Question on Vendor's Own Cut Grade Branding and More

[rstyle]

Hi guys,

After some research, I am back with a few more questions:

1. I feel WF has made it very easy for me to search for diamonds with different cut grades. I can find ACA for top performers, and Expert Selection for a little budget friendly stones which are still very close to ACA quality. I haven't found very specific definitions on GOG's cut grades. I guess their Ascendancy would be equivalent to WF's ACA? Would their Premium grade be similar to WF's Expert Selection, or does it have a broader range of cut quality compared to WF's ES, which is only for those that barely missed the ACA grade?

2. For BGD, I can't even find a secondary cut grade for their stones. Either Signature (blue or not) or non-Signature, and the non-signature does not seem to be on par with WF's ES. Am I missing something here?

3. GOG provides more information on their stones than the other two. However, by looking at their clarity pictures, I get scared. Do you guys have a way to tell whether it's something on the surface and whether it will be noticeable (i.e. eye clean)? An example would be this one (from the picture, it looks like a scratch on the surface):

http://www.goodoldgold.com/ecommerce/1-5ct-i-vs2-hand-selected-premium-round-ideal-cut-diamond.html

Thank you in advance so much, guys!

 

[SirGuy]

Vendors have all sorts of thresholds and cut-offs for their own classifications of products. Even a common phrase like "eye clean" means different things to different people.

A stone that one company labels as "signature ideal" (which some do) often has nothing to do with any actual grading report details; it's just a way to sell it.

A Whiteflash expert selection AGS 0 and A Cut Above AGS 0 are still graded the same by the lab. The differences are minor but they're there. Whiteflash's folks decide which is which, and you might agree or disagree (most agree).

If you want to know if a GOG stone is eye clean, I'd call them to say you're interested and ask if they'll pull it for you. Then make sure you have an idea of what it means to you (eye clean at 4" or 8"? From all sides and lighting?).

The best thing to do about the differences in vendors' own groups of stones is to ask them directly! They'll be more than happy to explain.

 

[rstyle]

Thanks, SirGuy!

I was trying to see if there's a good way to speed up and narrow down the search from my side first but seems like I still need to ask the vendors directly

 

[Texas Leaguer]

As for Whiteflash, in the interest of complete transparency we post all of our qualifications and specifications for our diamonds on the website. We have three categories of in-house inventory all posted with comprehensive information and imaging and available for immediate shipping, in-store viewing, or consultation with one of your gemologists.

Our super ideal category is A CUT ABOVE® in round hearts and arrows and princess cut and must have as a baseline requirement and AGS triple zero platinum cert. All the additional requirements can be found here:
http://www.whiteflash.com/a-cut-above-diamonds-specifications-and-qualifications/

Our Expert Selection brand is composed of diamonds that have the highest cut grade from either of the top two labs- AGS and GIA (Triple 0 and Triple Ex respectively), and rounds in this category must also have distinct hearts and arrows patterning.
http://www.whiteflash.com/about-diamonds/diamond-education/what-are-expert-selection-diamonds.htm

Our Premium Select category consists of a variety of diamonds including AGS Ideals that may not have good hearts and arrows patterning or otherwise missed the cut for our top two categories.

We also post an Eye-Clean logo on every detail page of all diamonds in these in-stock categories (along with our definition of eye-clean) so that customer's expectations are set correctly on this aspect. We are very conservative in making this call.

We also provide outside diamonds through our Virtual Diamond Service. Details on our process and our comprehensive evaluations of these diamonds can be found here:
http://www.whiteflash.com/about-diamonds/whiteflash-policies/other-diamonds.htm

 

[Rhino]

Greetings rstyle,

We happen to be making a transition at this moment in redefining our top two tiers of diamond. Instead of simply referring to our top two tiers as "Superior" or "Premium" we've revamped the specs and have renamed the products to Ascendancy Hearts & Arrows (1st tier) and Platinum Select (2nd tier).

Here are their respective tutorial's which I'm finishing up the edits on.

http://www.goodoldgold.com/heartsandarrows.html

http://www.goodoldgold.com/platinumselectdiamonds.html

Kindest regards,
Rhino

 

[rstyle]

Glad to hear that you guys are improving the categorization as I do find the old tiers to be somewhat confusing.

Thanks for the reply. I hope I will be able to find a good stone in your top two tiers soon.

 

[WinkHPD]

Hi guys,

After some research, I am back with a few more questions:

1. I feel WF has made it very easy for me to search for diamonds with different cut grades. I can find ACA for top performers, and Expert Selection for a little budget friendly stones which are still very close to ACA quality. I haven't found very specific definitions on GOG's cut grades. I guess their Ascendancy would be equivalent to WF's ACA? Would their Premium grade be similar to WF's Expert Selection, or does it have a broader range of cut quality compared to WF's ES, which is only for those that barely missed the ACA grade?

2. For BGD, I can't even find a secondary cut grade for their stones. Either Signature (blue or not) or non-Signature, and the non-signature does not seem to be on par with WF's ES. Am I missing something here?

3. GOG provides more information on their stones than the other two. However, by looking at their clarity pictures, I get scared. Do you guys have a way to tell whether it's something on the surface and whether it will be noticeable (i.e. eye clean)? An example would be this one (from the picture, it looks like a scratch on the surface):

http://www.goodoldgold.com/ecommerce/1-5ct-i-vs2-hand-selected-premium-round-ideal-cut-diamond.html

Thank you in advance so much, guys!

Since you are asking a question, I believe that I am allowed to answer. If not, I would ask the moderator to please remove this post.

In my opinion, the inclusions you are looking at are small colorless crystals. If there were more of them, or if they were larger, the diamond would have a lower clarity grade. These do not look to be eye visible at all and are only easily seen since the vendor is using a large magnification to specifically make it easy for you to see the inclusions. This is a high mark for his ethics.

You should therefore be NOT afraid.

Still you will need to see it to know for sure if it is the right diamond for you. Jonathon at GOG has a great reputation and return policy, so there should be nothing for you to risk except for postage if you decide to bring it in to see if it is as special as you think it should be.

Just my thoughts.

Wink

 

[rstyle]

Thank you so much, Wink. That just assured me.

I think I will come up with some stones for comments soon. Thanks everyone for help so far