @OoohShiny -- why aren't more people commenting favorably on Yoram's post!!

 

[elizat]

I ordered a lab grown emerald cut from Jonathan. He’s patiently working on setting cads with me. I’ll post it when I get it.

 

[OoohShiny]

I ordered a lab grown emerald cut from Jonathan. He’s patiently working on setting cads with me. I’ll post it when I get it.

Cool!!

Can't wait for pictures

 

[elizat]

@OoohShiny thanks- I will! This is my first time working with Jonathan and while a lab grown costs less than mined, he's been so helpful and really responsive. The level of service has been really great especially when I know he has much larger projects than mine!

 

[OoohShiny]

1.5ct F VS2 AVC for $5.5k, anyone??

https://augustvintageinc.com/products/1-51ct-f-vs2-lab-grown-august-vintage-european-cut-lg_m3d77304

https://www.instagram.com/p/Br8ou6pHCmm/

 

[OoohShiny]

I'm glad you posted this @OoohShiny -- why aren't more people commenting favorably on Yoram's post!!

I'm pleased to see that a PSer has commented to say the proprietary cuts in MMDs would be awesome

 

[SandyK]

I ordered a lab grown emerald cut from Jonathan. He’s patiently working on setting cads with me. I’ll post it when I get it.

So exciting!! Can't wait to see this!!

One day I will upgrade my studs and I'm definitely going to go with ideal cut lab diamonds from AV!

 

[AMRN0516]

I’ve just discovered the existence of these and I am already planning projects. Does anyone have any photos to post of pieces they’ve created with the AV euros or cushions? I’m think of doing some 2ctw euro studs and possibly a piece for my mother. I just love the price and feel like no one will ever know since they’re so beautifully cut!

 

[OoohShiny]

I’ve just discovered the existence of these and I am already planning projects. Does anyone have any photos to post of pieces they’ve created with the AV euros or cushions? I’m think of doing some 2ctw euro studs and possibly a piece for my mother. I just love the price and feel like no one will ever know since they’re so beautifully cut!

Well, they are exactly the same material as Mined diamonds (bar the 'grain' from their growth patterns, which requires a machine to detect) so no-one outside a lab or without a loupe (to read the inscription) would ever know

 

[DoeEyes]

Well, they are exactly the same material as Mined diamonds (bar the 'grain' from their growth patterns, which requires a machine to detect) so no-one outside a lab or without a loupe (to read the inscription) would ever know

Tell that to the snotty sales woman at the jewelry store I went to last week. Made the mistake of telling her my ring was a lab grown diamond. She looked at it under the loupe and proclaimed she could tell it wasn't a natural diamond and she could never get a lab diamond. Queue massive eye roll from me. I just stopped shopping and walked out when she said that. Considered calling her manager after I got home to tell him she lost any business from me by not only being rude about my ring, but showing how little she knows about diamonds.

 

[OoohShiny]

Tell that to the snotty sales woman at the jewelry store I went to last week. Made the mistake of telling her my ring was a lab grown diamond. She looked at it under the loupe and proclaimed she could tell it wasn't a natural diamond and she could never get a lab diamond. Queue massive eye roll from me. I just stopped shopping and walked out when she said that. Considered calling her manager after I got home to tell him she lost any business from me by not only being rude about my ring, but showing how little she knows about diamonds.

You should ask her exactly how she can tell a lab diamond apart from a Mined diamond (without looking at the inscription)

This is the sort of judgmental people that will probably never overcome the MMD 'stigma'!

 

[DoeEyes]

You should ask her exactly how she can tell a lab diamond apart from a Mined diamond (without looking at the inscription)

This is the sort of judgmental people that will probably never overcome the MMD 'stigma'!

I really wanted to tell her off but this is one of the stores in Philly that seems to have the most stock and I don't want to burn the bridge so I can keep going back and trying things on. I'll never buy from them, but it's really useful to be able to see how different sizes and styles look on my finger.

