Okay.. is the jeweler telling me the truth?

[Ukieza]

Okay, so I went and talked to my local jeweler and talked princess cut.

I told him I have a contact online that could get me a stone that is certified AGS0. He inturn said, "that''s fine but if the light performance is low then it''s not a good stone and I could get you better." He then proceeded to tell me that he has a stone in to AGS right now and was sure it was going to get a good grade. He said that he could call to see what it was graded at. He did and when he came back he said that the cuts all got zeros but the polish got an excellent. Which I thought was a 1 on the scale but then he told me that the overall rating was a 3! Is that possible? What do the experts think? This local dealer is getting worse and worse!

Irritated,
Ukieza

 

[MissAva]

I think you need to take the wax and run not walk away. I would call BS on your jeweler, what he told you just doesnt sound right at all.

I think your jeweler is either very misinformed, which isnt a great thing, or a liar. I think you ought to PM some of the jewlers on here and see if they can give you a solid rec for someone in your area. You mentioned before that you were worried about someoing finding out who you were. This is one of the most emtional purchases of your entire life, and hers too. I would only work with someone you can trust 100% and feel comfertable, between this and the wax issues I just dont see how you can feel safe. Good luck and sorry about being a negative nancy.

 

[pyramid]

When your jeweller said the overall rating was a 3, he was probably speaking about the colour and clarity grades as they get numbered also and then the highest number is the grade number.

 

[DiamondExpert]

The AGS grade we talk about usually refers to the cut grade, and though both color and clarity are given number grades, they do not figure into the final cut grade numerical designation.

For example, if AGS tells me that a Princess cut is an AGS3 I would expect that at least one of the new cut categories, Light Performance, Proportions or Finish (polish and symmetry) will be graded a 3, to bring the final grade to 3. Of course, all categories or any combination could be up to and including, but not exceeding a 3 grade, for this to be the case.

If AGS tells me that a stone graded AGS000 then it would have to be D color, Flawless/Internally Flawless, and Ideal for all of the above cut grades. Thus, using this new system for Princess cuts, a stone with F color, SI2 clarity and with Ideal cut would be designated AGS016.

 

[Paul-Antwerp]

Hi Ukieza,

Date: 5/17/2005 5:04:28 PM
Author:Ukieza
Okay, so I went and talked to my local jeweler and talked princess cut.

I told him I have a contact online that could get me a stone that is certified AGS0. He inturn said, ''that''s fine but if the light performance is low then it''s not a good stone and I could get you better.

Light performance is one of thefactors of the new cut-grade. Therefore, if a stone has a 0-cut-grade, its light performance has been graded Ideal.

He did and when he came back he said that the cuts all got zeros but the polish got an excellent. Which I thought was a 1 on the scale but then he told me that the overall rating was a 3! Is that possible?

That is not possible. Period.

Live long,

 

[niceice]

Time to put on your snow shoes because it''s getting pretty deep in that store

 

[aljdewey]

Ukieza....I think I know what your jeweler''s trying to say.....he''s just not saying it in a way that makes sense to you.

The AGS cut grade is comprised of three elements: Proportions, Polish, and Symmetry. The cut grade will reflect the highest of these three scores. In scoring, Ideal = 0, Excellent = 1, Very Good = 2, Good = 3, etc.

When a diamond scores Ideal (0) on proportions, Ideal (0) on polish, and Ideal (0) on symmetry, the assigned "Cut Grade" is 0 (the highest of all the scores).

Now, let''s look at another diamond:

Proportions: Ideal (0)
Symmetry: Ideal (0)
Pollish: Excellent (1)

This diamond would be rated as AGS1....because the highest ranking is a 1, for polish. The Cut proportions on this diamond are in fact Ideal, but the Cut Grade is ranked as a 1 because of the polish.

I just bought the following diamond:

Proportions: Ideal (0)
Symmetry: Excellent (1)
Polish: Very Good (2)

In this case, the highest ranking is 2, so the AGS Cut grade for this diamond is AGS2....to reflect the highest score. However, the PROPORTIONS (which folks commonly refer to as CUT) are indeed ideal.

It sounds to me like this is what your jeweler is trying to say. He''s saying that the cut (proportions) rank 0, and the polish is Excellent (1)......that means the Symmetry must be only good (3)....in which case, the total cut grade would be AGS3.

 

[Ukieza]

So, what people are saying is that if it''s a diamond with all 0 for cut, an excellent for polish but has a color F and clarity of SI1 it could be ranked an AGS3? I guess I didn''t know they put the color and clarity in their new ranking.

Also, according to this comment from Paul:

Light performance is one of thefactors of the new cut-grade. Therefore, if a stone has a 0-cut-grade, its light performance has been graded Ideal.

The light performance in the grading would tell me that I don''t really need a brillance scope or ideal scope report to tell me the light performance? The jeweler kept saying that if they don''t have the GEMEX report for light performance on the online stones it probably isn''t a good stone. Basically trying to convince me I won''t find a better stone than what they have there. Which was frustrating to me because from what it seems, Paul and Gary have better... *sighs*

Thanks for your answers!
Ukieza

 

[RockDoc]

One of Paul''s first AGS 0 Princess cuts arrived here this morning.

It was sent by Paul / Gary based on the potential customer''s request to have it analyzed.

The customer agreed and gave me permission to post the results of my examination strictly for education and informative purpose only.

I do want to say that this is only the first example, and "win ,lose, or draw" it should NOT be considerd as totally equal to other AGS ) Princess cuts that I may see and test in the future.

When I have completed this I''ll start a new thread.

