Should I get dual reports (GIA/AGS)?

[TRIALnERROR]

Hey gang, I'm getting close to making a decision on a setting for our loose diamond and I was curious if I should order an AGS report? We currently have a GIA report and I'm curious to see how it stacks up to the AGS. Does anyone know the cost of the report for a 1.2 ct. round as well as the turn-around time? Also, does AGS laser inscribe the stone? Thanks in advance for any guidance.

ETA: Will the AGS grader reference the GIA report when assessing the stone?

 

[kenny]

If your GIA-graded diamond has a GIA report number laser inscribed on the girdle, the AGS grader can enter it and the carat weight here and see a PDF of the GIA report.

https://myapps.gia.edu/ReportCheckPortal/reportcheck/home.jsp

 

[TRIALnERROR]

If your GIA-graded diamond has a GIA report number laser inscribed on the girdle, the AGS grader can enter it and the carat weight here and see a PDF of the GIA report.

https://myapps.gia.edu/ReportCheckPortal/reportcheck/home.jsp

Thanks for the quick reply, Kenny. My concern is, would the AGS grader use the GIA info in any way, shape, or form when making their analysis? Or would the AGS evaluation be completely independent from the GIA report?

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I can't think of a reason in the world that I would send a diamond I was keeping and ready to set to be graded by a second lab. It will cost money in shipping in addition to the report itself, it will delay your setting the stone, and you end up with another piece of paper. I don't get it!

 

[TitanCi]

Save your money TnE... There isn't a point, really... Plus, it may come back with a lower color grade too as AGS tends to be slightly softer in terms of color grading IME.

 

[sonnyjane]

Save your money TnE... There isn't a point, really... Plus, it may come back with a lower color grade too as AGS tends to be slightly softer in terms of color grading IME.

I agree. Completely and utterly unnecessary in this case. Maybe if I bought an EGL but wanted to see how it fared with GIA, that's one thing, but if you already have a GIA cert. that's as "good as gold".

 

[Gypsy]

No reason at all. I wouldn't.

And AGS is only very occasionally soft on the color, that's it.

 

[TRIALnERROR]

I can't think of a reason in the world that I would send a diamond I was keeping and ready to set to be graded by a second lab. It will cost money in shipping in addition to the report itself, it will delay your setting the stone, and you end up with another piece of paper. I don't get it!

Thanks for the feedback DS and Titan. Time is not of the essence and I am merely curious to see how AGS would grade the stone. I read an older thread where Gary mentioned experiences with GIA reports being off by as much as one or more grades. I was just looking for confirmation, but it appears that would be overkill? Thanks for the candid responses.

ETA: This is the thread I am referring to:

" by Garry H (Cut Nut)
EGL USA is far stricter than EGL.

GIA have really gone off. I have dealers telling me more than 1 clarity grade away is not uncommon. Empolyment and retaining trained staff has always been a big problem for them, since anyone leaving can tell the world they have worked as an Arch Angel."

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/multiple-certifications.4055/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/multiple-certifications.4055/[/URL]

 

[kenny]

I think you should send it to EGL Israel.

Then you'll feel great you got a steal on a D IF.

 

[TRIALnERROR]

I think you should send it to EGL Israel.

Then you'll feel great you got a steal on a D IF.

Thanks for the nonsensical reply. Much obliged.

 

[kenny]

I think you should send it to EGL Israel.

Then you'll feel great you got a steal on a D IF.

Thanks for the nonsensical reply. Much obliged.

EGL Israel is known for some of the most "generous" grading.

Seriously, I'd not send to any other lab.
GIA is highly respected and if it comes back from AGS with one grade different you'll be all wigged out.
If it comes back the same grades you spent money and time for basically nothing.
Both GIA and AGS allow one grade of wiggle room themselves.

 

[TRIALnERROR]

I think you should send it to EGL Israel.

Then you'll feel great you got a steal on a D IF.

Thanks for the nonsensical reply. Much obliged.

EGL Israel is known for some of the most "generous" grading.

Seriously, I'd not send to any other lab.
GIA is highly respected and if it comes back from AGS with one grade different you'll be all wigged out.
If it comes back the same grades you spent money and time for basically nothing.
Both GIA and AGS allow one grade of wiggle room themselves.

Thanks, that reasoning makes perfect sense! Honestly, I think I was just jealous of the AGS image...

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Save your money TnE... There isn't a point, really... Plus, it may come back with a lower color grade too as AGS tends to be slightly softer in terms of color grading IME.

It would be the opposite in the event that AGS grades softer..it might come back higher in color...but it also might not grade at AGS Ideal cut.

