[HELP] I bought a diamond on Etsy. Have I been scammed?

[blingbeginner]

I'd like to preface this post with acknowledgement that some of you might think 'Buying a diamond on Etsy? You're just asking to be scammed'. However, I'm not here to discuss that. I did my due diligence before making my purchase, and the diamond arrived recently.

It is a 0.65ct, lab-grown rose cut gem, with VS1 clarity and G color. I made sure to get it certified with IGI (the most reliable of the options I was given). Including certification and express delivery, the cost of the diamond worked out to be about 700USD.

I'm here to ask for help because upon inspection of my purchase under 80x magnification, I found a worrying sign: what seems to be scratches on the table of the diamond. I'm no diamond expert, but as we should all know... diamonds aren't really supposed to be scratched (unless by other diamonds).

There also seems to be a small chip at the culet (the bottom point). While not ideal, this is slightly less worrying, since diamonds can be chipped.


I checked with the seller and he (of course) insists that the diamond is genuine. There is also the IGI serial number inscribed on the girdle of the diamond, which matches the report published on the IGI website.

My questions are as such:
1. Do those pictures look like scratches? The diamond was certified VS1, so these flaws should have happened after the certification?
2. How likely is it that the seller swapped out my certified diamond with a fake and took the trouble to inscribe the fake with the IGI serial number? Can these micro-inscriptions even be faked?
3. How much do these flaws lower the value of my diamond by? (I know lab-grown diamonds are not known for their resale value, but how much should I ask for if I want to propose a partial refund?)

Thanks so much in advance for your help.

 

[vintageinjune]

I'm no expert, but the "chip" looks like an area of less than ideal polishing or an area where a blemish reached the surface and didn't get smothed out entirely, and the "scratches" could very well be needle inclusions, which if you cannot see them without magnification, would still have the diamond grading fall in to the VS category. If these are indeed taken under 80 x magnification... you don't have anything to worry about.

Again, my opinion is to be taken with a few grains of salt as I'm not a diamond expert.

 

[caolsen]

Eighty times magnification? That’s way more magnification than any diamond lab uses to grade. Look at any diamond (lab or mined) under 80x and you’ll find indications of cutting amd inclusions that’s no lab would plot.

 

[blingmeupscotty]

I was just discussing this subject with my husband tonight. This very thing [because of the gemstone thread about a jeweler replacing a green stone for another ps'er with a lesser stone trying to pass it off as hers].

1. I don't think run of the mill vendors/sellers/jewelers on etsy [or anywhere else for that matter] have the equipment to laser inscribe serial numbers to produce fakes. Are they a random joe shmoe vendor? are they a wholesaler? or distributor? What do you know about them? Do they have good feedback and a lot of feedback?

2. Who sent the stone out for certification? you or the vendor?
3. Are we sure those are scratches? Have you cleaned it lately? Have you tried a polishing cloth? I'm not a jeweler nor an expert I'm just trying to rule out the every day stuff that happens to the surface. I dropped my diamond once and thought [swore to the heavens] I chipped it, even felt the chip, saw the indentation-and when my jeweler threw it under the loop he said I was crazy and showed me.
4. 80x magnification won't be something you can see without it.. I would not worry.

 

[whitewave]

It’s the matrix since it’s a lab diamond. It’s part of the material.

 

[Bron357]

Lab grown diamonds can contain inclusions caused by the growth process. I presume yours is HPHT and those are metallic inclusions within the diamond that are typical of that process. The one near the cutlet is also likely another inclusion.
Diamonds are graded at x10 and having a VS1 grading means, yes inclusions are present. Though if you are viewing at x80 you are going to see a lot more.

 

[distracts]

I was just discussing this subject with my husband tonight. This very thing [because of the gemstone thread about a jeweler replacing a green stone for another ps'er with a lesser stone trying to pass it off as hers].

Whoa, what thread? I missed that

 

[blingmeupscotty]

Whoa, what thread? I missed that

This one

 

[blingbeginner]

Thanks all for your valuable opinions. Seems like I don't have to be too worried about those inclusions after all.

Considering how the flaws aren't visible to the naked eye, I ended up asking for a 15% refund, to which the vendor relented.

I guess the thousand-odd satisfactory reviews left for the vendor on Etsy aren't just smoke and mirrors.