BEWARE OF SUPERBCERT

[tadashi]

Ok. I purchased a SuperbCert Diamond from Barry, and received it in a prompt fashion. SuperbCert states that each one of their diamonds have a laser inscription of the SuperbCert Logo and the Certificate number on the girdle. Within the package, I received a laminated card that said, " Girdle laser inscribed with trademark and certificate number". HOWEVER, upon receiving my diamond, I checked to see if the laser inscription was there. Unfortunately, it wasn''t. I went to a local jeweler and asked to see if they were able to point out the inscription. The lady told me that you are supposed to be able to see it with a 10x loupe. She then asked for a co-worker''s help to see if he was able to view it incase she missed it. Unfortunately, he didn''t either. They both measured the diamond''s weight, proportions, etc. AND they even put the diamond under the microscope to see if they were able to make out an inscription on the girdle there, but still no. My point here is that if a company says that their diamonds are laser inscribed, they SHOULD BE LASER INSCRIBED! Otherwise, I believe that it''s FALSE ADVERTISEMENT. Don''t get me wrong, it''s a beautiful diamond. It''s just that once it''s written down that someone''s going to do something, it should be done.

 

[homer_j]

Have you called superbcert to see if it was an honest mistake. Mistakes happen. Cool off and give them a call, if it was an error I am sure they will do all they can to rectify the situation appropriately. Were the measurements taken the same as stated on the certificate?

 

[Nate]

I think you should take it up with SuperbCert before posting on a public forum. I'm sure SuperbCert will gladly take care of any problems you might have.

 

[RockDoc]

There is something else you might want to consider.

When diamonds are set, sometimes they are steamed. On occasion the steaming removes the "black type" making the inscription very hard to see, even with a microscope at high power.

Examination with a loupe when the inscription typestyle is colorless, is almost impossible to see.

I would advise that you take the stone to a jeweler who has a microscope who can increase the power so - the inscription can be found.

I have personally examined hundreds of Superb Certs, and even though Barry and I are at "partial odds", I never saw a diamond that didn't have the inscription that matched the cert, and that the stone matched the GIA report.

On the other hand, we are all people and are not perfect. It is possible that the stone didn't get sent to the inscriber and got overlooked. If this is the case - I am more than positive that Barry will rectify the situation including reimbursing you for any shipping and insurance costs.

Saying "Beware" of Superb Cert does sound a little "heavy handed" given the care and reputation he has worked very hard to achieve.

Hope this helps.

Rockdoc

 

[barry]

Tadashi;

I very much would appreciate if you
would call us tomorrow (866) 829-8600 Toll-Free
so that we can properly assist you.

Thanks,

Barry
www.superbcert.com

 

[dimonbob]

Welcome to the forum tadashi,
I think your opening salvo was a little harsh. Barry and I are not exactly friends but I don't think he is guilty of any misdeeds. In the first place the laser inscription usually cannot be seen with a 10x loupe. You need to find a gem microscope and turn up the power to 15x or so and slowly turn the diamond keeping an eye on the girdle. If for sure there is no inscription, I am sure Barry will take care if it for you at his expense. We once had the same thing happen. When the diamond got back to us, I found the laser inscription in a few seconds. The carbon black had been steamed out but the inscription was still there. A lot of the jewelry store personnel do not want to help an internet company sell a diamond.

 

[pqcollectibles]

Hi Tadashi

I bought my diamond from White Flash. After having it verified and before we shipped it back to WF to be set in a custom bezel pendant, my husband decided to try and see if he could find the laser inscription. He's into coin and currency collecting and used to looking for fine details. He was not able to see the laser inscription with a 10x loupe. He searched and searched before he found and read the inscription with a 20x "Hallmark" loupe.

Since you didn't know where to look, it would be easy enough for anyone to tell you they can't find the inscription even using a microscope. Like Diamond Bob said, the jeweler probably didn't want to help sell an internet purchased diamond. You've already had a post from Barry. He will take care of any misunderstandings or errors. SuperbCert is very reputable and has sold many beautiful diamonds to many satisfied customers.

