Shady appraiser?

[roadpupp]

Pricescope Diamond Team, ACTIVATE! Heheh.


Please help guys. Here is the deal. I bought a GIA .90 G SI2 Ideal cut Round brilliant in a Platinum Verragio setting last month for my girlfriend's Ering. (She loves it)

She loved the setting and we had it sized by the place we bought it from, a very well respected Brick and Mortor place on 47th street.

Just to cover my bases, I had her take the ring for an independant appraisal. "Diamond Source" at 29 w.47th.
She told him it was a GIA laser inscribed diamond and that she wanted the ring and stone appraised. He looked at it with a regular loupe. He appraised it at a little over what I paid for it, called a it a G SI ideal but said he couldn't find the laser inscription. He tried to charge her $80 for this appraisal.

She refused without the laser inscription number and he argued that he had already drawn up the paperwork. He argued that he would have to demount the stone to find the inscription and my girl didn't want the wear and tear on the setting that this would entail. He said he would take $40 and she paid him and left mad.

Doesn't he need a 30 or 50X scope to see an inscription?

Do the gem setters usually hide the inscription number behind the prongs?

The whole thing is shady. I am going to have to pay ANOTHER fee to have it appraised!! This sucks.

I was told $50 was a standard cost for an appraisal. What do you guys think?

Any recommendations for good appraisors on 47th street? What should I be paying? I already have the appraisal from the store for my insurance, this is mearly to verify that I have the GIA stone I paid for.

Thanks

 

[lmurden]

My diamond is laser inscribed and it is on the gridle and I''ve seen it twice and it doesn''t have to be un-mounted. Just go to another appraiser for a second opinion. Also the appraiser that I used charged based on the size of the diamond, which cost me $95 for .50-1.00 carat which included all the paper work and a picture on the appaisal form.

 

[oldminer]

A GIA inscription is large enough to be read, by me, at 10x. It isn''t so easy, but not impossible. Normal width prongs will not TOTALLY obscure a laser number although I suppose extra wide prongs could hide it entirely....Sounds doubtful, though.

Most setters are told to leave the laser inscription visible although this might have been overlooked when this particular diamond was set. If it was supposed to be GIA inscribed, did anyone look at the diamond to show you the inscritpion on the day you bought it or the day you took delivery? The whole point of laser inscrption is re-identification. It must be examined and seen on the day of delivery or the whole purpose is fouled up.

The appraiser sounds like many we have heard about on 47th St. I''m glad you did not allow the diamond to be removed. Go back to the seller immediately and have the seller show you the inscription before doing anything else....Do it right away, please.

 

[Todd07]

Another thought is to buy your own x20 Loupe so you have the ability to examine again, at your leisure, and confirm the inscription. Buying your own loupe will cost less than an appraisal.

 

[denverappraiser]

roadpupp

Setters will normally set the stone with the numbers visible for exactly the reason that you describe. Sometimes they forget to look for it if you don''t tell them that it''s there and they will cover it with a prong by accident. Assuming it''s a round stone, it will be fairly easy for the original setter to rotate the stone in the setting if you ask them to and they probably won''t charge you for this service.

The appraisal fee is more or less in line and it''s not clear from your description if he did a through job of the examination and the report. It''s a little difficult to do a plotting diagram with just a loupe for example. Mine are usually a little cheaper but Denver is a less expensive place to do business than NYC.

I have little difficulty reading girdle inscriptions with a 10x loupe but it''s difficult to photograph them that way so I prefer to use my microscope.

When I have clients with a craftsmanship problem like this, I send them back to the original setter to have any additional work done and then I re-examine the piece a second (or third) time. I won''t complete the written report until after the final examination although I keep photos of the intermediate steps in case they make it worse or cause additional problems. I will include a photomicrograph of the girdle inscription in the final document. I charge by the hour for this kind of work so, in effect, yes the client is paying extra for their appraisal. Then again, they are getting a better product because of it.

Neil Beaty
Independendent Appraisals in Denver

 

[roadpupp]

Thanks to all for the advice.

I called the store and will meet with the salesman/production manager who I dealt with. He is a good guy and he said he and I can look for the inscription together. That is all I want, to have peace of mind that the GIA stone I bought is the one we got.

I have the original GIA cert and a copy to bring with me.

I had the ring shippped to CT when I bought it so there was no checking the inscription at that point as they finalized the setting and fed exed it originally.

I am confident it will be fine, but need verification of the number before I will be satisfied. Our stone is gorgeous and I know it is a good one.

Thanks again all. I'll post back when I get it resolved.

Roadpupp

 

[roadpupp]

So, all is well.

The appraisers/jewlers that S took the ring to are jackasses.

In ten seconds, my jewler found the laser inscription and read it off to me. It matched my GIA cert.

I found it myself in 20 seconds and verified it.

I''m just pissed we paid $40 to the original guys. "Diamond Source" at 29 W.47th are not people I would recommend using. Useless.

Thanks for all your advice guys!

Roadpupp

 

[klayman]

raodpup,
Just out of curiosity, if you don''t mind, which jeweler did you use on 47th? I am going through this same process (and will definately NOT use Diamond Source as an appraiser) and am trying to find an honest jeweler in the diamond district