SOS! May have made a HUGE diamond buying mistake!

[marhealy]

My Fiance recently proposed and presented me with what originally appeared to be a beautiful ring... and don't get me wrong, it's gorgeous and I love it regardless of the potential disaster at hand. Situation as follows:

We are young and starting out in life so we made the decision to keep our ring budget low. $3500 altogether for setting and diamond. Luckily I have tiny fingers and we're midwesterners so it wasn't much of a sacrifice to select a smaller stone.

At my mothers urging, we decided to commission a custom piece via a family friend. She thought it meant he was more trustworthy than a stranger, but I'm not so sure.

The center stone is supposedly a .6ct f-h color vs2 very good princess cut set in a 14k white gold halo with 26 1pt stones of the same color/clarity/cut grade. Again, we paid $3500 and it appraised at $5000. After about a week of wear and subsequent dirtying of the stone, I noticed a quite obvious inclusion nearly dead center and just below the surface. I was able to photograph is pretty clearly, and consensus is that it is likely a feather. Ok... I thought vs2 stones were supposed to be fairly eye clean and certainly not contain something THAT OBVIOUS front and center. So I ask for the paperworkfrom my mother since she was the one to do the dirty work based off an email from fiance (we live 750mi away so he was unable to be more Iinvolved)

Problem is, there's no diamond lab certifications, just the appraisal. So I have no inclusions map, no specs other than the very very basics... which dont even seem reliable anymore. After the research ive done im really starting to think we didnt get the deal we thought we did and very well may have overpaid for what we got. Shouldnt be that big of a deal but it bothers me to think we could have done way better and may not have any options anymore since there isnt a real "return policy" via the friend AND my mother doesnt want to potentially damage the relationship in case she wants to go through him.

I was wondering if anyone might be able to give me a better idea of what the stone should actually be graded and what steps I should take next? If I overpaid but it's insured for a better price than it should be, do I just suck it up? Because that could be a good thing if anything happens to the ring, correct? II'm just at a loss and really wish I had been around for the selection process so at least I would have known what I was getting into...

I will attach the images as soon as I figure out how...

 

[chrono]

I understand the starting out without much but making the best of it situation for the e-ring. However, as I kept reading, I saw so many red flags:
1. I find that things get trickier when buying from a family friend.
2. When you stated a F/H rather than a single colour grade, I knew the diamond doesn't have a lab report. F to H is a very big range. This means it's most likely to be a J/K colour and SI1 clarity or lower.
3. Most appraisals are over-inflated. There is no way it will cost you $5000 to replace it.
4. If you can see the inclusion face up, it is clearly not a VS2 diamond. You might see something from the side but never from the top in a round diamond.

Is there any way you can return the stone? Try to use your leverage as a family friend. If not, see if he can come up with a better replacement stone. Given what you know, do you really want your mother to buy such a diamond from him in the future?

In terms of insurance, you are paying a higher premium based on the appraisal but you will not be getting a higher priced replacement. If anything, they will get you the very basic diamond as replacement (definitely under $3500 or whatever you paid for the stone).

I'm sorry.

 

[ecf8503]

Sorry to hear about you dilemma - I will wait to see pics, but a VS 2 can sometimes have eye visible inclusions. That said, it has no cert, and the color range you stated is rather wide, so I wouldn't be surprised if it is not what was represented.

Go to the bottom of the "reply" section and click "upload attachment" - you can upload directly from your computer that way.

 

[marhealy]

Ive tried to upload that way but it says the file type is invalid? Not sure what the deal is there... its .jpg so shouldnt be an issue. Still troubleshooting, but considering hosting it elsewhere for now just to make them accessable...

 

[marhealy]

Hmmm I assumed that if it's insured for a certain price, thats the price the ins co has to allot towards a similarly graded replacement (which to their knowledge would be better than this stone actually is for sure). This whole situation is so frustrating because my mother has absolute trust in the man and says she cant see anything, which may be a lie. Im afraid of sending the stone to GIA bc if the report comes back worse then ins co will not cover as much as they are now... but of all things, inclusions drive me the most crazy. I could have a K color stone and be ecstatic if it were eye clean. Raerrrr so much frustration! Might have to have a serious convo with everyone involved.

