How important is professional polishing?

[Just_Starting]

So I have a dilemma, I can either buy a 'super ideal' from GOG when I visit NYC next year and be sure to get an amazing diamond, or I can buy in the UK without that security, but I will get a free polishing service for life for the diamond and platinum. Obviously I don't want to get an amazing diamond and then it not look good due to not having the polishing service, I'd rather not have to pay for it each time and there's only so many times you can mess about the odd place that do it for free for anyone.

So in my position would you buy the following diamond and get the polishing service, or buy from GOG and be sure to get an amazing diamond, but then only have home cleaning kits for the diamond & platinum? In the UK getting ASET/Idealscope/magnified images is pretty much unheard of.

This was a post from diamondseeker regarding a similar query in another thread, but not focusing on polishing, hence the reason for the new thread:

diamondseeker2006

'I do not recommend buying a diamond blind with no magnified images or idealscope images. It may be fine or it may have a some leakage. You can't assume the feather is VS1 level when the clarity is VS2...you need magnified images to see the inclusions. I hope your vendor can at least give you details on the inclusions. As long as you have a good return policy and can check it out yourself or by an appraiser, it may be worth a try'.

Thanks for the reply diamondseeker2006. Hopefully the above info better explains my situation.

Diamond I am currently looking at in the UK:

.73 G VS2 EX VG EX
HCA 0.8
5.82 - 5.85 x 3.58 mm
Depth: 61.3
Table: 54
Crown angle 34.5
Crown height 15.5
Pavilion angle 40.6
Pavilion depth 42.5
Star length 50%
Lower half 80%
Medium (3%).
No fluorescence
No culet
Cloud, feather, laser inscribed.

Thanks for any replies... Really struggling with this decision over buying in the UK or US

Edit: I can't tell by myself if the diamond is nice or not, I have viewed it in person but with the store lighting all the stones look great and honestly I don't know what I am looking for specifically.

Also... This is why I thought the feather would be VS1 or higher, since I found this post from 2010:

Stone-cold11

'GIA only note a feather is a feather if it breaks the surface, else it is plotted as an included crystal.

Also, GIA will list a feather first, the grade setting inclusion, even if it is the same order as an internal inclusion. For example, in a stone has a cloud and feather at the VS2 level, the feather will be named first. If it is named after the cloud in a VS2 stone, then it will be a less significant inclusion, VS1 or better clarity grade'.

 

[ame]

Get the amazing diamond. MOST jewelers will polish your rings for free if they're gaining your business for the rest of your life.

 

[WinkHPD]

So I have a dilemma, I can either buy a 'super ideal' from GOG when I visit NYC next year and be sure to get an amazing diamond, or I can buy in the UK without that security, but I will get a free polishing service for life for the diamond and platinum. Obviously I don't want to get an amazing diamond and then it not look good due to not having the polishing service, I'd rather not have to pay for it each time and there's only so many times you can mess about the odd place that do it for free for anyone.

So in my position would you buy the following diamond and get the polishing service, or buy from GOG and be sure to get an amazing diamond, but then only have home cleaning kits for the diamond & platinum? In the UK getting ASET/Idealscope/magnified images is pretty much unheard of.

This was a post from diamondseeker regarding a similar query in another thread, but not focusing on polishing, hence the reason for the new thread:

diamondseeker2006

'I do not recommend buying a diamond blind with no magnified images or idealscope images. It may be fine or it may have a some leakage. You can't assume the feather is VS1 level when the clarity is VS2...you need magnified images to see the inclusions. I hope your vendor can at least give you details on the inclusions. As long as you have a good return policy and can check it out yourself or by an appraiser, it may be worth a try'.

Thanks for the reply diamondseeker2006. Hopefully the above info better explains my situation.

Diamond I am currently looking at in the UK:

.73 G VS2 EX VG EX
HCA 0.8
5.82 - 5.85 x 3.58 mm
Depth: 61.3
Table: 54
Crown angle 34.5
Crown height 15.5
Pavilion angle 40.6
Pavilion depth 42.5
Star length 50%
Lower half 80%
Medium (3%).
No fluorescence
No culet
Cloud, feather, laser inscribed.

Thanks for any replies... Really struggling with this decision over buying in the UK or US

Edit: I can't tell by myself if the diamond is nice or not, I have viewed it in person but with the store lighting all the stones look great and honestly I don't know what I am looking for specifically.

