Clarity Questions

[laurenleigh777]

Hey Everybody.

I like this site.

My man recently purchased me a round diamond.
It is about a carat, great cut, H grading, and like an s1.

The problem is that there is a large, visable spot in the ring that you can see greatly from the side, and a bit from the top.

He took it back to the local independant retailer and they rotated the diamond to hide the spot. They did rotate it, but not enough.

The next problem is that the diamond now has a minute scratch by the prong since we had it fixed. Is that really possible?

The company has ordered a few more diamonds for us to look at but the money is adding up quick.

The ring is appraised at 4300 (per insurance) and now is thinking he has to pay another 2000 to get one without a visible spot.

Yelp!
I''m confused.

Thanks for some advice.

La

 

[Rank Amateur]

What do want help with?

It is unlikely that the stone was scratched. Whether or not the SI1 grade is accurate depends on who did the grading. Whether or not you can return it depends on where and when it was purchased. Whether or not you want to keep it is up to you!

 

[laurenleigh777]

Thanks.

I guess the question is do most diamonds with that clarity and price cost 4300? The band is white gold.

I just figure if you spent that much money on a diamond, you would not be able to see the large inclusion.

La

 

[Neil Beaty]

La,

We need more information to give a clue about the price. Size and shape would be helpful.

It's rather difficult to scratch diamonds. As Ideal Rock pointed out, it's unlikely that this is a new characteristic of your stone. Could the scratch have been pronged before and is now visible because the stone was rotated?

I'm not familiar with the s1 grade. Most stores use a grading scale from GIA that has one called VS1, one called SI1 and another called I1. The difference between these is relatively important. It sounds like they are happy to offer to trade the stone for one that suits your fancy better. What's the problem?

There is a tutorial here and one at diamondtalk.com that will explain the clarity scale and some of the other variables that are important in exmamining diamonds. It's probably worth a look.

Don't put a lot of emphasis on the insurance appraisal value. Even if it's done well, it's answering a rather specialized question the may not apply to your situation.

Neil

 

[laurenleigh777]

Yeah, I did not know about diamonds until 2 weeks ago.
It is .86 carat and it is a round brilliant diamond with an ideal cut.. regular white gold ring. and you are right, it is the SI1 grade.

I just did not remember seeing the scratch until we got it back from the jewler. Is it humanly possible to scratch it while moving the diamond? I also believe they scratched the band as well. I am just not familliar with the tools they use to rotate it.

The problem is I just want to make sure my man is not getting ripped off.
I'm too embarrased to ask him to get a second opinion.
I know that in the diamond pricing this one is not too high, but I just worry

Thanks again for your reply and working to educate us future diamond investors
La

 

[moremoremore]

OK- take a deep breath!!!

The stone is not scratched...I don't think that is possible...maybe one of the experts can weigh in...

Second, clarity is graded FACE UP only to a causal observer...NOT to you looking directly at the stone with your eyeball up to it and certainly not through the side. The clarity grades have nothing to do with a stone being eye clean...the grades have to do with the nature and amount of inclusions....I am in the process of getting a vs2...and you may be able to see the inclusion face up b/c it is dark and in the center...and I can easily see it through the side...

 

[moremoremore]

And to rotate the stone, they opened up the prongs to make it loose and then reset...they didn't just take the stone and force it ...you just can't do that!

 

[laurenleigh777]

Thanks.

You are very helpful.

I can barely see it from the top.
I have just not seen enough diamonds to know that when looking from the side, it is ok to see the black spot. I know it is all relative, I am just wondering to myself if it is worth it to spend at least 2000 more.

As far as the price, does it look too out of whack?
It is a really beautiful stone, you can see right thru it which probably makes it easier to see.

The lady also said it gets worse when the diamond is di

rty.

I am learning a lot.

Thanks.

 

[Dancing Fire]

----------------
On 7/22/2004 7:18:09 PM moremoremore wrote:

OK- take a deep breath!!!

The stone is not scratched...I don't think that is possible...maybe one of the experts can weigh in...

Second, clarity is graded FACE UP only to a causal observer...NOT to you looking directly at the stone with your eyeball up to it and certainly not through the side. The clarity grades have nothing to do with a stone being eye clean...the grades have to do with the nature and amount of inclusions....I am in the process of getting a vs2...and you may be able to see the inclusion face up b/c it is dark and in the center...and I can easily see it through the side...----------------

more
how many more days of torture ? when are you picking up the new princess ?

 

[laurenleigh777]

I'm getting some good information here!

We are going to swap the diamond for sure.

Soooo...
Can a jewler scratch a round 4 prong diamond when rotating it?




Good to know
La

 

[JennyP]

I can feel your pain. I went through something similar and swapped the diamond a few weeks ago. Once you look at other diamonds you will realize the difference and even if it is SI2 there are diamonds in that category that wont have any visible black spots or noticiable inclusions.
Just make sure you get what you want so you don't second guess the new diamond you get!!

 

[denverappraiser]

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On 7/22/2004 9:00:32 PM laurenleigh777 wrote:

Soooo...
Can a jewler scratch a round 4 prong diamond when rotating it?
blockquote>


It takes a diamond to scratch a diamond.

The tools used to remove a stone from a mounting and reset it in a different orientation are made of steel, not diamond. I suppose that a jeweler could have taken it out and scratched it with another stone while it was out but this is rather difficult to do and would require either some real effort or some massive stupidity on their part. Scratching the mounting is easy, but it's also usually pretty easy to repair. Any scratch on the stone itself was almost certainly already there.

Neil

 

[moremoremore]

Lauren- I have no idea about the scratch...but it is really unlikely that that was caused by unsetting and resetting the stone....as for the clarity....it's really your call- can you handle seeing stuff through the pavillion? (side).... I can, if it's a little...It sounds like you are definitelty returning it? Well, keep us posted!!!!

p.s.- we really can't tell you about price unless we know more about the cut quality (the stats/numbers)