Old dates on diamond certificates. Should I be concerned?

[diamondbuyer7]

I have been looking at a number of diamond certificates from online vendors.

With one particular vendor, many of the diamond certificates are dated back in 2005, 2006, and 2007. With another vendor, they all seem to have been graded within the previous 2-5 months.

I would assume that quality stones would sell rather quickly and not still be for sale 3 years later. Is this a logical assumption, or am I missing something here?

Should I stay away from stones that have such old dates on their certificate?

 

[stone_seeker]

this has been asked before and I have often wondered the same thing. I have been told by jewelers and by many people here that it doesnt matter and for many reasons some diamonds go back into inventory.

but i am like you in thinking that if a stone were truly desirable, it would likely be picked shortly after being graded. unlike an estate sale or antique jewelry that is set, I would think loose stones should be fairly new to the market.

So, I always second guessed a stone that had certificates from a year ago or more - also, GIA changed their standards 2 years ago, so really old certs may have some issues in that regard.

Some stones may just be too expensive to sell quickly but for your average diamond, I prefer to stick to a stone that has a date of 6 months or less. Even though the diamond itself is 3 million years in the making....

 

[diamondbuyer7]

Thanks for the quick reply!

My thoughts exactly. Either it hasn''t sold (which probably isn''t good) or was taken back on a trade up or something. Either way, I think I''ll stick with current certificates. And good point on the GIA standard change. Hadn''t even thought about that.

Thanks again!

 

[katamari]

I think the shapes and size probably plays into this, too. If you are looking at something popular like round brilliants (or even cushions or princesses) around popular sizes (.5, .75, 1, 1.5, etc.) I would expect the good ones to get taken quick. However, if you are looking at less popular shapes, there is less reason to be suspicious of old certificates.

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know if vendors have any way of knowing if a stone was traded in as an upgrade? I think I would want to know that, but never thought to ask the vendor.

 

[dbsdiamonds]

Yes, 3 million in the making. If the diamond was sent to GIA and a new, updated cert was put on the best diamond at the best price, would that matter to you? For some it would, for anyone in this business I doubt it.

If a diamond has a cert of August 1, 2008 does that guarantee you the diamond is "new" so to speak? No way that every diamond can be traced from ground to cutter to cert to customer. With the older certs it is very likely the diamond(s) have been traded a few times, whether within the industry or outside.

There are times when a diamond comes in much costlier than market condition and it takes the market to catch up before the supplier finally sells the diamond. So there are many possible scenarios.

I know personally if the best diamond is available and the price is pretty much the best and if the cert bothered me then maybe ask for the diamond to go back in for a new cert. Certainly the diamond should be looked at to make sure there are no changes vs. the old cert (like a chip or some issue like this that happened after the first certing)...

Marty
CEO/Pres
DBS Diamonds
www.diamondsatcost.com