Question for R&T from previous thread

[noles9498]

I didn''t know this was an option. Can owners do this or only sellers? What is the cost?

However, I do not think that I want to part with my stone for 3-5 days, even!

[/i]

 

[Mara]

You as a consumer can send your stone to the GIA or AGS for grading or re-grading...they will charge you a fee (GIA charges around $200-300 I think?)and GIA's turnaround time I think is longer (few weeks?)...but some people do it.

I don't know the purpose of the previous thread you mentioned, but you can also take the stone to an independent appraiser to have it checked out if there is some worry about color/clarity/ctw confirmation. An independent appraiser may be slightly cheaper depending on the person and time spent, but ours was around $125 per hour and it took her about an hour for our stone.

Good luck!

 

[Giangi]

Hi Mara, I'm sorry to disagree but AGS doesn't deal directly with the consumer, and you need to go to a jeweler and ask him to open an account with them... I don't use them(I live in europe and it's very unpratical and shippings are $$$$$$$$$$ extra expensive), but a friend told me about 4-7 days. GIA deals with the consumer and if my brain is serving me correctly, the charge for a 1ct diamond report is 177$ (plus shippings and, if you want it, laser inscription).
EGL USA has a 72 hours turn-around time and they have definitely lower prices.

 

[Mara]

Giangi--dont be sorry..I was wrong!

I wondered as I posted it if AGS DID deal with the customer as I thought I had read they did, but then at the same time though they didn't...but I'm glad you clarified. See that is what I get for not Googling the answer before posting.

I wouldn't trust EGL USA to grade a stone right, even if they are cheaper. If you are going to get it done between the two...GIA is the best IMO.

 

[Giangi]

I don't trust EGL USA 100% too, but nowdays the LA branch is pretty good. EGL NY is terrible. I have in front of me an EGL NY 'H' color which is a nice J-K!!!!!
I prefer (I'd say LOVE

) HRD, but I realize it's highly unpratical for someone living in the US...

BTW, Noles, if you don't want to part with your stones, I suggest you to look for a qualified appraiser... Try to look on pricescope.com to find out a few highly recognizes ones...

 

[noles9498]

Giangi,
At the suggestion of DiamondBob I located an appraiser not too far away via the American Society of Appraisers. I've talked with her on the telephone and we're going to meet once she gets back from vacation in a week. She had some hesitation about opining on the "value" of my stone - We bought it at Harrod's while on vacation in London last month. . . . we'd been talking about getting engaged prior to vacation and I wanted a square emerald. We incidentally noticed that Harrod's had some stones that we fell in love with. It's called a Millenium cut (not very creative) and the cutter for a lot of Harrod's stones, including these, is someone named Gigi Kaplan in Antwerp. I have no idea whether he's affiliated with LK but I don't think so. In the meantime the appraiser was going to do some research, try to find a proper grid for plotting the stone and any other appropriate information toward valuation. I appreciated her candor about her hesitation - that makes me trust her more. We'll see. My other option is to take a day trip to see Rich - still definately an option. We'll see. I'll surely keep everyone informed.

 

[Giangi]

That's great news, Noles! Sounds like you've found a good appraiser!
Let us know what she thinks about your rock!

BTW, London is really beautiful!!! Am I wrong?

 

[noles9498]

Every minute of London was wonderful. My fiance (now I can say that!) had been to the continent many times but never to Britian. We had a GREAT time and took in a football match in the freezing cold. And we have a great engagement story to boot! We have Europe envy and will move someday!

 

[niceice]

Sorry for the delay Noles, we just ran across the thread

The jeweler can send the diamond to the AGS Laboratory... Opening up an account is quite simple, all it takes is a one page application that asks the same questions the jeweler has to answer when trying to source a diamond from any new supplier... It wouldn't take him more than five minutes to complete the application and fax it over to the lab...

Didn't Tom recently sell the EGL Los Angeles? Too bad really, as far as the EGL franchises go, his was the only one that was even close to being accurate as far as we've seen! If people are looking for accurate paper that has recognized value in the market, the GIA, AGS and HRD labs are really the only option.

 

[Colored Gemstone Nut]

With all that is known about the skepticism surrounding EGL and their lose grading policies, why do you guys think the discrepencies exist. Up to date equipment, Properly educated staff?? Or what. I have always been curious about reading threads concerning EGL and why a seemingly reputable lab with very similiar instruments would come up with such inconsistent results???

-Jos Rioux
Sitka, Alaska

 

[Giangi]

T&R:
Yes, Tom Tashey sold EGL LA branch and now he's the owner of PGS Lab-Professional Gem Science... I've been told they're very strict and even better than GIA...

Scorpion:
As I said in a post, I have here in front of me a nice small diamond, EGL NY graded in December 2002 as H VS 2... Well, VS 2 is correct, but the color is definitely J-K!

But EGL Antwerp is faaaaaaaaar worse!!!!!!!!!!!!! They don't plot all the inclusions??!! They forget fluorescence pretty easily, put VG finish on almost all stones and, if possible they wrongly grade proportions.

They use HRD standards, which tells that a diamond with a thick girdle has 'good' prop... Well, let me tell you that I've seen several reports that stated 'Proportions: very good, table xx%, crown xx%, pavilion xx%, girdle thickness: thick'... I don't know what to say!

 

[Colored Gemstone Nut]

Once again Giangi:why do you guys think the discrepencies exist.

-Josh Rioux
Sitka,Alaska

 

[Giangi]

Maybe the graders are blind

... Seriously, I think that if they were as strict as GIA, then all dealers would use GIA, because they are the 'authority'. EGL (and some other labs) has a fair/good reputation --some labs are better than others, though-- and has a very aggressive grading, which always helps, as many cutters prefer to get high grades (that's for sure

). By working in that way, they get a LOT more stones (especially SIs) and earn a lot more money too...I don't know if this is the right explanation, and I hope someone will jump in and tell us his/her perspective...