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OMG my dropping of my Stone at GIA experience

heididdl

heididdl

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Oct 25, 2012
Messages
2,929
First I want to thank Mark, Chris and Steve of ERD for helping me with getting my stone to GIA to be recertified today I didn't want to have the stone taken out of the setting until I arrived in NY ( I guess I didn't want to carry it on the bus and in my pocketbook loose) . So ERD helped me to get the stone removed and escorted me to the GIA office so that I knew exactly where to go and what to do.

It is really exciting when you get to GIA you give your name and you wait with what felt like dozens of others picking up and dropping off stones, to be called. The loud speaker calls your name and tells you to proceed to door # 4 .The click on the door clicks and you go down this short narrow hallway with 12 doors . The ones on the right are numbered 1-6 and the doors on the left are A-f....

I went to door number 4 knocked and the door buzzed me in. You stand in this tiny square with a glass window in front of you. Sonia helped me to open a GIA account. I filled out a ton of paper work she weighed the stone and transferred it into a paper pouch (they don't take stones in plastic baggies lol)..

Told me as a first time customer that the process will be 3-7 business days and I can then pick it up and pay .

I am recertifying my EC 3.66 stone which was certified in 1980....There is definetely some wear on the stone from knocking the ring around so I am nervous yes excited for the stone to be registered on line (since the last certificate was 1980 there is only paper records.)

The stone will now have a new number and I will be able to look it up on line.

When I pick up the stone I will post both certificates and will determine at that time if the stone needs to be polished, recut or just reset.

All in all a fun experience but I already miss my ring.
 
Cooool! Omg that is so neat. I am envious of your experience.
 
Wow what amazing vendors they were- walked you to GIA?! The GIA experience sounds exciting!
 
Cool...thanks for sharing.
 
Very cool and very kind of ERD. WIll be looking for updates!
 
will do I am so anxious as when they took t he stone out of the setting the jeweler noted that the stone was knocked around so I wonder how that will affect the polish and symmetry. Hoping to have it back in a week
 
Dropped of the stone last Wednesday . I called this morning and it is ready. So it only took 3 business day.s The stone was reconfirmed as H color S1I clarity. As soon as I pick it up I will post the two certificates to see if there is any difference from 1980 to 2014....
 
Great to hear of your pleasant experience since I am a former employee. Sonia is a very nice CSR and you were in good hands. ERD are great people and you were in good hands with Mark. You should feel very lucky to have GIA grade it in such a short time as a courtesy to you for being new to the process as their normal turnaround time is approximately 30-40 business days.

You may not see anything different in the two plots since the diamond is an SI1 and any minor wear and tear blemishes would probably be of a higher up grade characteristic.

Curios if your old GIA report has initials on the bottom, mine were DBG and I was there from 1980-2005.
 
OOPs Its dated January 16, 1998 Picking the stone up tomorrow.. I was nervous for two reasons first it has been worn every day since 1980 and I cook, clean, and I am an artist so its been in clay, paint, mud etc. I ski run and shower in the ring. Several professionals over the years have said that they saw a chip or something in one of the corners and when i had the stone taken out that morning the bench man said that the stone had been knocked around. So I thought for sure that the stone might go down to si2.. Also the last person to view the stone said hmmm it looks like an I to me.

2nd . I have heard too many times of a stone being recertified several times until it gets the report the seller wants it to have.

So I am thrilled hat it is the same. I haven't seen the report so I am still hoping that the symmetry , polish and cut also have stayed the same.

I will check the initials

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What a neat experience! So glad it appraised the way it had in the past. That's a relief!
 
Here is the new Certificate Notice that my stone now has small inclusion on table hence polish is now good instead of very good jeweler said I'd have to cut it to fix polish NOPE.Also as an a side The fee chart said $250 for 3.66 diamond . When I picked up the stone it actually was $188.00 Yeah

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Heidi,
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Do you like the new style report?
I do.
And Dan is correct to say that they did you a huge favor as the turn around time
to the trade is much longer--weeks and weeks longer.

Dan, good to see you here. I met you years ago doing a " diamond inclusion" presentation at either an NAJA conference or World of Gemstones conference. PS....to PS consumers- Dan knows diamonds.
 
Really funny today Sonia P wasn't there so a really lovely asian american women helped me turns out she lives in the next neighborhood from me less then .25 from each other in NJ
 
We need to see pictures of the ring when the stone is reset!
 
gonna be 2-3 weeks and no reset just refix :( When I inquired about reset husband cringed when $3-4,000 passed the jewelers lips lol
 
Thank you, Modified Brilliant. You may have seen me in Vegas, Atlanta or Chicago.

With regard to the new grading report and the good polish, don't worry about it, it's because there are probably some abrasions and or scratches on the surface caused by time. Just keep it as it is.

Dan
 
The irony of this entire experience is when I went to have the stone put back in its setting the prongs were so badly damaged when it was removed that it is costing $350 and 2-3 weeks to have it put back in . Longer and more expensive then having it certified. OMG>
 
This was such a cool thread, thanks for sharing your experience!!

As an aside, I still can't get over the fact that you do all of those things w/ your ring on, especially given it's size (even showering?)! I'm amazed.
 
Do they really not accept them in plastic bags? That is how I sent mine in....maybe its different for drop offs?
 
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