zoebartlett
Super_Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2006
- Messages
- 12,461
I was speaking with a small local jeweler who has been very helpful in explaining gems, etc., and I have enjoyed our conversations. He''s shown me books he has on the trade and he has taken a lot of time to patiently show me several gems. He told me that he''s a GIA graduate gemologist and he grades diamonds himself before looking at the certs. Then he compares what he sees with what the cert says, and if there''s too much of a discrepancy and if he thinks his grading is better, he sends the gems back. He says he''s often more strict than GIA or AGS, but he has kept plenty of stones that have been graded by these labs. He also mentioned that if I wanted a cert. with a diamond that was GIA or AGS graded, it could cost around $250-$500 more. Why? He''s perfectly willing to provide these certs, but he wanted me to understand that they could be more expensive. I don''t understand this. I trust him but wonder about this.