Can a stone be chipped during the certification process?

[charmingnewbie]

Hi - newbie here. Quick but pressing question for you all - getting a new stone certified. Upon receiving the stone back, I carefully reviewed it and found a chip. Tiny, but definitely there. They were surprised and they're holding onto the stone until tomorrow when their in-house gemologist can take a look. I'm going to join the review.

Now, I'm not 100% certain the stone wasn't chipped before. Almost certain - I checked the stone carefully and didn't see anything when I first got it from the jeweler.

Before I go back to the jeweler and start that conversation, I just want to make sure that this isn't something that could have happened while GIA had it.

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

So you bought an uncertified stone and sent it to GIA yourself? I am afraid that you won't have much of a leg to stand on unless the stone already had a grading report that either listed the chip or didn't. It would be an extremely rare thing for a stone to be damaged at GIA. It is much more likely that it was already there.

 

[charmingnewbie]

Thanks for the response! I actually have written confirmation that the stone will be fully refunded should anything come of it. In this case it was easier for me to take it to GIA than to have them send it in. Appreciate the insight, though - I assumed it would be unlikely that the GIA team would have caused any issue. But wanted to confirm, since I'm so new to this

 

[Christina...]

When you say that you have in writing that the stone can be returned, I assume that you mean that the sale is contingent on the GIA grading? For example, the jeweler represented the stone as being X cut X color and X clarity and X size....should there be a discrepancy at the lab, the jeweler will refund you money? It's always smart to purchase with a full return policy in writing, so you did a good job of protecting yourself. However, I would have insisted that the jeweler submit the stone for grading. I'd be afraid that the jeweler could now insist that you prove that YOU or GIA did not damage the stone while in your possession, especially since the stone was not represented to you as having had a chip at time of purchase.