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Need help with diamonds!

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xchelleyx

Rough_Rock
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Hi I have been reading this forum for a couple weeks now trying to educate myself on diamonds. My fiance and I have decided we would like a diamond in the G-I/VS2/0.5-0.75ct weight. We have looked at several stores and have seen Tiffany and HoF diamonds too. After all the ones we have seen I have decided is the factor that will determine which diamond I want is the one with a really really good cut. I have read all the thoughts of HoF and arguments made against them and I have had a jeweler show me an AGS000 diamond vs the HoF. I can only slightly tell but he showed me a 1ct. The price difference was about $3k. I also saw an HoF .54ct/H/SI1 for $3.1k at another store. So at this point I am wondering if HoF is still worth it? I have gone to other stores and they have shown me diamonds that are more expensive than that .5ct HoF and wasn''t as beautiful.

I have also gone to some stores and looked at me funny when I asked for an AGS000 cut grade diamond. Am I wrong to ask for something like that? The lady told me that they were an AGS diamond store and that she had never heard of such a thing. She said the highest grade was a 1 in AGS.

Then I also went to another store that only had GIA certs. She told me that AGS is owned by jewelers and there fore they always keep readjusting their grading system to profit them more. So she argued that GIA is better since it is non profit and is basically the school that AGS people need to take a course from to get a certification to appraise diamonds. Is she lying? And if I want to judge a diamond ultimately on cut, which grading systems should I use to compare it to HoF if I was to get a non HoF diamond? I am willing to spend the extra time to learn and really research. So any advice would be great! TIA , sorry if my post is a bit long.
 

Dancing Fire

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Apr 3, 2004
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brands don''t matter if the stone is well cut.
 

Lorelei

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Date: 3/8/2009 3:03:28 AM
Author:xchelleyx
Hi I have been reading this forum for a couple weeks now trying to educate myself on diamonds. My fiance and I have decided we would like a diamond in the G-I/VS2/0.5-0.75ct weight. We have looked at several stores and have seen Tiffany and HoF diamonds too. After all the ones we have seen I have decided is the factor that will determine which diamond I want is the one with a really really good cut. I have read all the thoughts of HoF and arguments made against them and I have had a jeweler show me an AGS000 diamond vs the HoF. I can only slightly tell but he showed me a 1ct. The price difference was about $3k. I also saw an HoF .54ct/H/SI1 for $3.1k at another store. So at this point I am wondering if HoF is still worth it? I have gone to other stores and they have shown me diamonds that are more expensive than that .5ct HoF and wasn't as beautiful.

I have also gone to some stores and looked at me funny when I asked for an AGS000 cut grade diamond. Am I wrong to ask for something like that? The lady told me that they were an AGS diamond store and that she had never heard of such a thing. She said the highest grade was a 1 in AGS.

Then I also went to another store that only had GIA certs. She told me that AGS is owned by jewelers and there fore they always keep readjusting their grading system to profit them more. So she argued that GIA is better since it is non profit and is basically the school that AGS people need to take a course from to get a certification to appraise diamonds. Is she lying? And if I want to judge a diamond ultimately on cut, which grading systems should I use to compare it to HoF if I was to get a non HoF diamond? I am willing to spend the extra time to learn and really research. So any advice would be great! TIA , sorry if my post is a bit long.



Welcome!

This is quoted from expert John Pollard and may be helpful concerning the meaning of AGS000.


"This from AGS:

Technically an AGS triple zero was a diamond with a 0 grade in cut (Ideal), 0 in clarity (IF or Flawless) and 0 in Color (D). AGS 000. However, sellers (internet sellers at first) started calling diamonds with the 0 in cut triple zeros because proportions, polish & symmetry all had to be 0 to get the cut grade AGS 0.



AGS tried to address this, but it has entered the modern lexicon. It became an “if you can’t beat them, join them” thing."

Some use the term above certainly or AGS0. As to 1 being the highest grade in AGS, that is not true so I don't know where this lady is getting her information from - 0 is the highest cut grade.

www.agslabs.com if you would like to do some reading yourself.

As to GIA being better than AGS for cut grading, actually AGS are considered to be more accurate around here, so many here would tell you the lady is not correct again. AGS0 is considered to be the ' safest' bet for cut quality so you could certainly find a seller who would work with you to find one. You can find some diamonds which show a strong arrow pattern ( non branded) which may not be the best cut diamonds, and ones without which can be top performers. It depends.

If you want help to judge any diamonds in person, think about ordering an ASET scope. This will be of great help to you in judging cut quality. Also as AGS use ASET software to grade cut, then ASET technology should be known to those who sell AGS diamonds....

http://www.ideal-scope.com/cart_zoom_item.asp?Id=23&ShowAdd=Y

http://www.highperformancediamonds.com/index.php?page=education-performance How ASET works





 

Lorelei

Super_Ideal_Rock
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42,064
Also if you want a branded h&a cut, you could look at

A Cut Above h&a from Whiteflash or

Infinity h&a from highperformancediamonds

Both are online vendors and you may find the prices within your means.
 
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