Laboratory testing??

[galatie]

Hello,

So we are about to have our ring appraised by an appraiser in New York. We have purchased an AGS0 2 carat stone from Whiteflash. However, a friend of mine said that it is not worth the money unless the appraiser does "laboratory testing"? He said I should send it to IGI lab in NY to certify that the certificate matches up to the stone. Can someone affirm if most appraisers do this, or do I have to send it off to an actual laboratory to get this done?

I was planning on using David Wolfe or Robert Aretz, and wanted to get the more comprehensive report where the ceritficate is not only matched up to the stone, but a full report is given as well.

Thank you!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

hahaha! That is pretty funny because AGS is a highly respected lab and IGI is not! Tell your friend thanks for his concern! You can go in any jewelry store and ask a jeweler to confirm that the stone is the one in the report. They might do it for free or charge a small fee. But I already told you on your other thread that your diamond has already been fully evaluated by AGS and WhiteFlash, and you have enough info to get insurance. Your insurance is honestly not going to care about a long report. What you have from WF and AGS proves what you have and what it would need to be replaced with.

 

[galatie]

thanks, I thought what he was saying sounded pretty odd. Just for curiousity's sake, can people actually send their diamond off to a lab, ie, GIA or AGS to be independently graded, or does it have to be done by a tradesman/manufacturer?

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I am almost sure that AGS stones have to be sent by a jeweler (WhiteFlash has their own stones cut and they send them to AGS for grading). I think anyone can take or send a stone to GIA for grading, however. AGS has a very short turn around time, but GIA takes weeks because they grade a much larger percentage of stones than AGS does.

Incidentally, if you had a diamond that was graded by anyone other than AGS or GIA, then yes, I would recommend an independent appraisal or grading by AGS or GIA.

 

[tyty333]

hahaha! That is pretty funny because AGS is a highly respected lab and IGI is not! Tell your friend thanks for his concern! You can go in any jewelry store and ask a jeweler to confirm that the stone is the one in the report. They might do it for free or charge a small fee. But I already told you on your other thread that your diamond has already been fully evaluated by AGS and WhiteFlash, and you have enough info to get insurance. Your insurance is honestly not going to care about a long report. What you have from WF and AGS proves what you have and what it would need to be replaced with.

ditto...not sure what more information you (or your friend) think that you need. IGI??? Tell your friend we got a good laugh
from that one.

 

[denverappraiser]

What's your objective in seeking out the appraisal in the first place? I largely agree with the above that if the point is to match it to the lab report, you should be able to find someone cheaper than an appraiser to help. You've already got a lab grading. You've probably already passed the minimum required for insurance with the paperwork Whiteflash sent you although this depends on what you do with regard to the mounting. Did you buy a ring or just a diamond from them? Mind you, I'm not pushing for the minimum paperwork, I think there are good reasons for better documentation as well as craftsmanship evaluation, photographs, etc. but none of that seems to be what you're looking for. Any competent jewelry appraiser has a lab, but there's not an appraiser in the world who has a lab as well equiped as AGSL.