 

[chrono]

If the file is too large, you may need to compress it by resizing it. Make sure there are no dashes, dashes, asterisks or other symbols in the file name.

If the stone comes back from GIA as lower than stated, you will a leg to stand on in returning or exchanging the diamond for something eye clean.

 

[PintoBean]

You mentioned an appraisal - is this an appraisal provided by the jeweler the ring was purchased from, or from an independent jeweler? If it is in fact an appraisal from the jeweler, I recommend that you bring your ring to an independent appraiser. You can find an independent appraiser under the resources tab in the pricescope menu.

 

[marhealy]

Image quality not as good after resize, but ok.

Can see it just off of center... diamond is a little dirty in super close up pics, sorry.

Can still see it in pic on wood table, which is nowhere near as zoomed

Last image shows that even despite this, its still a pretty stone to my relatively untrained eye... but I still think I was misled.

Chrono: does the stone need to be removed from the setting in order to be graded? Will this damage the setting at all?

Pinto Bean: Ive been looking for reputable appraisers and jewelers in the DC area in order to go in and have a chat, but I def think ps is a better place to get that info from! The appraisal is from an independent place, but one of the jewelers choosing I believe.

 

[chrono]

To grade the colour and clarity accurately, the diamond needs to be removed from the mounting. No, neither the stone nor setting will be damaged if care is taken.

 

[bunnycat]

I would agree with Pinto that you probably need a good independent appraisal if you are looking to see if the specs match what the jeweler said. An appraisal from a jeweler isn't generally a real objective opinion. Unfortunately, I don't think people are going to be able to give you more than their suspicions about the color/clarity/cut quality of the stone based on online pics, but an independent appraiser ought to be able to look at what the jeweler said, versus their own training and give you some opinion on the matter. They may be able to give you a better idea if the feather is any sort of durability risk. No matter what, it doesn't change the fact you can see it and are unhappy with it and I hope you can get a resolution. Good luck!

And Chrono is right, to get a really accurate fix on color/clarity, the diamond would have to be loose.

 

[marhealy]

Lol wow bastetcat that is DEFINITELY the photo, thanks! Crazy how much crossover there is between forums. I figured that this was probably a more technically knowledgeable crowd since there are tons of real pros here and thus i could get a better idea of what im lookig at.

Crap situation for sure. Basically I hate that everything is complicated by the refusal to see reason on my mother's part. If we had gone through an online retailer or a reputable brick&mortar place, I'd have no problem marching in and being like "what's this? Not vs2, thats for sure!"

What really kills me is that she could have had HIM send it off for grading and then at least know what she was getting... but I think her concerns and mine didnt line up. She cares about carat and color, I care about cut and clarity. If only fiance knew that goig in!

This weekend will certainly be spent gettig in contact with other jewelers and appraisers to get a better idea... I think my last resort would be to send it offto GIA... the cost involved in removing, shipping, and resetting isnt really in our budget at the moment. Hopefully multiple other opinions will be enough to start a conversation about swaps. And certainly I would be the one inspecting and selecting the stone!

 

[marhealy]

Ugh, just saw a vs2 emerald cut... theres absolutely no way this is a vs2 stone! That sucker was macro photo eye clean, and I hear with anything step cut its really obvious when there's any inclusions. I'll be lucky if this is in the SI Range!

Super high priority now lol

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Well, this is why we always hope people will come here before they buy the ring. Because as others have said, the family friend situation rarely works out well for the customer, you should never buy an ungraded stone, and there always needs to be a return policy on the stone. Obviously custom settings are not returnable unless there is a significant workmanship issue.

In regard to the insurance, go back to the person who did the appraisal and tell him what the purchase price was and tell him you do not wish to overinsure the ring. I promise you, the insurance company can replace the ring for less than you paid. There is zero advantage to you to overpay for insurance. Hopefully he will reprint the appraisal with your purchase price.

I really think you are stuck unless you can get an appraiser to say that the stone is SI2 or I1 and then ask that jeweler to please replace the stone with a GIA certified F-H VS2 which is what you were told you were buying. Contact him yourself and leave your mom out of it.