 

[denverappraiser]

The key question is about your objectives, which you haven’t really answered. If it’s just for entertainment to see how the labs see the same stone differently and you don’t mind the time or budget, have at it, but I’m hard pressed to see any other advantage. If AGSL reports the same, you’ve learned a little about the labs but nothing new about your stone. If AGSL reports it at a higher grade, you’ve learned a little about the labs and, in some sense, have upgraded your pedigree and if AGSL reports it as lower then you know a little about the lab but basically have wasted your money in terms of documentation. AGSL analyzes cut grading differently so you can have your cut evaluated with a different scale but, again, I’m not sure I see an advantage to this beyond entertainment. There's only 4 available outcomes:

Same results
Better
Worse
Mixed (better in some ways, worse in others)

Which, if any, of these would be worth your time and money?

 

[Christina...]

The key question is about your objectives, which you haven’t really answered. If it’s just for entertainment to see how the labs see the same stone differently and you don’t mind the time or budget, have at it, but I’m hard pressed to see any other advantage. If AGSL reports the same, you’ve learned a little about the labs but nothing new about your stone. If AGSL reports it at a higher grade, you’ve learned a little about the labs and, in some sense, have upgraded your pedigree and if AGSL reports it as lower then you know a little about the lab but basically have wasted your money in terms of documentation. AGSL analyzes cut grading differently so you can have your cut evaluated with a different scale but, again, I’m not sure I see an advantage to this beyond entertainment. There's only 4 available outcomes:

Same results
Better
Worse
Mixed (better in some ways, worse in others)

Which, if any, of these would be worth your time and money?

I've contemplated the same question as OP, but for a different reason...I believe that GIA has accurately graded the color and clarity of my diamond, however because of the difference in cut scale it appears that my stone is an AGS excellent cut candidate (it scored vg vg by GIA for polish/symmetry) but GIA graded it VG cut, so would it make sense for me to resubmit the stone, hoping that it would return as an AGS EX? The only reason I have considered it is for insurance purposes. I hadn't considered that possibility that if something were to happen to my ring that my insurance company could replace the stone with any GIA VG, even though I sifted through many many GIA EX and VG to find this specific stone. I'd hate to think that I would have to accept any dog they threw at for a replacement.

 

[yssie]

The key question is about your objectives, which you haven’t really answered. If it’s just for entertainment to see how the labs see the same stone differently and you don’t mind the time or budget, have at it, but I’m hard pressed to see any other advantage. If AGSL reports the same, you’ve learned a little about the labs but nothing new about your stone. If AGSL reports it at a higher grade, you’ve learned a little about the labs and, in some sense, have upgraded your pedigree and if AGSL reports it as lower then you know a little about the lab but basically have wasted your money in terms of documentation. AGSL analyzes cut grading differently so you can have your cut evaluated with a different scale but, again, I’m not sure I see an advantage to this beyond entertainment. There's only 4 available outcomes:

Same results
Better
Worse
Mixed (better in some ways, worse in others)

Which, if any, of these would be worth your time and money?

I've contemplated the same question as OP, but for a different reason...I believe that GIA has accurately graded the color and clarity of my diamond, however because of the difference in cut scale it appears that my stone is an AGS excellent cut candidate (it scored vg vg by GIA for polish/symmetry) but GIA graded it VG cut, so would it make sense for me to resubmit the stone, hoping that it would return as an AGS EX? The only reason I have considered it is for insurance purposes. I hadn't considered that possibility that if something were to happen to my ring that my insurance company could replace the stone with any GIA VG, even though I sifted through many many GIA EX and VG to find this specific stone. I'd hate to think that I would have to accept any dog they threw at for a replacement.

My understanding is that they're *required* to use all the information provided on the appraisal you send in - this information is the minimum for replacement with like kind and quality. So if your appraisal has scans, photos, GIA report number, etc. they can't try to replace w/ any old GIA VG. If the appraisal only has the GIA info, though, then what's on your report - the GIA VG cut grade - is all that they're bound by.

Maybe someone who knows more can tell me if my understanding is correct? If so, I'd probably recommend just get a really super appraisal done and not worrying about it beyond that, but I can personally see the appeal of having an AGS1 dinged for pol/sym w/ cut grade 0... probably not enough to bother with the cost and time though, since I'd want the super duper appraisal anyway!

 

[TitanCi]

I think you should send it to EGL Israel.

Then you'll feel great you got a steal on a D IF.

I'm not gonna lie - I actually thought that was funny!

DS - really? I've seen a few AGS stones IRL and they seem "off" in their color grading, but clarity seemed alot stricter vs. GIA. Maybe it was just the handful of stones I saw?

 

[Christina...]

