with normal wear and tear, taken to future appraisals, does the clarity go down????

[viscera912]

good morning everyone,

this question is in relation to a post made by mrssalvo, on this thread
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/help-with-princess-cut-at-blue-nile.28906/

" I had a VS2 downgraded to an SI2 in my recent appraisal due to some normal wear and tear damage." mrssalvo

is this really true? i am not trying to say you are wrong mrssalvo but i guess i didn''t know that you could go down in clarity due to wear and tear. any "clarification" would be appreciated.....ok i know bad joke!

jason

ps
go see the movie crash

 

[RockDoc]

Dear Visera

The tricky part of your question is "NORMAL WEAR AND TEAR".

This is a specific answer that must be applied based on the individual issue, its a stone by stone or occurence by occurence call.

Normal wear and tear..? No... But this depends on whether the result is acutally damage and the appraiser "softened" his opinion when explaining it to the consumer.


Accidental damage is covered by most insurance companies by either replacement of the stone or repair and a compensation for any difference in value.

Normal wear and tear might not be the basis for insurance coverage.

Rockdoc

 

[viscera912]

ahhh, that would make sense, one would have to define normal wear and tear. i am hoping mrssalvo will pop in and perhaps define what normal wear and tear happened to the diamond to drop it 2 clarity grades. is it true that nothing can scratch a diamond unless by another diamond? if that is true, can it be possible for a diamond to be downgraded in clarity for "external" reasons and not something "internal" like a feather or air bubble?

jason

 

[mrssalvo]

Please let me clarify. When I purchased my stone it was a GIA VS2. I recently had it appraised by Richard Sherwood and he down graded it to a SI2 due to 2 small chips on the girdle. i do not remember doing anything that would have caused the chips. I never hit it hard, dropped it, anything that would do the damage that I can remember, just normal every day wear. I also didn''t "baby" my ring. I wore it pretty much all the time. To me, this is normal wear and tear. Rich said if I recut and polished out the chips it would probably go back up to an SI1 but I would lose a little carat weight. The stone is eyeclean so i''m leaving it as is. My insurance will pay to have the chips polished out but as far as I know it will never go back to being a VS2. I didn''t know the clarity could change either and found out the hard way. i was making the point that paying the extra $$ for an IF would not me worth it to me because chances are one little "bump" and the IF grade is gone. Hopefully one of the experts can add some more info.

 

[RockDoc]

Date: 5/18/2005 1:57:50 PM
Author: viscera912
ahhh, that would make sense, one would have to define normal wear and tear. i am hoping mrssalvo will pop in and perhaps define what normal wear and tear happened to the diamond to drop it 2 clarity grades. is it true that nothing can scratch a diamond unless by another diamond? if that is true, can it be possible for a diamond to be downgraded in clarity for ''external'' reasons and not something ''internal'' like a feather or air bubble?

jason

Hi Jason

RE External

Scratching can be cause by another diamond coming in contact with the subject stone. Nothing else would SCRATCH a diamond.

However a blow to it could cause other results, that might look like a scratch but isn''t.

It''s a stone by stone call.


RE: Internal

You can''t create what isn''t there initially. such as a crystal, pinpoint etc.

But you can cause certain type of inclusions to become worse, such as cleavages or feathers, due to impact.
Cleavages and feather near the edge or ones that break the girdle have the potential to open or "spread".

There is also a certain amount of this happening due to the girdle thickness measurement, particularly if it is hit in a thin section of the girdle. However, the damage from the initial impact would be external, and if the inclusion spread into the stone, that would be internal.

From a practical standpoint it would be advisable to have the stone checked frequently, as occasionally damage can "grow" or become worse if left unattended to.

Again, its a stone by stone call.

Rockdoc

 

[mrssalvo]

I will try to post a copy of the section that talks about this in my appraisal. I''m assuming due to the chips other internal damage occured. i had to shrink it down to fit, so hopefully you can read it

 

[viscera912]

thanks rocdoc and mrssalvo for the replies, everything is cleared up in my brain now!

rocdoc, great explanation of internal and external forces, i totally understand now

mrssalvo- sorry you had to learn the hard way but im sure you have a beautiful diamond, and thanks for the reply regarding your diamond

jason

 

[Bagpuss]

That makes sense to me too. My OEC is an SI2 largely due to girdle chips. It''s now set in a bezel to protect the girdle. The rest of the stone itself is very clear and sparkly. I wouldn''t bother polishing out the chips myself.

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Hi Angela. For additional clarification, I would point out that the original clarity grade of VS2 assigned by a prior appraiser was a tad lenient in my opinion, given the internal inclusions which the diamond has.

That''s why I said the clarity would improve to SI1 with recutting. In my opinion that was the original clarity grade before the diamond received the two slight girdle chips.

Pretty stone.

 

[mrssalvo]

Hi Rich

 

[valeria101]

In short... yes.

If you want that "Flawless" diamond to stay so, it must stay in a sealed box, not on your hand.

Ringstones will probably get minuscule chips at some point - those do not have to be large enough to be visible at all: clarity is graded under 10x anyway. Sometimes worse happens and a glaring, large chip needs repolishing or recuting to a different shape... and that's better left to the salvage shop working for your the insurance company.

Oh well... just as much as I know, and that isn't much at all. This is no news and diamonds need not be indestructible (which they aren't anyway) to be enjoyed.