Where''s my inscription?

[Iowa Lizzy]

Hi Experts!

I''ve got a question for you. I was proposed to in July with a beautiful diamond from GOG. The cert specifies that it has an inscription from the cutting facility. I took the ring to two separate jewelers this weekend and neither of them could find the inscription.

What the heck happened? I''d never seen my diamond under a microscope, so I have no idea where on the girdle it was located. One of the jewelers suggested it may be hiding under one of the prongs. I told him Mark Morrell designed my setting (the Flame) and he said he''d be quite surprised if Mark would put the inscription under a prong.

The ring has been in an ultrasonic and steamed several times. But both experienced jewelers examined the diamond under the scope for quite some time. The inclusions and dimensions on the GIA cert match my diamond so I''m sure it''s the same one that my fiance purchased.

What is going on here?

 

[bgray]

why dont you email GOG? Just my two cents but i would want the inscription hidden. maybe he did hide it under a prong so it wasnt visible from the side?

 

[stone-cold11]

Ya, and sometimes inscriptions are hard to find even with the right equipment. Just ask GOG.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 10/5/2009 10:33:21 PM
Author: bgray
why dont you email GOG? Just my two cents but i would want the inscription hidden. maybe he did hide it under a prong so it wasnt visible from the side?

Absolutely. Depending also on what power the jewellers used to try to locate it, if they used a 10X loupe, this might not be strong enough to see it, sometimes a higher power is needed.

 

[Iowa Lizzy]

Okay! Thanks! I''ll send Jonathan an email. Both jewelers were using a microscope at 30X I believe. I looked, they looked; all in all, I''d say there were at least 5 people who tried to locate it to no avail.

 

[Todd Gray]

Date: 10/6/2009 7:41:57 PM
Author: Travel Goddess
Okay! Thanks! I''ll send Jonathan an email. Both jewelers were using a microscope at 30X I believe. I looked, they looked; all in all, I''d say there were at least 5 people who tried to locate it to no avail.

It can be kind of tricky to locate inscriptions because they are often translucent and thus essentially blend into the girdle edge of the diamond. Sometimes it takes me awhile to find inscriptions, I find that rocking the diamond back and forth under the light of the microscope can cause enough of a contrast to enable me to find the inscription.

Note that it is also possible that the inscription was covered by a prong when the diamond was set... Pay careful attention to the edges of the prongs to see if there is a hint of an inscription showing.

Did the diamond details page from the GOG web site provide a picture of the inscription? If so, it might help to identify the inscription. Sometimes when photographing an inscription I''ll notice that it is located near one of the primary ''grade maker'' inclusions and will reference it either on the diamond details page or in my notes on the stone - which can later be used to help locate the inscription - they really can be tricky to find!

 

[stone-cold11]

GOG didn''t photograph the inscription. It was noted on the GIA report of the stone.

This is the stone.

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/5550/

 

[kenny]

I think inscriptions start out dark (burnt carbon?) then become less obvious the more the diamond is cleaned.

I can easily ready mine with 10x, but it takes a lot of moving around.
You have to get the light reflection just right.

 

[kenny]

I think inscriptions start out dark (burnt carbon?) then become less obvious the more the diamond is cleaned.

I can easily ready mine with 10x, but it takes a lot of moving around to get the light reflection angle just right.

I think the inclusions matching identifies the diamond more definitively than a laser inscription anyway.