Transition cut with girdle chipped?

[The sun is shining]

I came across this stonea 2.5ct old Brilliant cut with a chipped girlde. Is this type of damage easy to repair/ worth repairing? The clarity has gone from a VS1 to and I1, which to me seems huge. It''s current value is US$22600, What woud be a fair and resonable amount to pay? Or should I walk away?

At present I have no other information other than the valuation for insurance purposes.

You guys are usually so good at this, I thought I''d get some perspective.

TIA
Claire

 

[ericad]

Would need to see pictures and have it evaluated by a 3rd party expert in old cuts before making a decision. Some minor chipping along the girdles of antique diamonds is common and typically not of great concern, but larger chips would be worrisome. The fact that this stone was downgraded from VS to I clarity is of great concern - they also indicate that there are multiple chips.

If the chips are determined by a professional to be manageable, the stone can be re-polished for around $150/ct and look fantastic, eliminating the chips and sharpening the facets. This is not without risk to the stone, though, as well as resulting in weight loss and possibly off-round shape.

 

[chrono]

With such a huge jump from a VS1 to I1, I''d be really worried about the stone all the time. As it is, most old cut stones have very/extremely girdles and if the chip is one giant chip, it might be staring at you all the time. A picture will be extremely helpful to determine the condition of the stone but as I said earlier, I would prefer to keep looking.

 

[The sun is shining]

ericad and chrono, you both make really good points. Thaks so much for your input. I''l try to view the stone this week to get a better idea of how badly chipped it is. I''ll also see if I can get photos, which I think will make it clear if it''s worth pursuing. FWIW, they are asking around 1/3 of the valued price.

 

[Lorelei]

Hi Claire,

The best thing to do would be if you like the diamond when you have viewed it, make the sale final on the stone checking out satisfactorily with an independant appraiser, this will help you know what the next move should be.

Here is a tool you can use to find an independant appraiser in your area.

https://www.pricescope.com/appr_list.aspx

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Firstly compare prices for a 2.ooct J-K VS2, and add on $1k for recutting, and if it looks good to you, then find an appraiser and do the due diligence.

 

[denverappraiser]

Hi Claire,

Among other things, you’re missing what I would consider to be the most important bit of information. Who graded it and why do you care what they think? An excerpt from an appraisal report like this simply does NOT stand alone for the purpose you seem to have in mind.

Insurance appraisals normally are talking about replacement cost new and at retail for a substitute item. The appraiser obviously thinks the chiping is pretty significant and are declaring a comparable replacement to be I-1 clarity. Are they right? I don’t know, I’ve never seen the stone but, more importantly, does it matter? Replacing it new at retail isn’t what you’re trying to do anyway.

Not to sound overly harsh but you’re relying on information from an unknown and uncontactable source providing an approximate weight, a single approximate dimension, an approximate color, a clarity range that covers almost the entire scale, and a valuation that applies to a market that’s irrelevant to what you are doing. How could it be more useless?

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

 

[ericad]

Date: 8/17/2008 7:16:55 AM
Author: Garry H (Cut Nut)
Firstly compare prices for a 2.ooct J-K VS2, and add on $1k for recutting, and if it looks good to you, then find an appraiser and do the due diligence.

Recutting? I assume she likes old cuts since that is what she is considering buying - transitionals and early RB's are often very beautiful. If I understand correctly, a re-polish is technically a manner of recutting but certainly won't cost $1k (I have had many antique stones with minor girdle chips polished for far less). I just hope you are not suggesting recutting to a modern RB. That would be unthinkable unless the diamond was chipped beyond salvage (which none of us knows for sure without seeing it) or extremely poorly cut and unattractive.

 

[The sun is shining]

The last transition cut I saw in a shop was around the 2ct mark, a lower colour, k-l I think, but I cant for the life of me remeber the clarity. It had a huge price on it ($33,800), and aside from blowing my budget completely, I''m not the type of girl who likes high street prices.

Garry and Ericad, this stone wouldn''t be re-cut, just have the chips polished out tryig as best as one can to maintain the circular shapre. I''ve been tossing up if I want an ideal or a transition (the jury''s still out) but it would be much easier to buy an ideal if I wanted to go that way.

Neil, I get what you''re saying. I have the full appraisal, but for some reason I was having difficulty resizing it. It was easier just to cut the quote for you guys to see. When I saw the full quote, it''s actuaslly the same people I used only 2 weeks ago to value some of my other jewlery. I trust their opinion, and they are going to call me back. They should have the information about whether or not the stone can have it''s girdle polished to restore its clarity and give me a beatuiful new sparkly to admire and wear.

I''ll let you know how I get on.

Claire

 

[The sun is shining]

Here is the pic on the valuation. I would''ve posted it earlier, but was waiting for it to be emailed to me.

I''m going to wait for the appraiser to get back to me.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

since you will seffectively be totally recutting an old stone back to an old stone, why not save a lot of money buying a new stone and recut it to an old cut style?

 

[The sun is shining]

Would the stone need recutting Garry? Not the simnple matter of polishing I had thought it would be? Would fixing the girdle ruin the proportions already there?

I know very little about these matters, as is the reason I''m asking. Maybe it would be easier to go back to my original thought of an ideal cut.

Thanks so much for your time, I really appreciate it.

Claire

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Date: 8/18/2008 1:24:31 AM
Author: The sun is shining
Would the stone need recutting Garry? Not the simnple matter of polishing I had thought it would be? Would fixing the girdle ruin the proportions already there?

I know very little about these matters, as is the reason I''m asking. Maybe it would be easier to go back to my original thought of an ideal cut.

Thanks so much for your time, I really appreciate it.

Claire

It depends on the chip, but usually if the downgrade is this big, I expect the pavilion at least, and probably the whole stone would need repolishing

 

[oldminer]

The photo is not high resolutiuon, but it looks to be an old cut with many tiny and a few larger girdle chips. If this is the case, the stone needs a re-girdling and moderate refaceting just to make it chip free and put things back into symmetry. 10 to 15 percent weight loss, if I what I think I see is correct. There appears to be medium sized opposite side chips which don''t travel from girdle to culet but just in the girdle-crown-pavilion at the girdle, and several small nicks throu the girdle in other spots. It could be just the lighting and the photo.

 

[The sun is shining]

Thanks Garry. You sure do make sense.

David, How can you tell that much from a bad photo?

Armed with that information, I think i''ll pass.

You guys are the best.

Thanks.
Claire