Help with diamond grading

[pp_dav]

I am a newbie here and I have questions regarding the GIA grading of a diamond. I bought a diamond with the GIA report of color I and VVS2 and asscher cut with very good symmetry and very good polish. I took it to a jeweler and set it into a platinum setting 2 weeks ago and after I got it back my friend look at it with the microscope and told me there are straitions and some imperfections on the side of the diamond which is not shown on the GIA grading report. I took the ring back to the jeweler for him to look at and ask him about it and he told me that when GIA grades the diamond, it''s only from the top but not the side. Can anyone tell me if that''s true or the jeweler messed it up during the setting process? Is it possible that happened during the setting of the ring? Does it matter if it is eye clean from the side and does it effect the diamond in any way?

Thank you,

David

 

[jet2ks]

GIA does only grade clarity from the top at 10x magnification, though they will mark the inclusion map both top and bottom. I don''t know how anything would have happened during setting to cause anything like what you are describing. It sounds like possibly some graining and that doesn''t really affect the diamond. As far as eye-clean from the side, only you can decide if it bothers you. Also, make sure that the diamond is really clean--they are notorious dirt and oil magnets and something on the surface like a fingerprint could also look like an imperfection.

 

[stone-cold11]

Ditto. Or get it appraised by an independent appraiser to verify.

 

[swingirl]

Very, Very Slightly Included (VVS1 and VVS2) - Inclusions are difficult for a skilled grader to see under 10X magnification.

This is off the GIA website. What was the magnification of your friend's microscope? A VVS2 isn't flawless, it just takes more to see the inclusions.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 12/30/2009 8:38:09 PM
Author: swingirl
Very, Very Slightly Included (VVS1 and VVS2) - Inclusions are difficult for a skilled grader to see under 10X magnification.

This is off the GIA website. What was the magnification of your friend''s microscope? A VVS2 isn''t flawless, it just takes more to see the inclusions.

Yes, I wonder about this too. 10x is not very much.

 

[LGK]

Yeah, 10x is the clarity grading standard as viewed from the top. Some IFs really are flawless under intense magnification- one of the stones I have is still doesn''t show any inclusions under a microscope, which the appraiser who was looking at it for me said was unusual- but that''s not necessarily true of all IF stones- and a VVS would have some inclusions present even under 10X.

You may want to have it appraised anyway for insurance purposes, anyway.

 

[pp_dav]

Thank you for all your help. I checked it with GIA also and they tell me it might be the surface graining on the diamond which I will check again under microscope. I think the microscope is 20x and it is pretty obvious under that. It looks like whole bunch of lines and scratches.

 

[oldminer]

GIA and all proper grading labs grade not only from the top, but from the sides and from the pavilion, too. There are very specific rules about how to draw the inclusions, rules about when an inclusion is plotted on the pavilion, when it is plotted on the crown and when it is plotted both on pavilion and crown. In a VVS2 one would not expect to see much plotting at all, but diamonds are examined from all angles to find inclusions. These inclusions must be visible at 10X to be plotted, but inclusions smaller than visible at 10X may still exist in a diamond and nothing on the plot or in the comments may indicate this.

I would not expect a novice to be able to see anything in a VVS2 unless they had superior vision, a perfectly clean stone, a very well adjusted microscope and a lot of good luck. If you can see something easily, it is either your eyes playing a trick on you with the way diamonds and their facets appear, or possibly damage to the diamond. So, it is worth further investigation, but it could be just the way you perceive the view of the stone from whatever angle you are finding the problem. Definitely, check it out.