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Should I get a GIA certification for side stones ?

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ordinaryrainbow

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Sep 6, 2016
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Hi PS'ers! I am having SK set a three-stone ring for me, and he is sourcing the side stones for the ring. I have a question about whether I should get the side stones certified by the GIA before they are set.

He has found a beautiful pair, but they are not certified. He said this is normal for small side stones (they are less than <0.5ct each). I trust his eye and his word on the colour/clarity/size, but just wondering if I should get the side stones certified by the GIA before they are set? SK has offered to send them to the GIA if I would like them certified. Is there any benefit to doing so? When I look at three-stone rings online, it seems most only have GIA gradings for the centre stone.

Thanks!
 
Personally for the size of them I wouldn't bother.
 
If you trust his eye to choose,
Will receiving a report that doesn’t seem ‘matching’ give you then pause to doubt his eye?
My opinion: If you ever go to sell - anyone willing to pay ‘market value’ for a second hand SK ring will most likely trust his eye as well, and wouldn’t balk to hard at no reports for the sidestones.

Excited to see what you come up with!
 
For the size, I’m leaning towards no. Unless you feel that having graded side stones is of benefit to you.
 
I've never had sidestones certified in the past and it hasn't been an issue for me.
 
What size, color, and clarity are you talking about?
If they were like @mrs-b 's side stones then definitely yes.
My two CBI .53 F/VS1-2 side stones have AGS reports.
If you are talking say .40 J-SI1 then maybe not imo.
 
@cflutist They are H colour, VS1, about 0.4ct each. So in between yours and the example you mentioned. I'm not familiar with @mrs-b's side stones.
 
Why do you think you need the reports? For trust issue or for future resell?
 
ordinaryrainbow said:
@cflutist They are H colour, VS1, about 0.4ct each. So in between yours and the example you mentioned. I'm not familiar with @mrs-b's side stones.
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Hi @ordinaryrainbow :wavey:

My sides are .625ct each and I'm trying to work towards the most gorgeous 3-stone I can manage. At 62 points, you can definitely see tint and/or inclusions. They've also been chosen specifically to match a gorgeous, super ideal center stone. Visually, it makes a difference.

If it were me, I'd tell SK that you want the table % and the lower girdle % for your sides to match your center stone or to be within 1%. This is the sort of request 'artists' get snooty about. Personally, I don't give a tinker's cuss; they're working for me, and if you have a center with 80% lower facet %, you'll have big chunky arrows. If you get sides with 75% lower facet %, they'll have teensy tiny little needle-like arrows. This is the sort of thing that sends a details-orientated person insane. Big flat tables with a small-tabled center will give a jarring profile appearance, and if you get a 58% center stone table, with 54% side stone tables, it won't be hideous, it just won't be completely coherent.

The question is - could someone like SK get it wrong? Sure he could. I remember when he set a cluster for me where the side stones were each 26 points. He went on AT LENGTH how perfectly the sides were cut and matched, which said to me - not what he was used to. (Mine had been individually bought and each was certified; he didn't know that, tho).

SK is not someone who responds well to being micro managed. But I'd certainly briefly ask for sides that are as close as possible in their cut statistics to your center stone. Altho, if they're not certified, he may not have statistics, I guess, at which point, his eye is all you have to go by.

One proviso tho - I'm not familiar with your center stone; are its statistics of a standard you'd want to replicate?
 

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Rad_Fan said:
Why do you think you need the reports? For trust issue or for future resell?
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Definitely not a trust issue. I just thought the conventional wisdom was to only buy certified diamonds.
 
mrs-b said:
Hi @ordinaryrainbow :wavey:

My sides are .625ct each and I'm trying to work towards the most gorgeous 3-stone I can manage. At 62 points, you can definitely see tint and/or inclusions. They've also been chosen specifically to match a gorgeous, super ideal center stone. Visually, it makes a difference.

If it were me, I'd tell SK that you want the table % and the lower girdle % for your sides to match your center stone or to be within 1%. This is the sort of request 'artists' get snooty about. Personally, I don't give a tinker's cuss; they're working for me, and if you have a center with 80% lower facet %, you'll have big chunky arrows. If you get sides with 75% lower facet %, they'll have teensy tiny little needle-like arrows. This is the sort of thing that sends a details-orientated person insane. Big flat tables with a small-tabled center will give a jarring profile appearance, and if you get a 58% center stone table, with 54% side stone tables, it won't be hideous, it just won't be completely coherent.

The question is - could someone like SK get it wrong? Sure he could. I remember when he set a cluster for me where the side stones were each 26 points. He went on AT LENGTH how perfectly the sides were cut and matched, which said to me - not what he was used to. (Mine had been individually bought and each was certified; he didn't know that, tho).