 

[ringbling17]

I recently purchased a diamond from Whiteflash with a laser inscribed girdle. When I louped it, I couldn't find the iscription. I thought a mistake had been made, too.
as it turns out, the inscription is colorless and so tiny, that one can barely make it out with a 10x loupe. You really need a much stronger magnification to view it.
This is probably the case with your Superbcert.
I would take it to another store with stronger lens and see what they say.

 

[Nate]

 

[tadashi]

I forgot to mention that indeed the gemologist and I had looked at the diamond under the microscope at 30X power and the laser inscription wasn't there. The GIA certified gemologist wasn't at all bothered with the fact that I had purchased the diamond online. In fact he tried to cheer me up and told me flat out that it was a nice diamond and that I still had the Gemprint to identify it with. Too much planning was involved to delay my proposal over an inscription, so the diamond was mounted and is now on my beautiful fiancée’s hand. I know mistakes happen but I'm not sure how this could possibly be rectified. Does anybody here realize the difficulty involved with removing the ring of the finger of a newly engaged lady? I can tell you it's not going to happen and I'll have to live with that. I'm just saying that I have never experienced any problems with my local jewelers and sometimes you just have to spend three times as much for things to be perfect. The fact that Superbcert is 3000 miles away didn't help me much either. It put a damper on my overall fantastic weekend.

P.S. He did appraise the diamond for about twice what I had paid for insurance purposes.

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Relax. It's not a big deal. The inscription's probably there (I've seen plenty of jewelers miss an inscription), and if it's not, just have it done sometime in the future when it's convenient.

You probably saved THOUSANDS of dollars buying a better diamond from SuperbCert than you'd ever find in a bricks & mortar store. The inscription is free.

I'm disappointed in the way you handled your complaint.

 

[trichrome]

Tadashi,

As rockdoc said, the black ink in the inscription wears out pretty
easily... you're left only with the inscription which can be
very difficult if not at all visible (even under 30x) when covered by the sweat
coming out from your fiance's finger.

Just put your ring in the steamer and I'm pretty sure you'll find it
under the scope.

Trichrome.

 

[Mara]

Everything is perfect but the inscription is mysteriously gone? Lighten up! You probably got 10 times a better stone and any B&M could sell you for the same price and it appraised at 2ce the amount as you noted. Saying 'beware' of SuperbCert on an online forum without even giving the company the courtesy of a call to explain themselves is very rash, and if your transaction was 90% great and 10% off that in my mind does not even remotely equal a 'beware' posting on a public forum such as this.

Hand slap for speaking so quickly and I highly suggest you give Barry a call as he requested, to find out what happened and to offer your apologies on posting such a negative post without the full facts.

People work hard to build their business reputations, and online purchases are thought of with enough confusion already. I would definitely have handled this differently were I you.

Congrats on your engagement.

 

[Stephan]

I bought a De Beers-Millenium diamond.
It was GIA-inscribed (registration number).
I only saw the inscription when I had my stone for 3 month already.
Even is there is no inscription, you had to talk with Barry before making him a bad name.
You like the diamond.
The inscription is probably on your diamond, nobody saw it.
But if it isn't, remember that the inscription disturbs the symetry and makes your diamond loose weight LOL so if there is no inscription your diamond is worth more... and is perfect.
Great to meet kind people as you on this forum...

 

[niceice]

Wow! This seems like a pretty harsh way to try and resolve a problem with any company... We're a competitor of Barry's so it doesn't serve us to point this out, but did you try to resolve this with Barry prior to dousing him with gasoline here on Price Scope Tadashi or did you just decide to toss the match on to him before giving him the opportunity to correct the problem? If there truly is a problem at all... It seems to us that companies are nothing more than a collection of people and that whenever people are involved in anything that there are going to be problems and oversights... The measure of a companies integrity as we see it has a lot to do with how they resolve a problem when problems arise and of course to try and prevent as many problems as they possibly can... But the reality is that problems occur, Barry is only human as are we...

