Engagement ring (fake certification?)

[Sfrazier]

I am a very good internet "searcher" and have been looking for the "laboratory" online for which i have a certification sheet. My gf actually picked out the diamond and setting and was extremely excited. I didn''t know anything about certification, except that GIA was the best? I looked up the "laboratory" and found unpromising results (hardly anything whatsoever). I read up and saw that some fake or bad certifications make a name that sounds like another. The certificate mine has is "EDL" (European Diamond Laboratory). Sounds a lot like European gemologist laboratory huh?

The diamond looks great, but i don''t know anything on the subject besides it "sparkling". The store that i bought it at is supposedly well known and trusted. They will let you trade in the diamond at any time to upgrade etc... What do I do? I compared it to my gf''s moms GIA diamond that has almost the exact certificate dimensions and the one I got looks better to my eye. The diamond I got was a 1.3 Carot, F color, brilliant round cut, VVS1, etc etc... it is the most "brilliant" diamond I have probably seen closely. The diamond itself was 11-12k...and has a setting with 1.3 more carots of tiny diamonds around the main diamond and the ring (18k white gold). The whole price was 13,000. How should i proceed with this? Find a renown gemologist to inspect it? Forget about it and just enjoy it? Try to return it or inquire about this "EDL certificate"? Cry in my sleep about the 13k i just blew off?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Spencer

 

[Sfrazier]

Do a lot of jewelers work closely with "mickey mouse" type laboratories in order to jack up ratings for diamonds and make an extra buck?

 

[honey22]

Firstly, are you sure that it''s not a very small, unusual lab that you just havn''t heard of? It may just be a case of the vendor using a smaller, less popular lab for certification as it is cheaper. I am not saying it has never happened, but it would be unlikely that they are issuing fake certificates.

Where did you buy the ring from? Do they have a return policy? If so, you could always return the ring and come back here for us to find you a stunning ring at a great price.

Have the ring independently appraised - if the stone doesn''t match up to the certificate, then return it to the vendor for a full refund. If the certificate is in fact real, and just from a lesser known lab, it is likely that they are not as strict in grading as say GIA or AGS. If it doesn''t match up to the appraisal, you have grounds for a full refund, regardless of their return policy.

Your first step is to have the ring appraised, you find out what you are dealing with exactly, and you can go from there.

 

[Lorelei]

Hi Spencer,

I would recommend returning the ring as soon as you can if you are unhappy, don''t delay. Then see about getting another ring. I have heard of EDL before with others asking, but I can''t find out anything about them, but if you can return it, I would them look for a GIA or AGS graded diamond.

 

[Sfrazier]

Thanks for the replies. The ring looks great to me, but i don''t like being tricked or misled (if this is the case). My in laws took me to a well liked large jewelry store. They have tons of diamonds (GIA etc) and all the designer brands. There are about 20 people on the sales staff and 5 service techs. The owner gave us a great deal after much negotiation, and told us that it was a smaller lab, but that was how we could get a good price on it. The same diamond in GIA cert was 18k. The jeweler is a family connection of my gf''s and it seems very legitimate. Her whole family has bought jewelry there so I do not want to make a big deal of it, and would rather do my own research to figure it all out. I have a family friend thats a great gemologist, so I will get her to inspect it. Anyway! the ring has a lifetime upgrade policy (I can swap out for a GIA or whatever i want anytime in my life), and or i can return it for a full refund. Thanks for the replies! I just found it a bit odd that there is no website, phone number, address or any information whatsoever on this lab. I did see the cert number engraved on the diamond through a scope and they went over every single diamond on the band as well as the big one with a "diamond tester" (dont know the tech term).

 

[Sfrazier]

oh yea... if i find out that the EDL cert checks out exactly, I will post it up here so future users will know. and visa versa

 

[:)]

If you think it is beautiful, then all I would do is go asap to an independent appraiser (not one at a jewelry store who may have a conflict of interest, but an honest to goodness independent appraiser) to make sure that you got what you paid for. You are buying the stone, not the report, however you don''t want to pay for a higher color or clarity that the stone really isn''t (this is the most common problem with reports from some labs - overstating color or clarity which in turn causes the asking/paid for price to be higher than it really ever should have been.) An appraiser also is familiar with market value - Graduate Gemologists are great, but I would not use one of them to verify this type of purchase.

 

[denverappraiser]

Date: 6/23/2008 3:03:55 AM
Author: Sfrazier
Do a lot of jewelers work closely with 'mickey mouse' type laboratories in order to jack up ratings for diamonds and make an extra buck?

Yes.

Making and propagating these documents is a major industry. There are a lot of those extra bucks involved. It's not out of the question that the jeweler even owns the 'lab' although I've never heard of this one and I' not specifically disparaging them.

The burden of proof is on the lab and the dealer to convince you that their opinions have merit. The default answer is no.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Jewelry Appraisals in Denver