Lab diamond certification question

[Futuremrsv2016]

New here, just got engaged with a lab diamond from James Allen. It is IGI, 1.12, F, SI1, ideal cut, and has a score of 1 on the HCA calculator. All great news, and it is very beautiful! I was looking through my paperwork that it came with, and the certification card doesn’t have an inclusion plot/map. Is this normal? I looked up the verification on IGI, and didn’t see it either. It looks eye-clean, but I just was curious about the inclusions and where they are located. Anyone know where I would find the inclusion plot/map?

 

[OoohShiny]

New here, just got engaged with a lab diamond from James Allen. It is IGI, 1.12, F, SI1, ideal cut, and has a score of 1 on the HCA calculator. All great news, and it is very beautiful! I was looking through my paperwork that it came with, and the certification card doesn’t have an inclusion plot/map. Is this normal? I looked up the verification on IGI, and didn’t see it either. It looks eye-clean, but I just was curious about the inclusions and where they are located. Anyone know where I would find the inclusion plot/map?

Congratulations and welcome to the forum!

We would love some pics lol

Not all grading reports have clarity plots - there are different options and prices for each version of the grading reports offered by each of the grading laboratories, so it is not unusual to not have one.

Ultimately what really matters is whether the stone is to your satisfaction - we are all individuals with different sensitivities and different preferences for colour and clarity, so a given stone needs to meet the buyer's / wearer's preferences. It sounds like yours does, and the HCA score of 1 indicates you've got a stone with crown and pavilion angles that work well together, so should look great!

If you wanted to, you could get the diamond appraised and request a plot of the inclusions as part of the report - I think this is a service that some (all??) appraisers will do?? - which could be useful if you ever need to identify your diamond in the future (e.g. if it is lost and handed in to a Police station, or if you put the ring in for some remediation work / tweaking and want to make super-doubly-sure that your stone is what you are getting back).

It will have a laser inscription on the girdle of the grading report number, though, so you should have no issues identifying it in the future, as it is unlikely that anyone would go to the effort of attempting to remove it and leave you relying on a clarity plot!

 

[Futuremrsv2016]

Thank you so much for your help! I appreciate it very much it came with an appraisal from JA, so I don’t think I will get it appraised again. More so just wanted the map out of curiosity! JA has a partnership with Jared and I can take it to get prongs tightened and re-dipped if needed. If it ever needs to have work done, do you recommend having them show me the inscribed number upon receiving it back?

 

[OoohShiny]

Thank you so much for your help! I appreciate it very much it came with an appraisal from JA, so I don’t think I will get it appraised again. More so just wanted the map out of curiosity! JA has a partnership with Jared and I can take it to get prongs tightened and re-dipped if needed. If it ever needs to have work done, do you recommend having them show me the inscribed number upon receiving it back?

I wasn't aware that JA has a partnership with Jared for minor maintenance work!

Jared has less than stellar reviews on here when it comes to actually selling stones, thanks to uneducated store staff and poor quality stones and overpriced settings, but I would hope that they have better Bench service. Do you know if you'd have to send it away through Jared? Or perhaps it's a store-by-store decision, depending on if it's just a sales store or a workshop store?

I believe that JA has a bricks-and-mortar store somewhere in the US now?? If that is the case, perhaps you might be near that store or a new one that they might open

I think you could approach the issue of identification in a way that makes it seem innocent-yet-cautious - something like "I think the stone has the grading report number lasered on the side - would it be possible for you to show me the inscription through a loupe? I've never been able to see it at home!"

That would mean you can check for yourself, they know you have checked, and you could request the stone inscription is written on a receipt to say they have the stone and ring in their possession for work. Then, when you get the ring back, you can ask to look at the work and the inscription using a loupe.

'Trust but verify', I think is the phrase someone on here has used before! lol

 

[Futuremrsv2016]

JA has 2 stores- NYC and DC. I think Jared does the actual minor work, I don’t think they send it to wherever JA is. It has to be a Jared that has a gemologist in-house, and the locations are listed in their website. I like that “trust but verify” phrase! I definitely will put it in a delicate way if it ever needs work. Hopefully it won’t! thanks for the advice!

 

[OoohShiny]

JA has 2 stores- NYC and DC. I think Jared does the actual minor work, I don’t think they send it to wherever JA is. It has to be a Jared that has a gemologist in-house, and the locations are listed in their website. I like that “trust but verify” phrase! I definitely will put it in a delicate way if it ever needs work. Hopefully it won’t! thanks for the advice!

Excellent stuff

Now get out there and enjoy your lovely new ring!

 

[denverappraiser]

JA and Jared’s are both divisions of the same parent company.

 

[denverappraiser]

IGI has quite a few different formats, including options where, for a fee, you can ‘upgrade’ to something else without needing a new inspection. There should be details on the document itself.

 

[OoohShiny]

JA and Jared’s are both divisions of the same parent company.

Thanks for the confirmation!

IGI has quite a few different formats, including options where, for a fee, you can ‘upgrade’ to something else without needing a new inspection. There should be details on the document itself.

That sounds very useful and an excellent idea - I guess they keep the info on file because all stones must undergo the same process, it's just the end report that is different and includes different things?

 

[denverappraiser]

All is a big word. Many. IGI has a lot of offices that don’t always communicate all that well with what each other is doing and I wouldn’t have a clue what had been done with this particular stone. IGI NY is a cooperative outfit and they’ll help if they can; even if it was done elsewhere.

 

[Futuremrsv2016]

I think I might email IGI and see if I can get the inclusion map, I’m just curious! It is weird because on the IGI site, it does show a certificate with the map.