There are several explanations for the inscription not being visible to you... The most obvious is that the diamond may not have been inscribed... But beyond that it is important to realize that the inscriptions are very, very difficult to locate and even with 30x magnification, it may not be clearly visible... Depending on the thickness of the girdle, it might be necessary to use 50x or even 60x magnification to see the inscription... And if the carbon residue from the inscription process was steamed off during the cleaning process, then the inscription will appear translucent and will be very difficult to locate... We have received diamonds from the laboratories after having them inscribed and not been able to find the inscription right away... It helps to hold the diamond between your thumb and forefinger with the culet of the diamond resting on your thumb and your forefinger placed over the table facet because it seems to diffuse the light in such a way that the inscription becomes more visible...

Give Barry a telephone call and express your frustration (politely) and your concern and allow him the opportunity to resolve this issue for you... No doubt he will assist you with shipping the diamond back to him and he will either assist you with locating the inscription or have the diamond inscribed for you

 

[Iceman]

Man! Im glad I didnt get you for a customer

Sweat the big stuff dont have a heartattack over the little things. If it was there or not you will never see it again unless you are around a scope and how many times is that in a life time

I know I seem harsh and not understanding of your situation, but I think you handled it wrong . Barry has a great reputation in the industry , you blind sided a great person on something that could have been resolved with out the tar and feathering in public. I know barry and he goes beyond what you should do for a customer. Your lucky you got barry and not somebody else.

 

[AGBF]

Those of you who inscribe your diamonds will not welcome this comment, but I feel it is a fair one.

I feel that an inscription on a diamond flaws it.

I do not want to wear clothing emblazoned with the name of the designer. I don't want my diamond carved to advertise its seller. In fact, I find it bizarre. Is *everyone* doing this now? (I mean people who sell branded diamonds, of course.)

I don't recall seeing any such thing on a Hearts of Fire when I saw one a few years ago.

I also remember a discussion over whether a branded diamond could ever be considered flawless. To me cutting letters into a diamond is making inclusions in it...and ugly ones at that!

 

[jlim]

ABGF - Do you also see the same about designer rings then? Usually the inside of the ring is carved or stamped with the designer's name.

About the laser inscription. I see it as a plus as it is usually the brand AND GIA/AGS cert number. For unscrupulous dealers, they might just remove/add inscription and sell different diamonds with the same GIA/AGS cert number. Also with the unique number on it, there's less chance of them doing a switcheroo since the diamond will now not match the GIA/AGS cert unless of course they take the effort to remove the old inscription and put a new one in there.

 

[AGBF]

On 6/3/2003 9:14:55 AM jlim wrote:

"ABGF - Do you also see the same about designer rings then? Usually the inside of the ring is carved or stamped with the designer's name."


No. Not that I have a designer ring. I designed most of my own diamond jewelry (the exceptions being plain diamond stud earrings). I just don't see a piece of jewelry the same way I see a diamond.

I wouldn't want to see "Paloma Picasso" or "Elsa Peretti" on the *OUTSIDE* of a bracelet or necklace, but it wouldn't bother me if it were stuck inside a ring.

I think ideal diamonds are flawless diamonds. Diamonds without marks. I don't *OWN* any, but I can't see putting *additional* marks on a diamond! My diamonds are mostly VS (two small VVS) clarity and I feel the inclusions are identification enough!!!!

 

[DiamondExpert]

Tadashi,

Boy, I second Ice's comment about being glad you were not one of our clients!

First you denigrate someone's business and their brand name on a public forum BEFORE even extending them the courtesy of asking them to settle your petty grievance.

Then, when the possible error of your way is pointed out by many on this forum over a 2 day period, you don't offer an apology or even acknowledge that you might have overstepped or miscalculated in your "rush to judgement".

Thus, it is my humble opinion, that you have demonstrated that you are both arrogant and a fool, and that you do not appear to have the moral stamina to admit, at least up to this point, your shortcomings.

