I bought an incorrectly graded stone - what can I do???

[csand13]

Especially since I won't be taking a hit on the ring I have now - I owe more than what a private jeweler will pay.

It is really not a good idea to go into debt for luxury goods. You should not be considering taking on more debt to get yourself out of this diamond. Since you already owe quite a bit, it seems, I would complain to the store about the misrepresented quality and see if they will let you do a trade-in for less than double the price, then try to pick a 1.5 H/I Si2 excellent cut stone, which will set you back several thousand further but hopefully not TOO badly (and be sure to price-check stones with similar stats online, and bargain the price down to that level), and since you're planning on the upgrade maybe you already have that. Then pay it down as aggressively as possible.

Thank you for your opinion.

I did not mean to imply that I am financially strained due to my debt on the ring, rather that I simply don't want to lose money on an item that was supposed to be of much higher value than what it is ending up being. I'm comfortable with and capable of managing the debt I have and plan to incur with this item. As stated, my initial goal was to rid of this ring to purchase something better - which can mean a higher price, which I am aware of. I've learned that you get what you pay for.

I've done my research and know what I'm looking for in a stone - no lower than a G, VS2, ideal cut. But again, thank you for your opinion.

 

[canuk-gal]

I've done my research and know what I'm looking for in a stone - no lower than a G, VS2, ideal cut. But again, thank you for your opinion.[/quote]




More importantly--GIA or AGS certed.

cheers--Sharon

 

[AprilBaby]

If you are going to trade, go to the Jared division rather than the Westfield division. I would also write the president of sterling directly and tell him you feel tipped off. Don't even mention legal action or they shut you right down. Tell then you are going to contact BBB if you don't get any satisfaction. You will get called by the regional manager and they may offer to let you get something for less than the double. It worked for me with a misrepresented pendant. But trust me, as soon as you even mention a lawyer they cut you off.

Thank you for the input - especially the legal info. I'm glad they worked with you, did you end up being satisfied with whatever they offered?

Yes, they were eager to make it right. I got another piece of merchandise the same price as I paid for the misrepresented item. ( in short, the sold me a solitaire pendant marked .50 and when taken out of the pendant it was .27) I also had my choice of whatever I wanted. The CEO /president address is online under Sterling Jewelers, Ohio.

 

[csand13]

I've done my research and know what I'm looking for in a stone - no lower than a G, VS2, ideal cut. But again, thank you for your opinion.

More importantly--GIA or AGS certed.

cheers--Sharon[/quote]

Absolutely!

 

[csand13]

If you are going to trade, go to the Jared division rather than the Westfield division. I would also write the president of sterling directly and tell him you feel tipped off. Don't even mention legal action or they shut you right down. Tell then you are going to contact BBB if you don't get any satisfaction. You will get called by the regional manager and they may offer to let you get something for less than the double. It worked for me with a misrepresented pendant. But trust me, as soon as you even mention a lawyer they cut you off.

Thank you for the input - especially the legal info. I'm glad they worked with you, did you end up being satisfied with whatever they offered?

Yes, they were eager to make it right. I got another piece of merchandise the same price as I paid for the misrepresented item. ( in short, the sold me a solitaire pendant marked .50 and when taken out of the pendant it was .27) I also had my choice of whatever I wanted. The CEO /president address is online under Sterling Jewelers, Ohio.

Thank you, this is extremely helpful. I feel a little better knowing they wanted to make it right. Can I ask where you're located?

 

[AprilBaby]

I am outside Chicago. The Chicago regional manager called me after the president got my letter. And BTW, I killed them with kindness in my letter. That goes so much better than anger. Threaten them nicely

 

[Dancing Fire]

This might not be an option, depending on what type your stone's I1 inclusion is, and where it is located in the stone. But, Brian Gavin recuts diamonds at a rough cost of $350 or so per carat. You might contact him about whether or not the performance can be improved. Not all diamonds are candidates because their inclusions might result in structural problems that make it unsuitable to recut. A fantastic cut washes the face-up color. You might still see it from the side, but if it's not bothering you now, it certainly won't bother you after a recut.