Rockdoc

 

[Paul-Antwerp]

Date: 5/18/2005 10:21:29 AM
Author: Ukieza
So, what people are saying is that if it''s a diamond with all 0 for cut, an excellent for polish but has a color F and clarity of SI1 it could be ranked an AGS3? I guess I didn''t know they put the color and clarity in their new ranking.

No, no. Colour and clarity are in no way included in the new grade of cut. It is graded separately.

Yoiu are confused because some posters tried to give a possible reason for the difference in reasoning. If a stone is ideal on all, but one excellent, then the final cut-grade is 1.

Live long,

 

[ame]

Id buy that wax and take it to a trustworthy jeweler!

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 5/18/2005 1:18:36 PM
Author: Ukieza

So, what people are saying is that if it''s a diamond with all 0 for cut, an excellent for polish but has a color F and clarity of SI1 it could be ranked an AGS3? I guess I didn''t know they put the color and clarity in their new ranking

No, that''s not what we''re saying. Look at this cert below. Look at the AGS Cut Grade - see how it says 2? Why does it say 2? It has nothing to do with color or clarity.

See the notations on Proportions, polish & symmetry under "Cut Grading"....these are the sub-components that affect the CUT GRADING......not the color, and not the clarity.

On this report below, the polish is ideal (ranked 0), the symmetry is excellent (ranked 1), and the proportions are very good (ranked 2). Because the "Cut grading" reflects the worst of those 3 components, and the worst score is a 2, the "Cut Grading" for this stone is a 2.

That has nothing to do with Clarity or Color.....see how each of those have their OWN grade numbers? Those have NOTHING to do with cut.

What your jeweler seems to be trying to say to you: The grading report on his stone would be
Polish: Excellent (ranked 1)
Symmetry: Good (ranked 3)
Proportions: Ideal (ranked 0) So this stone would have a CUT GRADE of AGS3, but the proportions (which is how it''s cut) are ideal (which is ranked 0).

Make sense now?

 

[Ukieza]

Yeah, it all makes sense now. That''s what I was originally thinking but for a moment I was concerned that I didn''t have my facts straight. Thanks!

I''m suppose to get a call this morning from the jeweler. I might just tell him to pull the plug on my deal. I''m going else where. Right now I''m feeling totally unsatisfied with everything from them. I''ll probably go quest or WF if I don''t find someone else local.

Now my question is, do local jewelers do free cleanings and how much is maintenance for loose stones? That supposedly came free from the jeweler I was working with.. but I don''t know if getting all from him is worth it.

Thanks!
Ukieza

 

[niceice]

Date: 5/19/2005 9:06:47 AM
Author: Ukieza
Now my question is, do local jewelers do free cleanings and how much is maintenance for loose stones? That supposedly came free from the jeweler I was working with.. but I don''t know if getting all from him is worth it.

If your local jeweler does offer free cleaning and inspection services, find one that does... Some jewelers charge for this service and others do not, we look upon the provision of this service as an opportunity to introduce ourselves to our local in-store customers and provide the service for free... Cleaning and inspection means different things at different jewelry stores, to us it means inspecting the setting, verifying that the diamonds are not loose, looking for metal stress and potential areas that might require repair, polishing the item and steam cleaning it... We do charge applicable repair fees if repairs are needed, the cost to tighten a stone largely depends on the mood of the client if that makes sense (essentially we charge for legitimate bench time and materials where applicable). This is a long way of explaining that some jewelers do provide this service for "free" and others do not, so find one in your area who wants to earn your business... It should be apparent by their attitude and presence from the moment you walk through the front door...

 

[Ukieza]

Date: 5/19/2005 9:45:26 AM
Author: niceice

Date: 5/19/2005 9:06:47 AM
so find one in your area who wants to earn your business... It should be apparent by their attitude and presence from the moment you walk through the front door...

Yeah, it seemed like the current local jeweler wanted to earn my business but other things been leading me away. The search is on. It''s frustrating though because I thought I found the place I wanted to work with... Matter of fact, I did this April 7th and they''ve been working me over since. Now it''s back to the drawing board.

Thanks again!
Ukieza

 

[valeria101]

Date: 5/19/2005 9:06:47 AM
Author: Ukieza

how much is maintenance for loose stones?

What would that be ?

Cleaning rings is really not much of an issue - it can be done at home as well as anywhere. Having a ring chacked once or twice per year seems to be generic wisedom... can't see anything wrong with that, of course. Insurance is allot more effective than periodic checks. If you do find something wrong (loose prongs, dings and scratches that get a bit too much to bear) the vast majority of jewelers would do repairs for a fee. Can't say how much is that because there are lots of kinds of repair problems. If NiceIce or Whiteflash or whichever seller you might choose offers to take it in for repairs later, all for the better.

Jewelry is supposed to last. Diamonds even more so... these guys do not need maintainance like, say, a new car, even if the cost is close !

Just IMO, of course.

 

[Ukieza]

Thanks for your post.

An issue I''m worried about is that if I have someone that is not local do it for me and it needs repair or touch up work I have to send it out again. Then she won''t have the ring for some period of time and that''s just not fun. How long do some of these places take to do repair or whatever needed? Not to mention I''m worried about losing it in shipping. That would be horrible.

As for fees for repairs.. yeah, I guess I''ll just have to worry about that when it comes. I''ve been getting quotes from other places and some of them are coming in $1000 less than what I''m suppose to pay (approximate they gave me before they started the wax). Which might be worth just getting it done and having to pay for repairs elsewhere. I guess the current jeweler might make me pay for the repairs anyway. Oh well...

Thanks again!
Ukieza