I hope you will prove my opinion wrong...I will be the first to acknowledge it!

Sorry Leonid - well, not really

 

[harry]

petty grievance?

if this is true i think tabashi has every right to tell us his experience here. think of it from his point of view. he had the perfect weekend planned, only to be ruined by doubt and anxiety. his stone is set and on his fiancee's finger, what can he do now? he will remember this experience forever. while barry has responded by asking tabashi to call him, he has stopped short of saying publicly that he will replace the stone if it turned out that the inscription is missing. if barry wants to protect his reputation, he could have came out and said he will replace fix the problem at his expense, including the cost of removing the current setting and the purchase of another setting. that's what a reputatle vendor would do for a mistake that the vendor made.

if this is not true, then i do think that tabashi should come back and let all of us know. some of you seem to have jumped to the conclusion though that it was tabashi fault. we do not yet know what happened. tabashi took the stoe to have it examined by a local jeweler. that local jeweler who examined the stone under 30x magnification can be just as competent as bary or anyone on this forum.

just goes to show that you should always send your stone to an appraiser to have it checked out first so honest or dishonest mistakes can be avoided.

 

[aljdewey]

For the love of God, Harry......I sincerely hope that you NEVER, EVER make a single mistake in your life. But IF YOU DO, I certainly hope that whomever you wrong is as completely uncharitable as you are and gives you NO chance to make the situation right.

No one has said that Tadashi shouldn't share his experience IF.......IF he had made a good faith effort to resolve it with the vendor first. Anyone can make a mistake.....and it hasn't even been proven that it IS a mistake. It's POSSIBLE that the jewelers missed the inscription. Several reputable vendors have responded to this thread commenting how EASY it is to miss the inscription, but you care about that? No. How easy it is for you to discard several expert comments in order to grind your ax with Barry again.

Give it a rest, will you?

Vendors are human.....they are mortals just like the rest of us. That means that from time to time, mistakes will happen. The worth of a vendor is what they do about that when it happens, and in order to learn that, one has to give the vendor a chance to rectify the situation.

That could have been done, but Tadashi decided that it was more important to avoid delay and had the diamond set ANYWAY. Did he take it to another jeweler? No. Did he contact Barry right away via phone? No. He simply proceeded to have it set, which was totally his choice.

Barry or any other vendor SHOULDN'T have to answer a customer complaint in a public forum. They should be given the courtesy of a one-on-one conversation FIRST. If the customer is unhappy with the outcome of that, THEN yes, it is appropriate to share an unpleasant experience. But not before.

 

[Giangi]

COME ON TADASHI!!!! It's just a girdle inscription! Is this such a big deal??!!!!
Also, I totally agree with DiamondExpert and aljdewey points... I suppose that great minds think alike.

BTW, If I were Barry, I would be so irritated and angry

! He provides such an exceptional and detailed service, I'd say almost unbeatable... He works very hard for his reputation... How can you say 'BEWARE OF SUPERBCERT' simply because you don't see a laserprint on the girdle????? You're destroying its reputation... I hope none will take this thread too seriously... It would be such a shame! That someone would miss some of the most beautiful diamonds in the world! And all of that because of a problem (if we can call it in this way) you didn't even try to resolve with Barry, maybe on the phone. Now all the world knows about this situation and may think of Barry's service in a different way from the truth.
Now I must ask you this... Would you prefer a diamond from Zales, with its BEAUTIFUL laserprint on girdle? A LEO diamond, maybe

.

 

[Giangi]

By the way, I suggest you to call IMMEDIATELY Barry and offer your apologies.

 

[fire&ice]

Maybe Harry & Tadashi are one and the same. Same M.O. - has a complaint and immediately takes it to this board without *any* contact with Barry. Barry was given *no* chance to rectify the situation.

Shame on the two of you - very uncivilized indeed!