This had crossed my mind, but I did a little reading that didn't convince me. I might revisit the idea, or at least ask! Thank you for the info!

don't put anymore money into this crappy stone...

 

[partgypsy]

OK. So the original stone you purchased was an E I1 (unknown cut quality), that you personally picked out and were fine with until you found out from others the grading is most likely worse than that. And now you say your minimum is G VS2, ideal cut. Is this from looking at a range of stones with report grades? Or from reading?

All I want to say, is that if you can find an H color, SI clarity stone of very good to ideal cut graded by AGS or GIA as such in a report, that stone will blow your original stone out of water. I'm not even sure if the Kays line of jewelery stores even HAVE VS clarity stones. Or if they do it will be a very limited selection, probably not ideal cuts, and you will pay a premium.

By doing it in this way, you do know that you will get a nicer looking stone, but really overpaying.

(IMHO) The most important is the cut quality. Then having a balance of color and clarity that is acceptable. If you were OK with an improperly graded I1 stone, you should be OK with a properly graded SI stone.

 

[chrono]

By doing it in this way, you do know that you will get a nicer looking stone, but really overpaying for that stone.

Agreed. I think your financial loss will be less if you sell it yourself, then start afresh with the PS recommended vendors.

 

[AprilBaby]

" I'm not even sure if the Kays line of jewelery stores even HAVE VS clarity stones. Or if they do it will be a very limited selection, probably not ideal cuts, and you will pay a premium. "

This is true but she can request to use her upgrade at Jared where they can either bring in a stone or she can get a Peerless diamond. Agreed that it will be overpaid but it is an option.

 

[Ashleigh]

Hi,
I didn't read thru all the responses and have no idea if this has been mentioned. Just thought to say that even if the stone is correctly graded and is selling for $7500 retail, you won't get close to that value when you try selling it to a jeweler as they need to buy at a much lower value so as to be able to sell at $7500 to the next customer.

At this point, I think the best course of action is to get your diamond graded by a reputable lab, bring the new cert to the jeweler you bought from and see if you can get a refund since it's a misrepresentation on their part.

 

[csand13]

OK. So the original stone you purchased was an E I1 (unknown cut quality), that you personally picked out and were fine with until you found out from others the grading is most likely worse than that. And now you say your minimum is G VS2, ideal cut. Is this from looking at a range of stones with report grades? Or from reading?

All I want to say, is that if you can find an H color, SI clarity stone of very good to ideal cut graded by AGS or GIA as such in a report, that stone will blow your original stone out of water. I'm not even sure if the Kays line of jewelery stores even HAVE VS clarity stones. Or if they do it will be a very limited selection, probably not ideal cuts, and you will pay a premium.

By doing it in this way, you do know that you will get a nicer looking stone, but really overpaying.

(IMHO) The most important is the cut quality. Then having a balance of color and clarity that is acceptable. If you were OK with an improperly graded I1 stone, you should be OK with a properly graded SI stone.

No, I decided months before hearing anything from anyone that I wanted a higher quality stone. As I said before, since my last purchase I've developed a great interest in jewelry, particularly diamonds, and have spent a great amount of time learning everything I can about them. So, through both looking at a range of stones AND reading, I'm very confident that I'm knowledgeable enough, after much research, to decide what I want to purchase on my own. I know what I want! Thank you all for your recommendations, but I know what I want!

If anyone has advice on a better way to address my initially stated dilemma, I would appreciate it.

 

[csand13]

Hi,
I didn't read thru all the responses and have no idea if this has been mentioned. Just thought to say that even if the stone is correctly graded and is selling for $7500 retail, you won't get close to that value when you try selling it to a jeweler as they need to buy at a much lower value so as to be able to sell at $7500 to the next customer.

