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Is this a chip?

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Midway

Rough_Rock
Joined
Nov 29, 2006
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So, my now-fiance has had her engagement ring for about a week now. She loves the ring and I was very happy with how the proposal went. We''ve been on cloud 9 for the past week or so.

But a couple of days ago she noticed something about her center-stone. On one edge of the diamond at the girdle there is a place where her fingernail catches. Don''t ask me how she found it, but she did.
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I ran my finger on this edge and I feel something too. I haven''t been able to look at it through any type of magnification, not even a loupe, so I don''t really know what it is, but I''ve heard of the danger of getting chips on the girdle, possibly by holding a diamond too hard with tweezers.

Her stone is a RB, and it seems like chips are more common with square cut stones, and usually on the corners. Is it possible that her stone was somehow chipped while it was being set or during the appraisal process? The stone is suppose to have ideal (AGS 0) polish so I don''t think its a cutting issue.

If it is a chip, do I have any options available to "fix" the stone?

I realize that I''ll probably need to confirm whatever it is with either a loupe or a microscope before proceeding, but just wondering if other people have had similar experiences. Thanks in advance!
 
One thought that just occurred to me. Is it possible that this could be the lazor inscription on the girdle that I''m feeling? I just ask bc I know there is a lazor inscription on this stone and I think it may have been in the place where I''m feeling this snag, whatever it is.
 
Hi Mid,

You will not be able to feel the laser inscription with your finger nail. Best bet is to bring it to a local appraiser who has a microscope.
 
Rhino is correct.

But it is possible for your stone to have a small natural part of the rough diamond left unpolished - usually just under the girdle.if so it is not an issue.
 
No sense guessing. Both Rhino and Garry have provided a good answer to your question.

Take it to someone who can factually tell you what your feeling with your finger.

My advice also is make sure the person you take it to is a gemologist and has a microscope.

Many non-gemologists have identified naturals as chips, so you need to be certain. But it COULD be a feather that breaks the girdle surface that you feel.

Don't be upset, just relax, until you find out what it is.

Just for the record, if it is a chip, it probably wasn't done in the setting process. If it was and the setter didn't tell you, most commonly it would be put under a prong to hide it. Can't say that is totally factual situation in your particular case, but it could be a very probable one.

Rockdoc
 

It’s also worth noting that, assuming you had a professional inspection and appraisal done as soon as you got it, any chips would be noted and any ‘new’ damage would be a covered loss under most insurance policies. Look over the paperwork and especially at the little drawing of the diamond. If you don’t understand it and they didn't provide a key, call up the appraiser and ask them to explain the markings.



Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver
 
Thank you to all the experts that replied to shared your knowledge!
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I just had a quick follow-up.

I went and saw the appraiser today and we looked at the stone under her microscope. I looked at the girdle and saw that there was a small spot of roughness where we had been feeling our nail catch. It looked to me something like what Garry had mentioned, that perhaps a bit of the rough remained on the stone at a small part of the girdle. She said that it was a natural feature of the stone and wasn''t uncommon. And that it was nothing to worry about.

But, and here is where I get a little confused, she called it "bearding." I ran a search here for bearding and it looks pretty nasty and many have written that it''s an indication of bad workmanship. That the bruting process was done too quickly. However, this is a round brilliant with a faceted girdle. My appraiser said that faceting is done to try to limit bearding, but some of the other posts seemed to suggest that if a girdle is faceted that it isn''t bruted and therefore can''t be "bearded."

Who is right? The rough patch is small, by my estimate, one mm long on the girdle. It looks just like a patch of coarser surface a bit whiter than the rest of the girdle. But it doesn''t look like hairs or fissures that can be seen from the top of the diamond.

She said that bearding doesn''t affect the clairty grade in less than VVS stones. She explained it like this: an otherwise IF stone would be graded VVS1 if it had bearding, but with a VS or lower, bearding won''t affect the clarity grade. This is a VS1 stone. It''s also graded AGS 0 for cut, polish and symmetry (which I was hoping would be an indication of good workmanship).

Should I be concerned about this bearding? Is this something that my appraiser should have caught and pointed out during the initial examination of the stone or ring? Is this rough patch an indication of bad/hurried workmanship? Can bearding or whatever this rough patch is be removed with more polishing of the stone and is that worthwhile? Any advice is much appreciated!
 
Date: 1/9/2007 1:47:09 PM
Author: Midway
Thank you to all the experts that replied to shared your knowledge!
36.gif
I just had a quick follow-up.

I went and saw the appraiser today and we looked at the stone under her microscope. I looked at the girdle and saw that there was a small spot of roughness where we had been feeling our nail catch. It looked to me something like what Garry had mentioned, that perhaps a bit of the rough remained on the stone at a small part of the girdle. She said that it was a natural feature of the stone and wasn''t uncommon. And that it was nothing to worry about. True, nothing to worry about...

But, and here is where I get a little confused, she called it ''bearding.'' I ran a search here for bearding and it looks pretty nasty and many have written that it''s an indication of bad workmanship. That the bruting process was done too quickly. However, this is a round brilliant with a faceted girdle. My appraiser said that faceting is done to try to limit bearding, but some of the other posts seemed to suggest that if a girdle is faceted that it isn''t bruted and therefore can''t be ''bearded.'' 99% of round shape diamonds are bruted and then faceted.

Who is right? The rough patch is small, by my estimate, one mm long on the girdle. It looks just like a patch of coarser surface a bit whiter than the rest of the girdle. But it doesn''t look like hairs or fissures that can be seen from the top of the diamond. It sounds like a natural to me, if it was bearded, you would notice fine hair/fissures and would not feel anything, and even if it was bearded, nothing to worry about!!!!

She said that bearding doesn''t affect the clairty grade in less than VVS stones (true). She explained it like this: an otherwise IF stone would be graded VVS1 if it had bearding, but with a VS or lower, bearding won''t affect the clarity grade. This is a VS1 stone. It''s also graded AGS 0 for cut, polish and symmetry (which I was hoping would be an indication of good workmanship). True, its beter than just good workmanship, its closer to as perfect..., if you believe in perfect...

Should I be concerned about this bearding? Is this something that my appraiser should have caught and pointed out during the initial examination of the stone or ring? Is this rough patch an indication of bad/hurried workmanship? Can bearding or whatever this rough patch is be removed with more polishing of the stone and is that worthwhile? Any advice is much appreciated! You are worrying yourself toooooooooo much, relax it sounds like you have an AGS-0 VS1 diamond!!!
 
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