Weimer_Fan
Rough_Rock
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2010
- Messages
- 1
Hello,
I am writing because I am puzzled about a ring I saw at an antique fair, and thought that this knowledgeable community could help with some questions I had concerning the ring. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the ring.
The ring is a solitaire diamond with a "vintage" platinum setting, with plenty of filigree. It was called "estate". There are no papers indicating any gem certification, with the stone or ring; nevertheless, the seller claimed the diamond was 0.92 carat. The seller did not know what cut the diamond had. It perplexed my girlfriend (GF), who lurks quite a bit on Pricescope, and me. After some reading, we believe it has a European Cut, not OEC. It was round, not RB, had the round "daisy" pattern looking into the table, but didn't look like it had an open culet. The girdle wasn't faceted, but we couldn't tell if it was polished or not. We were looking at the stone indoors, and the walls were strongly yellow, so I couldn't really give a good guess about the color. GF thought it was quite colorless---with a bluish tint, if any---and thinks it was no lower than a G.
What really threw us was the clarity. Under a loupe, we still were unable to see any inclusions or feathering. This was very surprising for us, as at previous jeweler visits, both of us were easily able to see flaws in the stones we examined. This was the first stone we'd looked at that had no flaws whatsoever that we could see.
The seller deals primarily in costume jewelry, but has some rings with authentic diamonds and other precious stones. All the seller would attest to is that it is a diamond in a platinum setting. The price was, "Normally $3600, but I'm having a 25% sale on my fine jewelry, so $2700." Our research on some online loose diamond search engines indicated a price from $4200-5000 for .092 carat RB stones with F-G color, VVS2 to VS1 clarity, and "good to very good" cuts. Pricescope itself shows a 1.04 crt stone, European Cut, G, VVS2, with Medium Blue Fluorescence, and EGL Certification for $5800.
The seller's low price and the great clarity of the stone makes me concerned that the stone is not an actual diamond. What ways are there for an amateur to tell, absent mounting the stone in a refractometer, between a CZ, Moissanite, and an actual diamond? Further, what ways are there to tell whether the setting is actually Pt? We don't have a diamond with which to compare for a "breath test." Also, based on what I've written above, do you all think the ring is likely to be legit? And if so, how would you structure the purchase to protect yourself?
Thanks,
Weimer_Fan
I am writing because I am puzzled about a ring I saw at an antique fair, and thought that this knowledgeable community could help with some questions I had concerning the ring. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the ring.
The ring is a solitaire diamond with a "vintage" platinum setting, with plenty of filigree. It was called "estate". There are no papers indicating any gem certification, with the stone or ring; nevertheless, the seller claimed the diamond was 0.92 carat. The seller did not know what cut the diamond had. It perplexed my girlfriend (GF), who lurks quite a bit on Pricescope, and me. After some reading, we believe it has a European Cut, not OEC. It was round, not RB, had the round "daisy" pattern looking into the table, but didn't look like it had an open culet. The girdle wasn't faceted, but we couldn't tell if it was polished or not. We were looking at the stone indoors, and the walls were strongly yellow, so I couldn't really give a good guess about the color. GF thought it was quite colorless---with a bluish tint, if any---and thinks it was no lower than a G.
What really threw us was the clarity. Under a loupe, we still were unable to see any inclusions or feathering. This was very surprising for us, as at previous jeweler visits, both of us were easily able to see flaws in the stones we examined. This was the first stone we'd looked at that had no flaws whatsoever that we could see.
The seller deals primarily in costume jewelry, but has some rings with authentic diamonds and other precious stones. All the seller would attest to is that it is a diamond in a platinum setting. The price was, "Normally $3600, but I'm having a 25% sale on my fine jewelry, so $2700." Our research on some online loose diamond search engines indicated a price from $4200-5000 for .092 carat RB stones with F-G color, VVS2 to VS1 clarity, and "good to very good" cuts. Pricescope itself shows a 1.04 crt stone, European Cut, G, VVS2, with Medium Blue Fluorescence, and EGL Certification for $5800.
The seller's low price and the great clarity of the stone makes me concerned that the stone is not an actual diamond. What ways are there for an amateur to tell, absent mounting the stone in a refractometer, between a CZ, Moissanite, and an actual diamond? Further, what ways are there to tell whether the setting is actually Pt? We don't have a diamond with which to compare for a "breath test." Also, based on what I've written above, do you all think the ring is likely to be legit? And if so, how would you structure the purchase to protect yourself?
Thanks,
Weimer_Fan
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