At this point, I think the best course of action is to get your diamond graded by a reputable lab, bring the new cert to the jeweler you bought from and see if you can get a refund since it's a misrepresentation on their part.

Yeah, I knew this going in, but I was totally blown away at how little I was offered. I certainly didn't expect to get what I paid, but I did expect more than a quarter of my original cost!

I agree - I think having this stone GIA graded is only going to benefit me, no matter what road I take.

 

[Christina...]

Hi,
I didn't read thru all the responses and have no idea if this has been mentioned. Just thought to say that even if the stone is correctly graded and is selling for $7500 retail, you won't get close to that value when you try selling it to a jeweler as they need to buy at a much lower value so as to be able to sell at $7500 to the next customer.

At this point, I think the best course of action is to get your diamond graded by a reputable lab, bring the new cert to the jeweler you bought from and see if you can get a refund since it's a misrepresentation on their part.

OP has tried to trade or sell the diamond to other vendors and the top offer was $1800, this is when OP was told by other jewelers that the stone was inaccurately graded (by GIA standards). Unfortunately it doesn't matter what another lab grades the stone, OP purchased a stone graded by GSI (or something like that) and we have no idea what GSI's grading criteria is. They evidently use the same grading scale as GIA, but that doesn't mean that GSI's color and clarity scale are comparable to GIA's. These obscure labs hide behind the fact that grading is subjective and opinion based, their opinion of OP's stone was that it was an E I1, this of course was not the opinion of many other jewelers who assessed the stone.

I think that Dreamer made the point that in order to claim that the stone was misrepresented, OP would have to prove that GSI had graded similar stones as something other than they graded hers.


EDIT: credited the wrong person.

 

[LibbyLA]

I think that there's a one-grade leeway for both color and clarity. You may have them on the color, since E is a very high color, but one grade on clarity gets you between SI2 to I2. I1 clarity is a huge part of the problem, and cut quality is probably another.

Good luck with getting a satisfactory resolution.

liz

 

[denverappraiser]

I think you don’t have much of a case for damages for misgrading. They sold a GSI graded stone, presumably that’s what they delivered, and the fact that a different lab might grade it differently a year later is irrelevant, even if it's true. Sterling is a big outfit and they DO sell stones graded by other labs (like GIA and AGS), they do have people who understand cutting and grading, they can get whatever they want, and they can be price competitive if they feel like it. The bigger stores, like the Jareds, seem to be more accustomed to customers like the folks here and they do offer a tradeup program that crosses the whole company that's worth considering here. As mentioned above, the math is really pretty easy. What’s the net cost of the new one on the tradein vs. the net cost of buying somewhere else and subtracting the amount you can get for the existing stone? You then tweak that by how much you value non-gemological things like shopping with a store you like, the pain of the selling process, etc.

 

[TC1987]

don't put anymore money into this crappy stone...

Just how is the OP not going to lose on this deal, DF???! Sometimes it's just not practical to scrap everything and start over. Sometimes one has to accept the situation and put up with it for a while. Sometimes we never do get the perfect thing that we desired. Ever.

How do you know it's a crappy stone? Lots of us like I1 stones. Lots of people like J color or below, too. My thought was that it's 1.58ct or something now, so perhaps the OP could cut her losses better by recutting it for $500-$600 and then having a well-cut stone of 1.25 ct or more that she can tolerate well enough to wear while paying off debt and saving money for the new one. And/or a well-cut stone of 1.25 ct or more that can be sold for $3000 - $4000. Many people won't pay $8000 for an e-ring stone, but they'd take a decent-looking "big" diamond for $3000-$4000 if the inclusions are not ugly or obvious.

I've bought and sold enough diamonds to not care so much about having perfection anymore. The "new" wear off of any material possession. Sometimes a ring is just a ring, and you finally decide that it's not worth obsessing over anymore.

