Help! What happened to my diamond?

[Pam]

Hi everyone,
If anyone has any clue as to what may have happened to my diamond, I would be very happy to hear it. I''m sure what i need to do is take my ring to a gemologist, but until I have time....I thought I would ask here. I just cleaned my engagement ring (4 years old) yesterday and was horrified to see what looks like a huge inclusion cutting across the bottom 1/3 of the stone. I have a GIA certified 1.35 carat round brilliant VS1 - G (what other info do you need?) diamond. I could never see any inclusions in the stone w/ my naked eye (or even under the scope). When I looked at my diamond (from the side), I now see what looks like a plane cutting through (crosswise) the bottom 1/3 of the diamond. Could I have damaged the stone? Could someone have switched my stone out? (1 year after I received it I took it to get cleaned.) I am blown away. Any thoughts are appreciated.
Thanks,
Pam

 

[Lorelei]

It sounds very much like a girdle reflection, don't panic, I will post a pic soon! If so, this is normal.

Could someone please post a pic of girdle reflection in action from the archives please, I am having trouble with the search function. Pam, hang tight until we can get this pic to you, that way you can tell us if that is what you see. If not, it could be something stuck on the diamond, or less likely damage which is rare, if so then see an expert to be on the safe side.

 

[Addlepated]

Are you positive that there''s nothing stuck underneath the stone that could look like a crack? Pet hair, maybe?

 

[ringabling]

did you take it out of very hot water and rinse it in very cold?
I agree that''s it''s likely a reflection though.

 

[mrssalvo]

I agree, sounds like a girdle reflection. here''s a picture of golfers stone''s girdle reflection, does yours look anything like this? you can type in girdle reflection in the search box and see some other threads with pics and explainations too..

 

[Lorelei]

Thanks MrsSalvo!

 

[mrssalvo]

Date: 1/15/2008 3:26:39 PM
Author: Lorelei
Thanks MrsSalvo!

no problem, i just hope we''re right

 

[Pam]

Thank you all for the speedy responses!! I did not do the hot/cold thing...however I did use one of those cheap ultrasonic cleaners...and left it in for about 5 minutes...could that have done it? It does not look like anything is stuck to the stone (in fact I noticed it right after I cleaned it so it should be clean...) but I''ll try to find a pipe cleaner or something I can stick in there to wipe the surface. On the girdle reflection, I have no idea what that is so am looking forward to a picture! It just seems strange to me that this is not something that was there previously. I even showed my husband (who picked the stone and is extremely detailed oriented) and he freaked out.
Thanks again....I''ll post any new info I figure out.
Pam

 

[Pam]

Yes...it looks like that!! However, it does look like it has two dimensions (i.e. cuts across like a plane) where as in the picture it looks like just a line. I will search the topic now to see what I can learn.
Thanks!!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 1/15/2008 3:30:01 PM
Author: mrssalvo

Date: 1/15/2008 3:26:39 PM
Author: Lorelei
Thanks MrsSalvo!

no problem, i just hope we''re right

Me too! Pam have you seen the pic yet and is that what you are seeing?

 

[surfgirl]

I too, think you''re seeing a girdle reflection and yes, the first time you notice it you FREAK OUT. I know I did! I thought, "holy crap, how could I NOT see that before?!?" But it was just a girdle reflection. If you can only see it from the side view then it seems like that''s what you''re seeing. Take it to a jeweler and ask them if it makes you more comfortable. I assume you cannot see this from the top, right?

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 1/15/2008 3:44:19 PM
Author: surfgirl
I too, think you''re seeing a girdle reflection and yes, the first time you notice it you FREAK OUT. I know I did! I thought, ''holy crap, how could I NOT see that before?!?'' But it was just a girdle reflection. If you can only see it from the side view then it seems like that''s what you''re seeing. Take it to a jeweler and ask them if it makes you more comfortable. I assume you cannot see this from the top, right?

Yep you do, we have had lots of worried folks post here who have just noticed this, so you are not alone Pam!

 

[Pam]

OK, so I did the search and read many related posts (including several messages identical to mine!!) And saw lots of nice pictures. Now I''m fairly comfortable that this is what I am seeing. However, (because I still can''t believe that it would take me 4 years to notice this!!!!!) I am going to take a picture of it tonight and post it out here. Will you guys please check this post out again tomorrow and give me your opinion after looking at the picture? I''d appreciate it!! That will help me decide if I should take it in to a gemologist or not.
Thanks again,
Pam

 

[ringabling]

just saw the photo up there.
I can see this on mine too, especially when it''s clean!

 

[metro]

I noticed the girdle reflection after getting my loupe, and boy did I FREAK OUT! I took my ring to 3 jewelers because I was convinced there was a crack in my diamond