The key question is about your objectives, which you haven’t really answered. If it’s just for entertainment to see how the labs see the same stone differently and you don’t mind the time or budget, have at it, but I’m hard pressed to see any other advantage. If AGSL reports the same, you’ve learned a little about the labs but nothing new about your stone. If AGSL reports it at a higher grade, you’ve learned a little about the labs and, in some sense, have upgraded your pedigree and if AGSL reports it as lower then you know a little about the lab but basically have wasted your money in terms of documentation. AGSL analyzes cut grading differently so you can have your cut evaluated with a different scale but, again, I’m not sure I see an advantage to this beyond entertainment. There's only 4 available outcomes:

Same results
Better
Worse
Mixed (better in some ways, worse in others)

Which, if any, of these would be worth your time and money?

I've contemplated the same question as OP, but for a different reason...I believe that GIA has accurately graded the color and clarity of my diamond, however because of the difference in cut scale it appears that my stone is an AGS excellent cut candidate (it scored vg vg by GIA for polish/symmetry) but GIA graded it VG cut, so would it make sense for me to resubmit the stone, hoping that it would return as an AGS EX? The only reason I have considered it is for insurance purposes. I hadn't considered that possibility that if something were to happen to my ring that my insurance company could replace the stone with any GIA VG, even though I sifted through many many GIA EX and VG to find this specific stone. I'd hate to think that I would have to accept any dog they threw at for a replacement.

My understanding is that they're *required* to use all the information provided on the appraisal you send in - this information is the minimum for replacement with like kind and quality. So if your appraisal has scans, photos, GIA report number, etc. they can't try to replace w/ any old GIA VG. If the appraisal only has the GIA info, though, then what's on your report - the GIA VG cut grade - is all that they're bound by.

Maybe someone who knows more can tell me if my understanding is correct? If so, I'd probably recommend just get a really super appraisal done and not worrying about it beyond that, but I can personally see the appeal of having an AGS1 dinged for pol/sym w/ cut grade 0... probably not enough to bother with the cost and time though, since I'd want the super duper appraisal anyway!

Thanks Yssie, that makes lots of sense. I don't believe I have a local appraiser capable of doing all the reports for me, for that matter I don't have a jeweler affiliated with AGS to submit the stone for me either, so I think that I will take your advice and contact a PS appraiser and get their thoughts on the matter. I would certainly feel much better knowing that they had to replace it with a 'like' stone with 'like' proportions. Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

DS - really? I've seen a few AGS stones IRL and they seem "off" in their color grading, but clarity seemed alot stricter vs. GIA. Maybe it was just the handful of stones I saw?

I think somehow we aren't communicating well.

There have been a few occasions here that we have found that AGS is softer on color grading than GIA...which means if the color was perhaps borderline, AGS gave the higher color grade (with D being the highest color grade). I have seen this here several times and have had one of my diamonds graded by both and it graded one color higher by AGS than it did at GIA. My stones are all VS, so I can't see any difference in clarity because my stones are all really clean. That difference may be more apparent at the SI level.

 

[TRIALnERROR]

DS - really? I've seen a few AGS stones IRL and they seem "off" in their color grading, but clarity seemed alot stricter vs. GIA. Maybe it was just the handful of stones I saw?

I think somehow we aren't communicating well.

There have been a few occasions here that we have found that AGS is softer on color grading than GIA...which means if the color was perhaps borderline, AGS gave the higher color grade (with D being the highest color grade). I have seen this here several times and have had one of my diamonds graded by both and it graded one color higher by AGS than it did at GIA. My stones are all VS, so I can't see any difference in clarity because my stones are all really clean. That difference may be more apparent at the SI level.

DS, why did you have the diamond graded by both?

 

[TRIALnERROR]

The key question is about your objectives, which you haven’t really answered. If it’s just for entertainment to see how the labs see the same stone differently and you don’t mind the time or budget, have at it, but I’m hard pressed to see any other advantage. If AGSL reports the same, you’ve learned a little about the labs but nothing new about your stone. If AGSL reports it at a higher grade, you’ve learned a little about the labs and, in some sense, have upgraded your pedigree and if AGSL reports it as lower then you know a little about the lab but basically have wasted your money in terms of documentation. AGSL analyzes cut grading differently so you can have your cut evaluated with a different scale but, again, I’m not sure I see an advantage to this beyond entertainment. There's only 4 available outcomes:

Same results
Better
Worse
Mixed (better in some ways, worse in others)

Which, if any, of these would be worth your time and money?

Thanks for the insight Denver. We are planning on keeping the ring as an heirloom and passing it down to our children in the future. I just figured now would be the best time to get any supporting documentation as the stone is loose.