 

[OoohShiny]

I really wanted to tell her off but this is one of the stores in Philly that seems to have the most stock and I don't want to burn the bridge so I can keep going back and trying things on. I'll never buy from them, but it's really useful to be able to see how different sizes and styles look on my finger.

lol

Playing the long game - I can appreciate that

 

[kgizo]

She looked at it under the loupe and proclaimed she could tell it wasn't a natural diamond and she could never get a lab diamond.

I don’t see the big deal? The salesperson could tell it was a MMD with a loupe and may never get one. ‍ Now, if she was rude that is a different story.

 

[DoeEyes]

I don’t see the big deal? The salesperson could tell it was a MMD with a loupe and may never get one. ‍ Now, if she was rude that is a different story.

You can't tell whether a diamond is natural or MM under a loupe. No one can.

 

[kgizo]

I’ll just leave this here.

 

[OoohShiny]

I’ll just leave this here.

But that is a specific brand of MMD, which is marketed as having an internal marking added so it can be identified as MMD - they are not graded by a grading lab so do not have girdle etchings marking them out as MMDs.

Any other MMD from another manufacturer, either without girdle markings or with girdle markings that are hidden due to the stone being rotated within a setting to hide it, would be impossible to tell apart from a Mined diamond without laboratory equipment that analyses fluor and internal graining, both of which can be different in MMDs when compared to Mined.

With just a loupe, no-one can tell the difference.

If they could, MMDs wouldn't need the markings to differentiate them from Mined, surely.

 

[kgizo]

Agreed. In this case it is a Lightbox diamond that the salesperson viewed which can be identified with a loupe because of the Lightbox logo.

 

[OoohShiny]

Agreed. In this case it is a Lightbox diamond that the salesperson viewed which can be identified with a loupe because of the Lightbox logo.

Ah yes, I see where you are coming from now - perhaps the sales assistant managed to spot the logo within the diamond. (Sorry, I'm a bit slow today... lol)

Mind you, do they usually have 60x loupes?!

Personally speaking, I feel it's safe to say that if it requires a tool that magnifies by 60x to confirm whether or not a diamond is MMD or Mined, MMDs are definitely indistinguishable from Mined when on the finger / in the ear / round the neck!

 

[DoeEyes]

She looked at it for a second with a 10x loupe after already being told it was MMD and proclaimed she could tell. Me finding that logo took a 60x loupe, multiple tries, perfect light and angle, and that was with me knowing what to look for. She didn't even know there was a logo to look for and didn't say "oh I see the logo" she just acted like she could tell. *Eyeroll*

It was obvious she was trying to neg to make me feel bad and try to sell me a "real" diamond instead. It backfired, I just walked out.

 

[muesli]

I'm searching for a new engagement ring and have fallen head over heels in love with OEC's and AVR's.

I'm an history nerd that also loves science so getting a lab AVR would be the best of both worlds.

I'm still a newbie when it comes to diamonds and this forum is fantastic with so many helpful members.

Some questions, will a colour grade "H", for example, in a CVD equal the same colour in a mine grown Diamond (GIA)? Does the same goes for clarity?

I recently stumbled upon the term "Stria" which is typical for CVD's (to my understanding), what more can be said about that?

I'm trying to learn as much as I can and highly appreciate and value your input and guidence.

Thanks for reading.

 

[OoohShiny]

Some questions, will a colour grade "H", for example, in a CVD equal the same colour in a mine grown Diamond (GIA)? Does the same goes for clarity?

I recently stumbled upon the term "Stria" which is typical for CVD's (to my understanding), what more can be said about that?

Welcome to the Dark Side!

GIA only grades MMDs/Lab Grown Diamonds into 'Colourless' and 'Near Colourless' at this moment in time, which is not very helpful, so most grading reports are done by IGI, GCAL and others. Are colour grades on these reports softer than GIA? Maybe... so IMVHO, aim for D-F colours and you should reduce risk of seeing tint (if that bothers you).

