Diamond is Grey in certain light

[gwendolyn1943]

Am considering a 7 ct SI1, F color, European Cut diamond ring, which is bright, eye clean and flashes tons of colors in store lighting, which I was told were not special jewelry lights. (photo on left). When I took a photo outside (center photo), the diamond looked gray and very dull. Photo on right was taken in dim store light, flash was on. There are 3 very small "clouds" in the diamond, seen only under 10x loop. Am worried about this since it is a mega major investment. Do not see this on any other diamonds so am concerned. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[JulieN]

Does this diamond have a GIA report?

Cut doesn't look too good from what I can see, clarity doesn't quite look like SI1, and there's fluorescence which might make things worse. I'm also not sure this an OEC. Difficult to tell from pics, though.

Diamonds look gray in direct sunlight, this is normal.

 

[gwendolyn1943]

Not sure on GIA report. The ring is being appraised locally, and original appraisal is at same place. Should be done on Tuesday. Will know more then.

When you said diamonds look gray in direct sunlight and is normal, do you mean ALL diamonds? or just certain one''s based on cut, clarity etc? Have never seen that in
any other diamonds.

 

[JulieN]

My advice, for whatever it's worth: don't buy a diamond without a GIA report. And, please, this appraiser is someone who does not buy or sell jewelry?

A grade off either way can mean 10s of thousands of dollars in this case.

Yes, all diamonds look gray in direct sunlight.

Try pictures without flash, it is easier to see details.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 3/29/2010 3:31:58 AM
Author: JulieN
My advice, for whatever it's worth: don't buy a diamond without a GIA report. And, please, this appraiser is someone who does not buy or sell jewelry?

A grade off either way can mean 10s of thousands of dollars in this case.

Yes, all diamonds look gray in direct sunlight.

Try pictures without flash, it is easier to see details.

Great advice. Although we are only speculating from the photos, in some it does look questionable as to whether it is eyeclean even....Don't buy it without making sure you have a return policy and having the advice of a trusted independant appraiser, so you also have the opportunity to view the stone in as many different lighting conditions as you can before the sale is final. My concern is that the stone didn't do much from what you describe once the bright store lighting wasn't driving it....Although even well cut diamonds won't sparkle tremendously in dimmer light, they don't go completely dead....Is that what you saw or how you would describe it?

Also when you say the diamond is a ' mega major investment', just to let you know if you wanted to resell it, although this is a special case with the huge size of the stone, you wouldn't get back near what you paid if you did try to sell it.

 

[gwendolyn1943]

Rough Rock




New information on the diamond. Talked to the appraiser who did a GIA appraisal on this ring
last month. You were right, seller remembered incorrectly or.....(Seller is not a professional,
but I''ve purchased jewelry before and truly believe his mistakes were unintentional).

It is a 7 ct center but Brilliant Cut, not European. F color but I1! Big difference from stated SI1. There are 3 small clouds, all near prong tips. She said the cut of the diamond was excellent and that she tends to appraise on the side of caution and another appraiser might list
as SI2. Setting is 14k w/gold, she is thinking original to the center. Value of ring listed at
$53,975.

Grey in sunlight, thanks for the info. I took another diamond outside and it looked grey also!
Just never noticed before. No return. This is being sold on consignment.

What would you consider a "good" price. Not a steal, but better than fair price?

 

[NJDeac]

Date: 3/29/2010 4:22:02 PM
Author: gwendolyn1943


New information on the diamond. Talked to the appraiser who did a GIA appraisal on this ring

last month. You were right, seller remembered incorrectly or.....(Seller is not a professional,

but I''ve purchased jewelry before and truly believe his mistakes were unintentional).

GIA reports aren''t provided by appraisers - they are created at the GIA labs when diamonds are sent to the GIA for grading. While an appraiser might provide an appraisal using GIA criteria for color/clarity/etc., this is not a substitute for having a grading document produced by the lab itself. According to their website, the GIA charges approximately $500 for a grading report for a 7ct diamond. For this report, the diamond must be unmounted and sent to their lab. Turnaround time according to the website is approximately 2-3 days for a diamond of this size.

Given the fact that you are considering paying multiple tens of thousands of dollars for this diamond, the $500 cost seems a small price to pay for peace of mind. You could even offer to split the cost with the seller, or agree that if the report confirms what he is claiming you will pay the cost, if not, he will. If the seller is unwilling to submit the diamond to grading, then that is a pretty huge red flag that you should keep searching.

 

[Dreamer_D]

My spidey senses are telling me this is not a good one.

 

[Lula]

Date: 3/29/2010 5:49:50 PM
Author: dreamer_d
My spidey senses are telling me this is not a good one.

I have no spidey senses of my own, but I agree with Dreamer''s. This diamond does not "draw me in" visually; it appears very flat and pancake like.

One other thing you could consider (don''t know if this is feasible for you) but if you can get a good enough price for this, it might be a candidate for a recut. But I wouldn''t even consider that without a GIA report on it first.

 

[PumpkinPie]

I agree that you should get a report.

 

[zhuzhu]

Date: 3/29/2010 6:25:12 PM
Author: sarap333

Date: 3/29/2010 5:49:50 PM

Author: dreamer_d

My spidey senses are telling me this is not a good one.

I have no spidey senses of my own, but I agree with Dreamer''s. This diamond does not ''draw me in'' visually; it appears very flat and pancake like.


One other thing you could consider (don''t know if this is feasible for you) but if you can get a good enough price for this, it might be a candidate for a recut. But I wouldn''t even consider that without a GIA report on it first.

Pancake like? That is my favorite quote describing a diamond to date!

 

[gwendolyn1943]

Thank you all for the very valuable information.