 

[Fly Girl]

When my son purchased a diamond ring for his now fiancee, I steered him to Brian Gavin Diamonds. After he chose his ring, I went out to the Kay's website to see how much a comparable ring would cost from them. I upgraded to their best cut line, same color and clarity grades, and the cost was 2 to 3 times what he had paid from Brian Gavin.

I would stay far, far away from your previous jeweler. You will not be able to recoup your cost.

Good luck, and sorry this has happened.

 

[chrono]

Without knowing where the inclusions are and the type, I am doubtful that an I1 stone will be a good candidate for a recut.

 

[motownmama]

I've read some of this thread, but not all of it. Personally, I would get the stone graded by GIA, then I would write a very nice, professional letter to the president of Sterling. Sure, it was not graded GIA, and it's just an opinion, but it should be an educated opinion and if it's waaaaay off I'd bring this to their attention. There are standards for the grading; I know various companies are more lenient, but you can't represent a J as an E can you? I'm just telling you what I know I would do. They are a big corporation, and if they want to "make this right" they can, or at least make it much better! I think personally I'd want them to give me a stone that's actually worth the $7500 I paid for this one,so I would not be out any more $. It might take awhile, but I know I would go this route, even if it took a year. In addition, I would send it to Brain Gavin and just get his thoughts on a recut. Boy oh boy has he done some miracles on people's stone.

 

[blackprophet]

Yeah, I knew this going in, but I was totally blown away at how little I was offered. I certainly didn't expect to get what I paid, but I did expect more than a quarter of my original cost!

I agree - I think having this stone GIA graded is only going to benefit me, no matter what road I take.

That $7500 includes the Markup associated with a B&M store, as well as the improper grading. How would you feel if you decided to trade up in the future and it happened again?

You say you want what you want. And you've done your research. Why not take the best route to get it.

If this were a car and your first one was a lemon, would you get a new car from the same company, just because they were giving you the best trade in price?

There is a phrase "Don't throw good money after bad". I think you have at least 4 good options given by people here to explore.
1) Recut
2) Cut loses and buy online
3) Trade in
4) Try and stick it to the man and try to get some kind of compensation

I don't think going the route of Aprilbaby (#4) will help you. She had a ctw problem (nonsubjective) as you have a grading problem (subjective as others had stated). They would probably just say lets send it back to GSI on our dime and see what they say. And GSI would probably grade it the same.

Pesonally I wouldn't even consider 3) because I wouldn't want to give them any more of my money (especially double!). But that is only my opinion.

But I would highly suggest investigating all four options thoroughly before you choose one. It seems you have made up your mind before doing that.

 

[blackprophet]

Also have you taken it to an independant appraiser?
for two reasons: A) to know where it may fall in GIA terms to see if fighting the man/sending it to GIA would be worth it? As well to know is it a lower colour? Is it a lower clarity?
B) to get an independant opinion. Seems like everyone who looked at it was interested in buying it. They may have been just trying to low ball you. *shrug* Just a thought.

 

[Dreamer_D]

When looking for your replacement, you can really go lower in color and clarity than G VS2. Show around and see some GIA graded stones with your own eyes that are GIA Excellent cut before you decide on the color and clarity you require. A 1.5ct G VS2 diamond is about $16k+ from a PS online vendor, likely double that from a B&M like Kays. That may not be how you want to spend your money. As long as the cut is of the best proportions, the color and clarity will be much less evident. You current E I1 is likely more included and tinted than many H-I color SI2 GIA stones, not to mention the cut quality difference.

 

[denverappraiser]

I hate to sound self serving here but a competent appraisal here would almost certainly give you useful information. What do you have? What are the viable marketplaces for it? What can you reasonably expect to get for it? What do you need to do to sell it into those marketplaces? As mentioned above, a bid is not the same thing as an appraisal.

There's a list of appraisers under the tab at the top of the page titled 'resources'.

