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Fancy Grey Diamond?

DiamondDust13

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I am wondering if the color is worth having it GIA certified?

Does this appear Grey or even blueish grey00.JPG Blueish Grey? blueish grey.JPG (an edited brighter version)
 

kenny

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I am wondering if the color is worth having it GIA certified?

Does this appear Grey or Bluish Grey?

Send to GIA? It depends.
Do you own it?
If so how did you get it?
Purchase? If so from where?
Inheritance?

Or, are you considering buying it?
If so, the seller made the call to not send it to GIA ... NOT a good sign.

If it falls in GIA's FCD Grey box it may be valuable.
If it falls in GIA's D-Z white diamond scale but has a grayish color its value will be lower than if GIA considerd it to be an FCD.

Can't judge FCD color from pics.
A zillion things can throw off the color we see on our screens.
 
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valeria101

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Diamond colour grades have their ways of naming colours ...

Yellow
 

DiamondDust13

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I just recently purchased this online without a certificate. It is about 1.2 ct I would say it possibly could be si2. I have poor lighting right now but will take a sunlight pic with it ASAP. Definitely a lot of color saturation. It has little bits of violet light with some lighting.
 

kenny

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Chances are you overpaid.
Sorry.
Hope I'm wrong this time.

GIA grading is the only way to know the specs of an FCD.
Knowing the specs is the only way to know the value of an FCD.
I'd never buy an FCD without a GIA report ... (and not a report from ANY other gem lab or just an appraisal or trust the seller's word).

I'm not a gambler and don't look for bargains.
Occasionally someone WILL find a bargain FCD with no report.
That will never happen to me, but on the other hand I'll never lose my shirt either.

99.9% of the time the seller knows exactly what (s)he has but is hoping the buyer doesn't.
Sometimes an FCD WILL go to GIA but get poor grades so the seller will throw away the report and claim better grades.

Many unknowns here.
Yes, sending it to GIA will reveal all.
Your call.
 
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DiamondDust13

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here is a front facing pic of the Grey Diamond front.JPG indoor low lighting.
 

DiamondDust13

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Send to GIA? It depends.
Do you own it?
If so how did you get it?
Purchase? If so from where?
Inheritance?

Or, are you considering buying it?
If so, the seller made the call to not send it to GIA ... NOT a good sign.

If it falls in GIA's FCD Grey box it may be valuable.
If it falls in GIA's D-Z white diamond scale but has a grayish color its value will be lower than if GIA considerd it to be an FCD.

Can't judge FCD color from pics.
A zillion things can throw off the color we see on our screens.
I can't seem to find very much about grey diamond color grading. Do you know of any good examples?
 

valeria101

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Gray Grading ...

I have not found any substantial essay, but ... there are quite a few gray diamonds with GIA reports on virtual display. It helps to see a few in person to get a feel of the things, but it seems impossible to cover the great variety of shades, texture (hoc!) possible, other than via video & images ... or a career in diamonds.

This shop has quite a few GIA Fancy Grays - including this Gray-Green whose colour left an impression on me WWW (there are two diamonds, .5 & .7 very matched for colour); the fact that the stone is clear of clouds (the SI2 grade is due to feathers) is also impressive ... since too many gray diamonds are somewhat murky. A dark violetish gray is listed in the 'black' category - worth seeing ... Many light gray, esp. rounds ...

Sure enough, there are other sources. I am not aware of other extensive databases of GIA-ed gray diamond videos, however.

If there is some document on GIA gradjng guidelines for these, I'd wish to read it too ... Have not looked, truth be told.

Another: fancycolordiamond.net - blue/gray land ...

2c
 
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Rockdiamond

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Hi Kali
It's very hard to tell from pictures – the stone definitely has color – although I don't see it as gray based on the pictures. But of course that's not conclusive.
If you really like the diamond, it's probably worth the money (less than $200) to send it into GIA to see what they say.
We have had plenty of gray diamonds over the years. In many cases they can be pretty dull, and lifeless. In the best of cases, they actually sparkle gray. It sounds like a contradiction, but it is possible in the best of cases.
Best of luck and I hope this helps
 

DiamondDust13

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Hi Kali
It's very hard to tell from pictures – the stone definitely has color – although I don't see it as gray based on the pictures. But of course that's not conclusive.
If you really like the diamond, it's probably worth the money (less than $200) to send it into GIA to see what they say.
We have had plenty of gray diamonds over the years. In many cases they can be pretty dull, and lifeless. In the best of cases, they actually sparkle gray. It sounds like a contradiction, but it is possible in the best of cases.
Best of luck and I hope this helps
This is very encouraging. I haven't seen a diamond with color and clarity like this in the same stone so I think now after positive feedback I will send to GIA and see how it goes.
Thank you!

Cheers,
Kali
 

DiamondDust13

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It looks brownish in the face-up picture. I don't think it's worth sending to GIA and I hope you didn't pay much for it.
I can see how the pictures make it look kind of brown I will work on getting a better photo. When i look at it on top of a light table there is next to 0 yellow or brown. grey.JPG
 

Rockdiamond

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It looks brownish in the face-up picture.
I agree with tourmaline on this point. I also hope you didn't pay a whole lot. Even if GIA does give it a grade of "gray", it likely won't be a very valuable diamond based on the pics.
But I'd still love to know what they say.
 

DiamondDust13

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I agree with tourmaline on this point. I also hope you didn't pay a whole lot. Even if GIA does give it a grade of "gray", it likely won't be a very valuable diamond based on the pics.
But I'd still love to know what they say.
Thank you for the feedback, I just took one last photo for comparison to a champagne brown Diamond compare00.JPG
 

pinkjewel

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As far as I remember (and I certainly could be wrong) I thought FCDs were graded looking at the top of the diamond-not the bottom. I guess in this case it would depend on whether GIA thought there was enough color to designate it an FCD.
 