Also... This is why I thought the feather would be VS1 or higher, since I found this post from 2010:

Stone-cold11

'GIA only note a feather is a feather if it breaks the surface, else it is plotted as an included crystal.

Also, GIA will list a feather first, the grade setting inclusion, even if it is the same order as an internal inclusion. For example, in a stone has a cloud and feather at the VS2 level, the feather will be named first. If it is named after the cloud in a VS2 stone, then it will be a less significant inclusion, VS1 or better clarity grade'.

I would ask where the cert is from on the diamond you are looking at in England. If it is GIA that is nice, but if it is EGL or another second or third tier lab, RUN RABBIT, RUN!

The diamond you are asking us about has the potential to be incredible, but with the rounding on a GIA report the 40.6 could potentially be problematic. Ask the sales associate to walk outside with you or into a hall way so that you can see the diamond in different lighting conditions.

If you were in the States I would just recommend you call in the diamond you are looking at with GOG and look at the two diamonds side by side to see which you like best. Sadly, with the import duty and VAT that can be problematic if you like the local diamond better.

Perhaps you should price similar diamonds to the one you are looking at in the UK with GOG in the US and see if the savings is not worth waiting a few months for.

Wink

 

[Just_Starting]

Thanks a lot for the replies . If I were to buy in the US, then in the UK they wouldn't be getting my custom I'd just be walking into stores trying to get free polishing lol (without buying anything). I know of one place that will do that though. To Wink, it is a GIA certified stone.

With a platinum mount included, this stone is $4640, which I think is very good. WIth a platinum mount for a G VS1 .62 AGS 000 GOG super ideal it is about $4429. So the price is very similar but the one over here is bigger and comes with the polishing, but the GOG stone is almost certainly better and deserves the price tag due to the extra work that goes into providing the images. I will definitely try taking the UK stone out into a corridor and comparing with another (with permission lol).

So, hopefully this helps with anymore replies. I wish I knew just how much difference there could be between a stone with the proportions I have said, factoring in worst case scenario with GIA rounding versus a super ideal. If I knew it was a big visual difference, I'd just get the GOG stone and not look back and worry about the cleaning/polishing later (even though it is a nice thing to have).

 

[denverappraiser]

As mentioned above, jewelers with sense are happy to clean things for free anyway. It gets you in the door, it costs them nothing, it gives them the opportunity to sell you something, and it’s a good way to start the conversation to sell repairs if it’s needed. The issue here is polishing. That takes time tools and talent and is a bit of trouble to do. Normally they will charge. How much? It varies from store to store but around here it’s about $25-$40. Bear in mind that the process involves removing a bit of metal so you don’t want to do it too often. Only do it when you really feel you need it because it’ll increase the frequency of ‘real’ repairs. Maybe once a year before your anniversary is good, if even that. Also bear in mind that it’s only useful for as long as you continue to live in the vicinity of that particular store or other members of the same chain. You can do the math to decide how much is actually being saved through this 'free' perk but it’s unlikely it’s actually all that big a component of the deal.

Add to this the fact that few people do their best work for ‘free’. I’m not picking on your jeweler, it’s just human nature. This is a problem with ‘free’ appraisals too. The guy/gal doing the actual work is probably a commission worker and this is gratis work they’re doing for the store. That’s ok, supporting valued clients is an important task, but somehow it doesn’t seem to produce the same results as craftspeople who are actually being paid.

A special note on the pricing by the way. Be aware of the VAT that you will be charged when you import the stone. This may or may not be included with the stone being offered there but it's considerable so make sure you're making a fair comparison.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

If you get a good platinum alloy, you might only need the ring polished every few years. Many people move and do not remain in the town with the original jeweler anyway, so where you buy the ring is really irrelevant. I clean my ring at home and on the rare occasion I step in a nice jewelry store, they often ask if I'd like my rings cleaned as a courtesy. So no, the cleaning or metal polishing should not be a factor in where you buy the diamond. I have bought diamonds from GOG and highly recommend them if you go that route. If you want to buy locally, perhaps you can order an idealscope and learn to use it! I agree that jewelry store lighting is designed to make almost any diamond look good, and it is almost impossible for a novice to discriminate between excellent cuts in that environment.

I wouldn't worry too much about a feather in a VS2, especially since it is not the first listed inclusion. But I'd want to see the stone with magnification just to be sure I was comfortable with it.

 

[heididdl]

Amazing diamomd Ievery reputatable jeweler. Will polish for free ....Non issue go for the better stone that would be something to regret later