 

[csand13]

I agree. Although cut is the biggest factor, I don't want to go lower than a G in color and VS2 clarity, maybe SI1 in a 1 carat. I'm sure I can find a stone of that quality with 12,000 to play with.

The 12,000 references if I choose to trade in, however I can find the stone I want - see above parameters - within my out of pocket budget, should I choose to go that route.

 

[csand13]

When looking for your replacement, you can really go lower in color and clarity than G VS2. Show around and see some GIA graded stones with your own eyes that are GIA Excellent cut before you decide on the color and clarity you require. A 1.5ct G VS2 diamond is about $16k+ from a PS online vendor, likely double that from a B&M like Kays. That may not be how you want to spend your money. As long as the cut is of the best proportions, the color and clarity will be much less evident. You current E I1 is likely more included and tinted than many H-I color SI2 GIA stones, not to mention the cut quality difference.

I can, but don't want to.

 

[kenny]

By doing it in this way, you do know that you will get a nicer looking stone, but really overpaying for that stone.

Agreed. I think your financial loss will be less if you sell it yourself, then start afresh with the PS recommended vendors.

+1
A private sale involves 2 parties.
Involving a 3rd party just means another mouth to feed.

That said, private sale takes the longest and involves more hassle and requires more knowledge, plus there's some concern about becoming a crime target.
But if you are patient it should yield the most money.

As I wrote before if you send it to GIA you'll be stuck with the ethical decision of which report (grades) to sell it with.
I would not reveal that it has two reports because that will just bring up the quagmire that is the subject of this thread, and potential buyers will probably run away screaming.
I'd just use one report and make the other one vanish.

Using the GIA paper (with the lower grades) many not necessarily get you the highest price, but it may result in a faster sale.

 

[Dancing Fire]

don't put anymore money into this crappy stone...

Just how is the OP not going to lose on this deal, DF???! Sometimes it's just not practical to scrap everything and start over. Sometimes one has to accept the situation and put up with it for a while. Sometimes we never do get the perfect thing that we desired. Ever.

How do you know it's a crappy stone? Lots of us like I1 stones. Lots of people like J color or below, too. My thought was that it's 1.58ct or something now, so perhaps the OP could cut her losses better by recutting it for $500-$600 and then having a well-cut stone of 1.25 ct or more that she can tolerate well enough to wear while paying off debt and saving money for the new one. And/or a well-cut stone of 1.25 ct or more that can be sold for $3000 - $4000. Many people won't pay $8000 for an e-ring stone, but they'd take a decent-looking "big" diamond for $3000-$4000 if the inclusions are not ugly or obvious.

I've bought and sold enough diamonds to not care so much about having perfection anymore. The "new" wear off of any material possession. Sometimes a ring is just a ring, and you finally decide that it's not worth obsessing over anymore.

The OP will lose $$$ but just matter of how much.A recut ?? . let say a recut cost $600 + $150 for a GIA report = $750 . Do you think it is worth throwing another $750 into this stone? Plus we have no idea what will come back from GIA lab.

 

[Christina...]

I agree that the very first step should be with an independent appraiser....independent meaning that they don't sell diamond, have no interest in who sold you yours or who graded it. This would be the best place to get the information that you need to determine which would be the best course of action. Should the appraisal come back several grades off the GSI report, then you will be properly equipped to go back to the original seller and argue your case. Should you decide to sell on the secondary market, you will have an independent GG appraisal to back up your claims of cut color clarity and carat. The appraisal will also let you know if it's worth investing money into a GIA report and possibly the appraiser would have insight as to whether or not it may be a candidate for a re-cut. A good appraiser will also be able to help you sort through all these various options and make a suggestion as to how best to move forward. In my opinion this would be the only money I would be willing to sink into the stone at this time.

 

[marcy]

That really stinks. I would go to Jared's because they at least have GIA and AGS0 diamonds. I also agree with the suggestion to write the headquarters and explain your dissatisfaction with your diamond. I hope you can get something you'll love.