James Allen laser inscription

[ghostdunks]

Hi, been lurking here for a bit picking up gems of wisdom...lots of info here to digest. Hoping to get some advice from people who might have had same experience or might know better.

I'm interested in 3 diamonds(1 center stone and two smaller matching side stones) and am currently looking at the range at the TrueHearts range from James Allen as I rate cut highly. As I am in Australia, and I want to be sure of what I'm buying, I've always only looked out for laser inscribed stones(to verify it is same diamond as the diamond grading certificate). Have found 3 stones I think which are suitable. Two of the stones are laser inscribed(one with GIA, other with AGS), but one of the side stones isn't inscribed and is certified with AGS. I thought it was strange to see that this particular stone wasn't easily identifiable as its part of their premium range.

Don't really feel comfortable buying overseas from the internet a loose stone that's not inscribed. Do you think JA would either send the stone back to AGS and inscribe it with its Id number or getting it re-certified with GIA and getting it inscribed with GIA Id? I don't know if there would be a fee for this, but since I'm thinking of buying 3 stones from them, was hoping any fees for such a service would be waived in the interests of customer service

Have already sent an email off to JA to request such a service, but maybe there's a JA rep here who could help with this as well? Or have other people here done something similar? Had a chat with one of their web operators and he said it couldn't be done, but not sure how much authority he had to request such a thing.

thanks!

 

[Christina...]

Laser inscription doesn't offer you the safety and security that you think it does. Anyone can have anything they want inscribed on a girdle, some benches even have the equipment to inscribe stones in house. Therefore, it wouldn't be difficult for an unethical jeweler to cheat a client if they so desired. Inscriptions can also be polished off. Clarity maps are much better way to identify your stone, like snowflakes, no two diamonds are the same. If you are worried about not receiving the stone that you purchased then your best course of action is to work with a vendor that you trust and then have the stones independently appraised after you receive them. You should then spend some time learning how to identify the inclusions in your stone so that if you have future work done you will easily be able to recognize it as yours....or you could again ask an appraiser to identify it for you. Inscriptions used as the only identifier of a stone isn't foolproof or safe in my opinion.

 

[ghostdunks]

Oh I totally understand that a laser inscription isn't the end all and be all to identify a diamond. I think of it as more of like a bicycle lock, more as a deterrrent. And to me, better to have it than to not have it, given the choice. At least having it inscribed with the certificate number has some semblance to security, however slight. When I drop this amount of money on something over the internet, I like to have as many safeguards as possible.

One of my main issues was when I spoke to the web operator at JA, that if I was worried about the stone not being the one represented in the certificate was that I could map the inclusions on the diamond from the plotting diagram on the certificate. When I countered with the fact that it was an IF stone, and no inclusions was represented on the plotting diagram, this would be extremely hard to do without taking it to get it appraised again by another party, something which I'm trying to avoid.

Anyway, got some detailed emails from JA saying they they don't offer such a service to get it inscribed, etc. after they have been certificated. No biggie really, I asked, they said they couldn't do it, so not really fussed. I still really like one of the stones they offer, but will probably end up getting the other stones somewhere else, there's other vendors out there.

 

[Todd Gray]

It's not as simple as you might think, the AGSL will inscribe the diamond if it is sent back to them for inscription, however there will be a charge to regrade the diamond, and to inscribe it, so it's like sending the diamond back for grading as if it had never been to the lab before, the cost will be the same as if the diamond had never been to the lab before...

And the only company authorized to put the AGSL logo or letters on the inscription, is the AGSL.

But you might be able to find an independent appraiser in NYC (see the list of appraisers here on PS that is available under resources) who could verify the characteristics of the diamonds for you prior to them being shipped to you, for a reasonable fee...

 

[denverappraiser]

Matching stones to grading reports isn't usually all that difficult, with or without an inscription, but if the inscription is an important issue to you, why not just ask them to provide a different stone? They have lots available, many with the inscription already there.