Rockdiamond

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Color is graded by looking at the bottom of the stone. What do you see from the bottom?

This is true tyty333- color is graded through the pavilion.
However only for colorless diamonds.
This leads to some interesting hypotheticals.
For example- what if a stone is borderline FCD? pinkjewel touched upon this
From the bottom it's Y-Z, from the top it may look like a Fancy Light Yellow.
 

tyty333

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This is true tyty333- color is graded through the pavilion.
However only for colorless diamonds.
This leads to some interesting hypotheticals.
For example- what if a stone is borderline FCD? pinkjewel touched upon this
From the bottom it's Y-Z, from the top it may look like a Fancy Light Yellow.

oops, my bad!:oops2:
 

kenny

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As far as I remember (and I certainly could be wrong) I thought FCDs were graded looking at the top of the diamond-not the bottom. I guess in this case it would depend on whether GIA thought there was enough color to designate it an FCD.

True, FCDs color is grading looking down into the top.
That's why they plan the cut so carefully.
They want to get the strongest color, for the highest color grade for the highest profit.
They maximize the color by getting the light to bounce around many times before finally exiting back out the top.
Hence we see few emerald cut and so many radiant FCDs.

BTW, it's not the amount of color that determines whether GIA places a diamond in the D-Z white diamond or the FCD pile.
It's the nature of that color.
You might say how 'pretty' the color is ... yes, they are making a subjective judgement.

For example, take two yellowish diamonds that look nearly identical: One will be graded an FCD Fancy Light Yellow and the other graded somewhere on the D-Z scale.
Even though they look nearly the same (they have to draw the line somewhere) the price difference will be substantial.
Some of the D-Zs on the right-hand end of the alphabet that have a cleaner prettier yellow can be seen as bargains.
 

DiamondDust13

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If your goal is to resell, you need a gia certificate.
I did get it for a great price for a 1.2 ct, I would resell if it is worth the price of getting it graded. Then again something makes me want to make a setting for it...
 

DiamondDust13

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I'm hoping you paid less than $1,000 for it.
what would be the key characteristic that I could look for to see the value in this stone? The amount of saturation and the hue?
 

Rockdiamond

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Kali- I'm with Whitewave on this- I also hope you didn't pay a lot for the stone.
Pics can't tell us all that much good- but it really does not look like a stone that has "great value"
 

kenny

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what would be the key characteristic that I could look for to see the value in this stone? The amount of saturation and the hue?

When it comes to its true value, the elephant in the room is where (from whom) you bought it.
If you found it at a garage sale you may have gotten a bargain.
Estate sale, less likely.
If you bought it from a store, no chance.
From anyone who sells diamonds regularly online, you almost certainly overpaid, which will become apparent with a GIA report ... that is if you can even find comps ... always tricky with FCDs.

Diamond vendors know what they have but hope you don't.
That's what GIA grading reports are for ... consumer protection.
If the seller felt (s)he could have sold it for more with a GIA report (s)he would have.

Ungraded diamonds are a lottery, exciting when imagining winning that big jackpot ... but almost certainly ;(

Sorry.

So, back to the elephant.
Where did you buy it?
To respect your privacy and security I'm not asking for the specific seller's info, just what kind of seller it was.
I'd guess a seller on eBay with other stones listed.

If there is a money-back guarantee time period I'd take it first to a pawn shop or jeweler and have them test so see if it's even a real natural diamond (mined from the earth) rather than a lab-created one or some other stone.

If the material itself is real natural (mined) diamond, the next question is whether the color itself is also of natural origin or the result of lab treatment.
I'd guess natural.
Can't imagine paying a lab for that color, unless they were paying and hoping for blue or green but ended up with gray.

There are a zillion ways to get ripped off buying diamonds, especially Fancy Colored ones.
That's why when shopping GIA is your friend.
 
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DiamondDust13

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When it comes to its true value, the elephant in the room is where (from whom) you bought it.
If you found it at a garage sale you may have gotten a bargain.
Estate sale, less likely.
If you bought it from a store, no chance.
From anyone who sells diamonds regularly online, you almost certainly overpaid, which will become apparent with a GIA report ... that is if you can even find comps ... always tricky with FCDs.

Diamond vendors know what they have but hope you don't.
That's what GIA grading reports are for ... consumer protection.
If the seller felt (s)he could have sold it for more with a GIA report (s)he would have.

Ungraded diamonds are a lottery, exciting when imagining winning that big jackpot ... but almost certainly ;(

Sorry.

So, back to the elephant.
Where did you buy it?
To respect your privacy and security I'm not asking for the specific seller's info, just what kind of seller it was.
I'd guess a seller on eBay with other stones listed.

If there is a money-back guarantee time period I'd take it first to a pawn shop or jeweler and have them test so see if it's even a real natural diamond (mined from the earth) rather than a lab-created one or some other stone.

If the material itself is real natural (mined) diamond, the next question is whether the color itself is also of natural origin or the result of lab treatment.
I'd guess natural.
Can't imagine paying a lab for that color, unless they were paying and hoping for blue or green but ended up with gray.

There are a zillion ways to get ripped off buying diamonds, especially Fancy Colored ones.
That's why when shopping GIA is your friend.

I really appreciate your feedback on this. I have bought a number of stones from this Etsy vendor previously that have tested as Diamond at various moissanite tester locations.

I did pay under $1000 CAD for this piece (described as Natural Grayish green SI 1.2)
 
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