My JA diamond arrived - Gratuitous photos of the unboxing :)

[bqnbqn]

Placed my order yesterday and it arrived first thing this morning. I'm taking this baby to a gemologist soon, then GIA. Just want to share some photos for all of us to enjoy. Thank you so much to everyone for your advice. Will keep you posted after my talk with the gemologist. Next stop, setting, then, the big day

 

[bqnbqn]

Re: My JA diamond arrived - Gratutious photos of the unboxin

A few more photos. Can't contain the excitement

 

[Mayk]

Re: My JA diamond arrived - Gratuitous photos of the unboxin

WOW!!!! Beautiful!!!

 

[lioness]

Re: My JA diamond arrived - Gratuitous photos of the unboxin

Yummy!!!

 

[Niel]

Re: My JA diamond arrived - Gratuitous photos of the unboxin

Wow wow wow.

 

[MissGotRocks]

Re: My JA diamond arrived - Gratuitous photos of the unboxin

Is this the 2.69 G, VVS2 stone? Looks gorgeous! Please do keep us posted!

 

[msop04]

Re: My JA diamond arrived - Gratuitous photos of the unboxin

HOLY CRAP!! That's one beautiful stone!!

 

[VRBeauty]

Re: My JA diamond arrived - Gratuitous photos of the unboxin



Gorgeous and huge!

 

[cflutist]

Re: My JA diamond arrived - Gratuitous photos of the unboxin

Gosh that is beautiful

Congratulations

 

[alene]

Re: My JA diamond arrived - Gratuitous photos of the unboxin

Beautiful stone! Curious why GIA?

 

[Dancing Fire]

Re: My JA diamond arrived - Gratuitous photos of the unboxin

WOW, beautiful stone!!..

 

[starryeyed]

Re: My JA diamond arrived - Gratuitous photos of the unboxin

Placed my order yesterday and it arrived first thing this morning. I'm taking this baby to a gemologist soon, then GIA. Just want to share some photos for all of us to enjoy. Thank you so much to everyone for your advice. Will keep you posted after my talk with the gemologist. Next stop, setting, then, the big day

So exciting! Keep us posted on the setting!

 

[SirGuy]

Re: My JA diamond arrived - Gratuitous photos of the unboxin

That's gorgeous! What brilliant spread. Can't wait to see it set! I'm sure you'll get some questions about getting a GIA report on top of the AGS, but that aside, the stone is lovely.

What sort of feedback are you looking to get from your meeting with the gemologist?

 

[lambskin]

Re: My JA diamond arrived - Gratuitous photos of the unboxin

OK I will bite... It appears from this forum that James Allen is a reputable company. It does not use GIA or this particular stone does not have a GIA report but rather from AGL . PS's prefer GIA. If this is a stone that is for ER purposes only (not investment) is it really necessary to go through the expense to double check James Allen and AGL?

 

[lambskin]

Re: My JA diamond arrived - Gratuitous photos of the unboxin

Sorry, bad typing-I meant AGS instead of AGL.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Re: My JA diamond arrived - Gratuitous photos of the unboxin

Placed my order yesterday and it arrived first thing this morning. I'm taking this baby to a gemologist soon, then GIA. Just want to share some photos for all of us to enjoy. Thank you so much to everyone for your advice. Will keep you posted after my talk with the gemologist. Next stop, setting, then, the big day

What if the stone comes back from GIA one grade lower in color or clarity, then what?..

 

[SirGuy]

Re: My JA diamond arrived - Gratuitous photos of the unboxin

AGS is an extremely reputable and vetted lab. They are generally considered by most in the business to be the most strict, conservative, and accurate on light performance cut grading.

 

[marcy]

Re: My JA diamond arrived - Gratuitous photos of the unboxin

Your diamond is a real beauty and I agree with others that AGS is a very reputable lab.

 

[Travelgal]

Re: My JA diamond arrived - Gratuitous photos of the unboxin

Holy smokes- I would love to open that box too! Well done.

 

[thecat]

Re: My JA diamond arrived - Gratuitous photos of the unboxin

Wow, I'd love to receive a box like that too! Apparently GIA takes rather long to grade at the moment. By the time your stone comes back, the return period will have expired. AGS is very reputable too. Why not put the appraisal and re certification money towards the setting?

 

[princessfeedme]

Re: My JA diamond arrived - Gratuitous photos of the unboxin

Can I ask what is that red tube in your box? I'm curious because it was not included in my recent purchase from JA. Is it a hearts and arrow viewer for their TrueHearts?

 

[woofmama]

Re: My JA diamond arrived - Gratuitous photos of the unboxin

Can I ask what is that red tube in your box? I'm curious because it was not included in my recent purchase from JA. Is it a hearts and arrow viewer for their TrueHearts?

