Judging Marquise stones -- what would you experts do?

[borisgoodenough]

Yet another newbie looking for help.

I''m searchng for a new marquis to replace the one lost (don''t ask!) from my wife''s ring.

My local jeweler, whom I''ve known and been friendly with for many years, showed me what, to my eye, was a beautiful stone -- lots of brilliance and scintillation:

1.12 Carat, D VS2
9.57x5.77x3.53 (slightly plump -- which I kind of like)
61D, 59T
VG polish & symmetry, M girdle, no Fluor

His price to me (at which he says he''s only making $500) is $7150 plus tax -- i.e. $6383 per carat. He''ll mount it for free.

Right now, Pricescope has these two stones listed from multiple vendors:

1.11 Carat, D VS2
10.71x5.42x3.34
61.6D, 58T
G polish & symmetry, T-STK girdle, no fluor

1.12 Carat, D VS2
10.03x5.73x3.40
59.3D, 59T
VG polish & symmetry, NO GIRDLE INFO GIVEN, no fluor

Either of these two stones can be bought online for about $5500 -- about $4910 per carat. All 3 have GIA certs.

I showed these listings to my local guy -- and he correctly pointed out the great differences in appearance caused by things that aren''t shown in the numbers -- i.e. the online stones could have great numbers, but still be much deader due to proportions and angles, along with the type and location of the inclusions (his has just a few pinpoints near the edges).

So that''s where I sit. with a few questions. (And, yes, I know the preference here is for buying online):

(1) Could the local guy be telling me the truth about his pricing and the quality of the stone? I can''t find any similarly-graded stones online at that kind of per-carat price.

(2) To put it another way, is it within the realm of possibility that there''s that much difference in appearance between stones that grade this similarly to justify this price difference?

(3) Other than the missing girdle info, am I missing any other critical (and available) info that could help me decide?

(4) Is it reasonable for me to ask the local guy -- and an online vendor -- to send the three stones to an independent appraiser? Or to order both online stones and look at all three side-by-side myself, with the idea that one or both could be going back?

Suggestions on how to proceed are greatly appreciated!

Joel

 

[oldminer]

You have arrived at knowledge and the basis is now "TRUST". I think you cannot totally rely on the correctness of the price quoted on the first diamond as being within $500 of the cost.

If you want to buy the best looking stone and the best value, you must spend the bucks to see these stones together or pay someone nearby or distant, like I may be, to examine them for you. While this is not without cost, it may allow you to truly get what you are searching for. The first diamond may really be the one to purchase, but no one can tell you this right now. If you are patient and thorough, you will follow through with all the steps needed to do the job correctly. If you are impulsive, all this advice is not going to work for you.

The main thing, is to not have any regrets about a major purchase later on. Every personality has a different level of perfection in these matters.

 

[valeria101]

Hm... would it really cost 2k to see one extra stone ? Not sure...

I would not say that the position of inclusions is a major aspect for a VS stone: those are not going to be visible without magnification anyway. Buying online does take a few added steps (such as asking for complete info on the stones and/or pictures, having them inspected if you so wish or what not) but it could be worth it at this point. If you liked the stone at the jeweler but did not see too many, it would be very hard to tell wether another stone may turn out to be very much better than the one at hand, in theory.

Your stone is shorter and deeper than the ones listed online, to start with. You can check wether this would be bad or good using a little online toy (the "fancy shape selector" on gemappraisers.com). The rest is mistery. You need more info than those numbers to tell what the stones are like: anyone would!

For reference, here's one D-VS marquise with just about all info one can communicate online to describe a diamond, and then some.

 

[pqcollectibles]

One saavy "fancy" shopper recently had stones from a couple Price Scope Vendors and a local B&M sent to an Independent Appraiser. She didn't pay for any of the diamonds up front since they were going to an Approved Appraiser. She and her Hubby met with the Appraiser to view the diamonds, get professional input, and make her selection. The only extra expense she incurred was shipping for the diamonds she did not select. She got to see all all the candidates in a side-by-side comparison. And, with the Appraiser's assistance, she made in informed, as well as in person, buying decision.

 

[oldminer]

"Why use a big word when a diminutive word would be succinct!"

I like that one..Just noticed "diminutive"...Thought it worthy of some mention....

 

[valeria101]

Yeah, that was very interesting!... Import-export firms do such stuff for a living... so the practice could have just as great potential for the Price Scope club as for every other market out there!

Do all appraisers offer this type of service? What is the cost? It surely must compare favorably to the B&M premium... and the horror stories about the average level of service shocking knowledgeable buyers

evry now and then.

 

[borisgoodenough]

Thanks very much for the replies.

David, I really wish we were closer to you -- it makes a lot of sense to ask an independent appraiser to examine the stones, but the ideal situation would be to combine this with comparing the stones side by side ourselves, as pq suggested. I have to think that, if my local B&M guy isn't willing to have this done, that tells me what I need to know about his stone -- however nice it looked to me.
Can you (or someone else) recommend anyone in the Detroit area who might fill the bill for this?

Valeria, I'd actualy run across the GOG stone that you linked to, but wondered about the very thin - thick girdle and only Medium white light return on the Brillincescope. Should I not be concerned -- i.e. is this stone worth considering next to the others?

Joel

 

[valeria101]

Hm.. I am not crazy about the "very thin" girdle, but it would most likely survive setting and a good amount of wear - unless nothing of the setting protects it at all. The light return is not much concern: I would consider myself lucky to get even that! And... the Bscope scale is different for each cut - so this is nowhere close to the standard for ideal rounds, for example. Marquises are not really meant to have simmilar white light return as a round, the best one would reasonably expect is top scintillation and high color light return. Of course, more 'white light" on that B-scope would not hurt, but I would not consider it a priority.

As for comparing stones... some jewelers would broker stones (meaning get a couple lined up infront of you). Using all (or any, actually) of the gear Jonathan (and others) uses to get an initial selection, may compensate for the actual viewing. After all, those scales and benchmarks do incorporate the "viewing experience" one would get only after a hefty doze of inspecting marquieses. This is just my opinion,... and weariness of letting the "process" get in the way of the best result. No need to agree with this, of course...