Please Help! UnionDiamond

[FEJICU]

Guys,

I''ve been looking for ever for the perfect diamond and a few days ago I found one at UD that seems promising, nice size, excellent in every aspect and with a very good HCA (less than 1), and it has a very good price.
The ONLY problem is that it has a EGL cert, I would much rather get a GIA, but for the price I''m getting it seems impossible.

The Diamond is not in house at UD and they have told me that if I place the order they will have it shipped to them and they will check it out for themselves, and if it checks out they will then ship it to me, otherwise they won''t even ship it and just start looking for another one that fits my needs.

What do you guys think about this? I would much rather have them take a look at the diamond before actually placing the order myself!

Are these guys trustworthy? I''m I getting over-concerned with the whole EGL thing? This diamond will never be sold so I don''t really care if it''s tradable later on.

One last thing, they sent me a picture of the diamond, but it''s not good at all, looks as if it was taken with a cellphone! I know taking pics of diamonds is really hard, but I would expect UD to be able to get something better.

What do you think? Should I place the order and if something goes wrong just rely on their 30 day policy?

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I don''t know of anything wrong with Union Diamond, but I wouldn''t trust an EGL cert. You almost always get what you pay for, or often you overpay because the stone is really lower color and clarity than stated. Don''t be tempted by the lower price, look at GIA and AGS graded stones so you can be confident that the grading is correct.

 

[Moh 10]

I'd stick with AGS or GIA diamonds.
Diamonds are expensive so I want to be sure of what I'm getting for my money.
Color and clarity grades greatly affect the price so I want to have maximum confidence in the accuracy of the grades of the diamonds I buy.

You wrote, "The ONLY problem is that it has a EGL cert, I would much rather get a GIA, but for the price I'm getting it seems impossible. "

Drop the color two grades and drop the clarity two grades and see what such a diamond would cost with a GIA report.
The GIA diamond may be cheaper.

I know, I know, you can't just say EGL is always a full two grades optimistic but I've been reading PS a zillion years and I'm left with the impression that EGL diamonds are soft on their grading to make buyers think they are getting something for nothing.
Even if it is only one grade soft half the time it is a deceptive business practice IMHO.

The buyer who thought she could only afford a GIA I SI1 sees what is represented as an "G VS1" of the same size for the same price and gets all excited that it is so much cheaper.
But there's just one problem: IT'S NOT THE SAME THING!

Regardless of how any particular diamond grading may compare between GIA and EGL I would never support EGL with my diamond dollars.