Yes it's the H&A viewer. They even sent one with each of my .34ct True Hearts diamonds.

OP-OMG That is a spectacular diamond

 

[bqnbqn]

Re: My JA diamond arrived - Gratuitous photos of the unboxin

I met with a GIA graduate gemologist this afternoon who's been running his independent appraisal business since the 80's. He doesn't buy or sell diamonds but has access to Polygon for price reference.

He confirmed the dimensions and inscription on the girdle when viewed under the microscope. I was able to see that as well. Interestingly, either his caliper or AGS' was off because the diameter and depth were about 0.02mm less than the max dimension on the certificate. Weight was 2.692ct as opposed to 2.69ct on the certificate. In all, it was the same stone as graded by AGS.

Regarding color, he compared it to his master sets of both GIA and AGS certified stones. In his opinion, it was a solid G, even had a bit less color than his AGS G stone. He said I shouldn't worry about GIA grading this as anything lower than G.

With respect to clarity, he had a hard time finding the natural on the girdle on the pavilion face as it was tiny. As for the pinpoints, they too weren't easy to locate under the microscope (not loupe). As for the feather on the crown face, it was miniscule. He was surprised AGS graded this VVS2 as he believed it could have been VVS1. Naturally (no pun intended!), I was happy to hear that. I was able to view the diamond and those inclusions under the microscope and they too were tiny. He said that even if I had a prong on that feather, it wouldn't have made a difference in durability.

Cut-wise, he said that it was as good as he's seen them. The depth could be just a tad less but it did not affect the light performance. He had the customary hearts and arrows scope out for me to view.

Price-wise, he searched through Polygon for 2.5ct, G, VVS2, no flourescence stones and saw 2 comparable ones, both GIA triple EX, no AGS ones. There was no way to know if they were H&A's. The average price per carat was $18,200 and this was whole-sale. For my stone at 2.69ct, it would have worked out to about $49,000 wholesale so I had a great deal. I'm sure JA made a tidy profit on this but nowhere near the 20% markup at jewelers.

Those wondering why I'm going to GIA, it's for the in-laws' peace of mind They are only aware of GIA Triple EX stones and have not heard about AGS so I'm doing this so that I won't have to hear about it for the next 50 years that I didn't get a GIA-certified diamond Who knows, maybe I will get a VVS1 grading from GIA which is a win-win situation. I've been assured by both JA and this gemologist that it's a true G color so I don't think it'll get downgraded by GIA.

Here are some bonus photos taken at the gemologist. Thought I would share Thanks again to all for your advice.

 

[princessfeedme]

Re: My JA diamond arrived - Gratuitous photos of the unboxin

Can I ask what is that red tube in your box? I'm curious because it was not included in my recent purchase from JA. Is it a hearts and arrow viewer for their TrueHearts?

Yes it's the H&A viewer. They even sent one with each of my .34ct True Hearts diamonds.

Thanks woofmama! I wasn't sure if OP's stone was a branded stone. I got lucky with a generic H&A, but no cool tool to view it...yet

Bqnbqn: Your stone is beautiful Congrats on your purchase and a positive appraisal!

 

[SandyinAnaheim]

Re: My JA diamond arrived - Gratuitous photos of the unboxin

Those wondering why I'm going to GIA, it's for the in-laws' peace of mind They are only aware of GIA Triple EX stones and have not heard about AGS so I'm doing this so that I won't have to hear about it for the next 50 years that I didn't get a GIA-certified diamond Who knows, maybe I will get a VVS1 grading from GIA which is a win-win situation. I've been assured by both JA and this gemologist that it's a true G color so I don't think it'll get downgraded by GIA.

Good job! That's a lucky girl right there!!!

AGS is FAR AND AWAY stricter than GIA No way it'll be graded lower than what you have from AGS. You just need to edjumacate those in-laws....You done good! May you both enjoy it in health and happiness.

 

[SirGuy]

Re: My JA diamond arrived - Gratuitous photos of the unboxin

Glad to hear the meeting with the gemologist was fruitful! That's cool you got to look through that viewer yourself.

Regarding the VVS1 versus VVS2, you see what we mean about AGS being conservative.

 

[OoohShiny]

Re: My JA diamond arrived - Gratuitous photos of the unboxin

The gemologist guy sounds like a decent bloke.

Is it possible / permissible to post his details on here for others to use in the future, perhaps?

 

[KennyPowers]

Re: My JA diamond arrived - Gratuitous photos of the unboxin

that looks incredible, congrats!

 

[CanuckAB]

Re: My JA diamond arrived - Gratuitous photos of the unboxin

That rock is going to take her (and her parent's) breath away! Congrats!