SK is not someone who responds well to being micro managed. But I'd certainly briefly ask for sides that are as close as possible in their cut statistics to your center stone. Altho, if they're not certified, he may not have statistics, I guess, at which point, his eye is all you have to go by.

One proviso tho - I'm not familiar with your center stone; are its statistics of a standard you'd want to replicate?
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@mrs-b Thank you so much for the detailed reply! My centre stone is a green emerald, and I suspect a natural-cut one at that, although I do have the table % and some other cutting statistics in the certification report. Given that it's not a centre diamond, do you think it's as important for coherence to get the side diamonds to match? Is it even possible, with a natural cut gem? Typically they are not cut for performance but for colour, so the table could be way off from what a well-cut diamond table would be.

SK said it was really important to get diamonds of a high clarity, because they are step-cut. He said it wasn't as-important to get a high colour grade because the centre stone is an emerald. (FWIW He said it would make a difference if the centre stone was a high colour grade diamond, and would never recommend H side stones for a D colour diamond for example, but said that there wasn't really a benefit to getting a higher colour grade to set with my emerald.)
 
@mrs-b Also, it sounds like you have some incredible rings! (In addition to the gorgeous one in your avatar!) When I have some time, I'm going to go back through your old threads and look at your ring shots from these beautiful rings you describe.
 
OK, so they are .40ct step cuts. That matters.

One reason to get a lab report is to evaluate cut quality. But that doesn't matter for step cuts where you evaluate cut quality with your eyes.

The other is for resale value. You decide if that is relevant to you. As others said, if you do ever resell you would market the setting as being made by SK, including the side stone choice, so that provenance may be all you need anyway.

Yet another reason is to make sure you are paying a fair price because the report allows you to determine comparables. Not sure this matters too much as SK will charge what he charges. Unless you have plans to shop around, trusting his judgement/fairness may be enough for you.

So you decide which of these things matter, if any. There is certainly no "rule" saying you need a lab report, especially if you are an educated and informed buyer. My treasured 1.89ct diamond has no lab report! :lol:
 
I would be so unhappy to be surprised by synthetics I had not asked for, that getting reports on melee does not seem stupid any longer.
 
AV_ said:
I would be so unhappy to be surprised by synthetics I had not asked for, that getting reports on melee does not seem stupid any longer.
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You were given synthetic diamonds in melee??
 
No.

GIA does offer such reports for groups of small diamonds. I do not know if anyone gets such reports.
 
ordinaryrainbow said:
@mrs-b SK said it was really important to get diamonds of a high clarity, because they are step-cut. He said it wasn't as-important to get a high colour grade because the centre stone is an emerald. (FWIW He said it would make a difference if the centre stone was a high colour grade diamond, and would never recommend H side stones for a D colour diamond for example, but said that there wasn't really a benefit to getting a higher colour grade to set with my emerald.)
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Thanks for sharing this @ordinaryrainbow. It’s helpful advice as I think about diamond sides for my emerald project !
 
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@ordinaryrainbow -

Aaahhh - got it now! Since they're step cuts, not rounds, I think eyeballing them is the best way of getting a match, so SK is probably on the money here, tho I do disagree with him re H color. Green look great against a strong white (I love the freshness of green and pure white together), so were it me, I'd be looking in the colorless range.

Because the center stone is a different gem to the sides, I think it's important that the sides match each other, rather than trying to match the emerald. I'd leave this with Steven, tho I *would* ask for something whiter, regardless of his opinion on color. Color is a personal choice; some people would go warmer, I'd go whiter, SK thinks H is good enough....it's all about personal taste at this point.

Are you setting in yellow, rose, or white gold / platinum? That can make a difference.

Good luck - and it will be wonderful to see photos when this delicious-sounding project is done!
 
I wouldn't bother with GIA reports in this situation. If I were setting a superideal cut round in a three stone setting, I'd definitely be using AGS Ideal cut sides because I'd want matching cut quality. Fancy shapes have to be matched by the eye, and under .5 wouldn't be worth it for me. If I were to buy a colored stone ring with small sides, I'd not expect grading reports on the sides. I'd be fine with H color with an emerald as H emerald cut diamonds will appear pretty white. I'd be more likely to want higher color with a blue sapphire, though.
 
Yeah, for me the color of the sides depends on the tone of your emerald. Warmer/yellower tone and I would want more tinted sides, colder/bluer tone and I would want less tinted.

But H is very white anyway, it's splitting hairs IMO to talk about less tint.
 
The ONLY thing I can think of is to make sure all three stones have the same undertone because it can help the ring look more cohesive. For example if your main stone has blue undertone your side stones should too.

IMO it matters not if its a colored stone center or not, when the eye evaluates the entire look, you want them to "match".

H will probably be fine, but if you want less color discrepancies (and your budget can handle it) go with F-G
 
Thank you everyone! This is very helpful information. I appreciate you all taking the time to give me advice and feedback
 
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