Can a diamond inclusions increase over time? 2 GIA certs on the same diamond?

[Diamond 4 Ever]

Hi,
I recently found a diamond on an internet vendor's website and noticed that it was listed in 2 separate listings on the vendor's website. The GIA reports in the 2 different listings were for the exact same diamond, but with different date and report #. I called GIA and confirmed that that report does exist and correspond to the diamond listed in terms of carat weight, color, and clarity. When I called the vendor, and after some investigation, they admitted that the 2 GIA reports were for the same diamond. Everything (including color and clarity) was the same down to the dimensions of the stone with exception of the inclusion map. The only difference was the there were a few more new crystal inclusions shown on the newer GIA report that was not plotted on the older GIA report. The newer report was dated approx 2 months from the older report. The inclusions from the older report still remained intact (at the exact same location) as plotted on the new report. When I asked the vendor why 2 reports, they said that their gemologist thought that the stone deserved a better grade than was given on the first report, so they sent it back for a second grading. My questions are

:

1. Is it normal for a vendor to send a stone to GIA to be graded twice within 2 months unless they thought it was damaged and wanted to get it re-graded?

2. Why did the new report show the additional crystal inclusions that was not shown on the older report?

Hope the experts out that can help answer this. I am actually planning to buy this stone, but I became wary when I found that it actually was graded twice by GIA within such a short time (especially with more inclusions showing up in the second round). But the additional inclusions did not change the clarity grade, so it must have not made a big impact on the clarity. Please help explain if you have had any experience with this.

Thank you and hope this one will be IT!

 

[pqcollectibles]

Humans do the grading.

The first report could have been done by a new or seasoned tech who thought the additional dots on the plot were insignificant to the overall grade. The second report might have been performed by a detail oriented grader. Even though the grade did not change, the second grader felt compelled to note everything.

Just a thought.

 

[gunsuka]

Your post is interesting, I've often wondered if submitted multiple times if the reports would come back different.

A diamond can not change in respect to additional crystal inclusions, they do not develop after the fact. The only way the diamond would change after being cut is damange either to the surface or the remote chance of a feather being enlarged due to a hard bang or something.

I sold a 1.5ct ideal stone that did not have a GIA cert number inscribed, the customer wanted the stone sent to the GIA to have it re-certified and the cert number incscribed. The report came back identical to the original.

The GIA only plots grade setting inclusions, so if the stone is an SI, or I clarity stone they may not bother plotting the minor stuff as it really does not affect the overall grade of the stone. The additional plot information just shows some grader went the extra mile when plotting.

I bet that store you found this diamond at was kicking themselves when they got it back, it costs quite a bit to certity a stone of that size and the report came back 'worse' than the first one

Robert Gunther

 

[Diamond 4 Ever]

Thank you for the insight. I just found it fishy that the stone was graded twice in such a short time. But may be I am just paranoid.

 

[niceice]

It sounds like the dealer was trying to Play The Paper Game by sending the diamond back through the lab in hopes of getting better paper / grading than it received the first time and they blew it by listing the diamond twice - ha! That's really funny! Wut-a-bust!

Lots of dealers play this game which is why people should have the diamond they purchase evaluated by an independent appraiser... Most of the dealers never see the diamonds that they sell, so it's not like they can really tell you whether the diamond was accurately graded by the laboratory and the reality is that the diamonds are graded by people so the grade is likely to change slightly every time the diamond is submitted for grading...

About a decade ago, one of the major trade publications submitted the same diamond to each of the different gemological laboratories... The diamond received slightly different, yet similar grades by each of the different laboratories... The magazine found this to be an interesting development so they decided to submit the diamond to the different laboratories again and this time they received similar, but slightly different grades from the same laboratories than they received on the diamond the first time through... The process was repeated a third time and the results were the same... Get the picture? Legally a diamond has to be within two grades of the grade it was represented to be at the time of sale... That's a bit loose don't you think? So while the concept of lab grading may not be perfect, it's a whole lot better than buying a diamond solely on the opinion of the average jeweler... At least the labs are somewhat consistent in their grading practices.