 

[denverappraiser]

A few questions:

How long ago was this purchase made? Who was the client?
Who wrote that 'appraisal' and who were they working for?
Is there a sales receipt or something from the jeweler stating it as 0.6 F/H VS2?
Have you talked to the jeweler about your concerns? If so, what did he/she have to say? If not, why not?
How did you pay?
What do you WANT them to do? Are you looking for a new stone, a refund, a discount, an apology or something else entirely?

As mentioned above, the insurance probably isn't covering as much as you think it is. Readdress the appraisal later, but first get the merchandise itself worked out.

By the way, I agree that you should leave your Mom out of it if you can. She did you a favor by giving you a referral but no matter how it works out, that doesn't make this her problem.

 

[marhealy]

Hey denverappraiser:

Purchase was commissioned in mid-june, and delivered beginning of august. I'm not sure what you mean by the client, but my mother was the one to work with the jeweler, fiance only sent an email stating my preferences and his budget. I was unaware of the process until the proposal. So I think that mother dearest was technically the client.
The appraisal was written by an independent company, but the jeweler presented it along with the ring as far as I'm aware.
The ring was paid for in cash so there is nothing but the appraisal to show what the specs are.
I have not talked to the jeweler yet, mostly because we live so far away and I wanted to be fairly certain of somethig fishy before I approached him and made any sort of stink. I realize that it's certainly nice to have that connection and if something is awry its most likely that it wasnt intentional.
If I'm correct and the stone is not the quality we were led to believe, id be willing to work with him to either A: swap the stone for one of the correct value and specs, B: adjust the price to fit the value of the current stone, or C: return the stone for a full refund and find a different stone to set in the ring.

I'm waiting on a pdf of the appraisal from home to have the whole picture... shes a little miffed at my questioning already and takig her sweet time to answer anything or provide paperwork. So sketchy. After I have aquired all paperwork I can tackle contacting the jeweler with my concerns. Just want to be prepared so I can have all the correct info and knowlede necessary to present my position and avoid unnecessary conflict. I would expect any reputable jeweler to be concerned about customer service and happiness and its not like im trying to cause problems or get something more than we paid for. I think we should be able to work it out civilly! Just a crummy position to be in in general.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Ask the jeweler how much more would it cost to replace the stone with an F VS2 GIA Ex,Ex stone.

 

[marhealy]

Heres my naivety showing... whats ex ex? Hiw does that differ from what I have now?

 

[Rhea]

It sounds like your mother was the client. I think you're going to have trouble doing anything without her cooperation in pushing it forward. Do you know what she asked the jeweller for? The jeweller may well have given her exactly what she requested.

 

[tyty333]

Heres my naivety showing... whats ex ex? Hiw does that differ from what I have now?

Unfortunately you don't know what you have because its not graded. Ex ex is for excellent symmetry and excellent polish which can be
Found on a GIA or AGS grading report.

 

[denverappraiser]

You did several things wrong and you’re right that you’re now in a crummy position. Basically you’re saying that the item is not as described and that you would either like some money back or a different item. He didn’t say he was using GIA grading standards and, in fact, obviously isn’t because of the F/H color statement (this is not a GIA term). On his scale it may be perfect. No credit card means that you’ve got no 3rd party adjudicator to work with. If you can’t convince HIM, you’re done. The only selling point you have is that Mom is a repeat and referring customer, you might become one, and it’s in his best interest to be nice to you. Clients like that aren't easy to find. I still say call him up and tell him your worries but definitely be pleasant about it. It sounds like the best leg you’ve got.

I still say keep Mom out of it, even though she might be able to apply some pressure. This has the potential to be a significant and long term problem between the two of you and SHE has done nothing wrong here. I don’t know your MIL but it would definitely cause a problem for mine, especially if it doesn't work out favorably.

An appraisal is not ‘independent’ if the seller is the client. It makes no difference if they’re an employee or a contractor or even if they are independent under other circumstances and for other clients. It’s not a second opinion if it comes from the same source as the first.

 

[Karl_K]

As close as you can with the setting look at the back of the main stone is there anything on the surface of it?
Polishing compound on the bottom of the stone can look like an inclusion from the top.
A good steam cleaning by a professional then looking at it under a microscope would be a good idea.
Cost $20-$30 or so and is free many places.
If there is an independent appraiser in your area they may be able to clean it and give a professional opinion then go from there.


In these situations something on the outside of the stone has to be eliminated as the cause before accusations fly.