 

[Talonnav]

I have to agree that it was your choice to have the diamond set BEFORE fixing the so called "problem" with Barry. I can't imagine Barry sending out a diamond without the inscription on it. Especially when he also sends out a card with a PHOTOGRAPH of the inscription with the diamond.

Ever thought it might be possible that the inscription was still hard to see under a 30x loupe? All I can make out at 30x on my diamond for the inscription is, "Can you see that black line there? Yep, that's the inscription." What if the diamond was picked up with tweezers and you covered up the inscription?

UGHHHH!

That being said, if I were you, I would be to ashamed to call Barry now.

 

[pricescope]

play nice guys... please

 

[niceice]

----------------
On 6/3/2003 9

7:14 AM AGBF wrote:
I feel that an inscription on a diamond flaws it.

I do not want to wear clothing emblazoned with the name of the designer. I don't want my diamond carved to advertise its seller. In fact, I find it bizarre. Is *everyone* doing this now? (I mean people who sell branded diamonds, of course.)

I don't recall seeing any such thing on a Hearts of Fire when I saw one a few years ago.
----------------

More often than not, people seem to appreciate the fact that the diamonds are inscribed because it assists them with identifying their diamond when dropping it off or picking it up from a jewelry store. It is sometimes difficult for people to identify their diamond by the inclusions alone, especially when the diamond is of a higher clarity. However we urge people not to rely solely on the inscription for identification purposes because the inscription can obviously be forged - which is why inscription alone is not considered to be an adequate means of gem identification by the U.S. Court System... Using the inscription along with the inclusions to identify your diamond is extremely accurate and we feel that the inscription adds a little bit of peace of mind. Of course if somebody prefers a diamond which is uninscribed, most of us are capable of sourcing diamonds which are uninscribed from our primary suppliers.

One concept which you may not have considered AGBF is that a brand name inscription like HOF, ACA, Nice Ice, etc. may enable law enforcement agencies or insurance companies to locate the owner of a diamond which is recovered because it identifies the seller of the diamond and in our case the corresponding lab report number for the diamond... We can be tracked down by the "Nice Ice" portion of the inscription and can identify the owner of the stone by the lab report number by cross checking our inventory database... This combined with the Gemprint identification that we use as part of our inventory control process makes it very easy for us to identify the rightful owner of the diamond...

HOF certainly does inscribe their diamonds... We were one of their first authorized dealers here in the U.S. and all of their diamonds are inscribed with "HOF" and a number which identifies the diamond in their database... For the record, we stopped selling HOF brand diamonds when we located sources for Hearts & Arrows diamonds which we felt had tighter production criteria and a more reliable supply of goods with Excellent and Ideal polish and symmetry grades...

 

[barry]

Just to clarify and update. We are quite certain that the inscription was on tadashi's diamond when it left us.

When this post was brought to our attention, we posted publicly and
we simultaneously sent a private e-mail to "tadashi" to call us.

He did call. We explained that there are many reasons why an
inscription may not be visible. We oftentimes have difficulty picking up
the inscription even at 40-45X magnification and need to bump it up
to 50-60X. We proposed to tadashi that he return the stone to us
for examination and re-inscription if necessary. We would pay for round-trip
shipping+insurance as well as any setting costs further incurred by him.
He explained that his fiancee was too excited to part with her SuperbCert at
this time and might consider our offer at a later date. Our response
was that there was no time-limit to our offer and that we would be happy
to do this whenever he was ready. tadashi, if he chooses, can indeed
corroborate and verify that we made this offer to him.

We want to thank all of you, the tradespeople ( appraisers;
Rockdoc and Richard Sherwood; our
competitors DimonBob,Todd/Robin,and Iceman) and consumers
alike for posting strong supportive responses on our behalf.
This brings to the fore what many on this and other diamond forums
continuously point out: Customers are protected purchasing
over the Internet for many reasons, among them that we vendors
live in glass houses and work diligently to achieve customer
satisfaction.

Thanks,

Barry
www.superbcert.com

 

[Iceman]

The quote of the Icemans proverb at the bottom says it all

Keep up the good work barry.