Some MMDs have a brown or pink undertone, though, so one should inspect any stones for that. (Again, it might not bother you, but buy in full awareness!) IIRC that is found more in HPHT stones, although the manufacturers seem to be treating stones (by heating, I think) to remove that tine.


Clarity is much the same, in that both are graded under 10x magnification, but there are different inclusions to look out for. This thread links to some useful info/photos
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/unique-characteristics-in-mmd.250194/


The Stria/layering within CVD has been put forward as a cause of reduced clarity/fire/brilliance, but I've not yet seen any posted quantification of this.


Have a read of the links on this thread as it should help explain a few things better than I can, and includes discussions on Stria!
https://www.pricescope.com/communit...-grown-mmd-and-natural-mined-diamonds.250407/

 

[OoohShiny]

GIA only grades MMDs/Lab Grown Diamonds into 'Colourless' and 'Near Colourless' at this moment in time, which is not very helpful, so most grading reports are done by IGI, GCAL and others.
...
Clarity is much the same, in that both are graded under 10x magnification, but there are different inclusions to look out for.

Some clarification on my waffling!

https://www.gia.edu/gia-news-research/difference-between-natural-laboratory-grown-diamonds

GIA has issued reports for laboratory-grown diamonds for more than 10 years. In March 2019, following the guidelines from the FTC, the Institute announced it will change the name of the reports to GIA Laboratory-Grown Diamond Reports starting in July 2019.

To reduce the potential for confusion, GIA grading reports for laboratory-grown diamonds look significantly different from those for natural diamonds. In addition, the terms used to report color and clarity grades for laboratory-grown diamonds are different from those used for natural diamonds.

Instead of D-to-Z color grades, broader category terms (Colorless, Near-Colorless, Faint, Very Light and Light) are used.

Clarity grades, which are abbreviated on natural diamond reports (VVS1, SI2, etc.), use broader descriptive category terms (i.e., Very Very Slightly Included, Slightly Included) on the reports for laboratory-grown diamonds.

 

[muesli]

Welcome to the Dark Side!

GIA only grades MMDs/Lab Grown Diamonds into 'Colourless' and 'Near Colourless' at this moment in time, which is not very helpful, so most grading reports are done by IGI, GCAL and others. Are colour grades on these reports softer than GIA? Maybe... so IMVHO, aim for D-F colours and you should reduce risk of seeing tint (if that bothers you).

Some MMDs have a brown or pink undertone, though, so one should inspect any stones for that. (Again, it might not bother you, but buy in full awareness!) IIRC that is found more in HPHT stones, although the manufacturers seem to be treating stones (by heating, I think) to remove that tine.


Clarity is much the same, in that both are graded under 10x magnification, but there are different inclusions to look out for. This thread links to some useful info/photos
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/unique-characteristics-in-mmd.250194/


The Stria/layering within CVD has been put forward as a cause of reduced clarity/fire/brilliance, but I've not yet seen any posted quantification of this.


Have a read of the links on this thread as it should help explain a few things better than I can, and includes discussions on Stria!
https://www.pricescope.com/communit...-grown-mmd-and-natural-mined-diamonds.250407/

Thank you for welcoming me to the dark side!

As long as the stone will look good in a platinum setting I'm not too fussy on tint (I love the warmer coloured OEC's for example). But to hopefully play it safe I'll try to get one in the D-F range.

I loooooove fire and sparkles so if stria has an impact on those makes me a bit anxious, but maybe we'll find out more as the time passes?
The AVR cut will maybe "mask" that effect(if I make any sense)? The facets are chunkier so maybe it won't?

Thank you for answering my questions and helping me out.

 

[OoohShiny]

If you're buying an AVR from @Rhino, I am positive that he would not permit any stones with negative impacts from the MMD growth process!

 

[muesli]

^ Yes I'm planning to buy from @Rhino, that's reassuring to hear.
I'm really looking forward to get started .