THE JEWELER BROKE MY DIAMOND

This post is taken from our Q&A Section on Diamond Guide that is meant to give advice to people about Diamonds and Diamond Buying.

If you have a Question you’d like answered about Diamonds or Buying a particular Loose Diamond, don’t hesitate to Ask Here: Diamond Guide Q&A :)

I’ll do everything I can to advise you and point you in the right direction.

If it will help you, it will help others as well.

Enjoy!

Question:

Hi Richard;

First off I want to thank you for your very informative blog!

I have a problem with a Diamond given to me by my Mother that she received over 50 years ago. This diamond was reset one time from her Engagement Ring into a right hand ring.

I brought the Diamond to be reset for myself 3 weeks ago (in its setting) to what I thought was a reputable Jeweler. A piece of the Diamond broke off while they were setting it. Just to clarify, they took the Diamond out of the setting, showed it to me, it was whole, then during the resetting they said it broke. They told me there was a feather inside the Diamond.

I did not have an Appraisal prior to this, so I brought it to IGI in Manhattan (not knowing everyone likes GIA better). They did a hypothetical Appraisal (in the same lab environment that GIA would have) and appraised the Diamond as an SI2 Clarity, I Color, and gave a retail value of $8700 for 1.20 Carats.

My options from the Jeweler are to replace the Diamond or recut it. I want to replace it because I’m not comfortable with the idea of giving it to them to recut. The Jeweler is claiming that IGI is very liberal and is offering me at best a GIA rated Diamond of I1 Clarity to replace it with. I’m far from a Diamond expert but even I can see the visible Inclusions in the replacement Diamonds they are showing me. I could not see any visible Inclusions in my Diamond. (So far they have only showed me I2 Clarity Diamonds.)

To make a long story short, I’d like to know what your opinion is concerning my IGI Appraisal. I paid $125 for it and feel it is legally valid and also valid for the Jeweler’s insurance company so I don’t understand why they are having a problem replacing my Diamond with a valid replacement quality. They’ve even asked me to pay them for an upgrade. I know they will recut my Diamond and sell it so as I see it they’re only making money on this deal. Needless to say I am distraught because this is a family heirloom that I was planning to pass on to my daughter.

Thank you for your time.

Answer:

>Hi Judith.

Chances are good that GIA would grade your stone as an I1 Clarity Diamond. Legally, any appraiser can be one, maybe even two grades off when it comes to Quality and Grading Clarity because it all comes down to opinion. Everyones opinion is different just like every Diamond is different.

The price they gave ($8,700) for a Diamond of that quality, even if it were a true SI2, I Color, (1.20 Carats) sounds high to me. I think a ball park figure of $5,000-$6,000 is more reasonable for that size if it were a true SI2.

Being an I1, the retail price would probably come down at least another grand or two. Keep in mind, that’s retail. No one pays retail price nowadays. We all want discounts, sales, and insurance companies are even worse. They want to pay less than everyone.

I do believe your Diamond probably was an I1 Clarity Diamond because it had a feather large enough in the stone to break it. I Clarity doesn’t always mean it has to have eye-visible Inclusions or Black Spots. Lines, Fractures, Cracks and Faults in the stone can weaken it and keep it low in Clarity.

My only problem with this situation is the fact that the Jeweler admits it’s an I1, but is only showing you I2 Clarity Diamonds. It could be that that’s all they have in stock. I can understand that. But I would ask them to get in I1 quality Diamonds (GIA Certified) to compare and exchange yours with. That sounds only fair to me.

Or, look into upgrading your stone to a real SI2 and paying the difference. A genuine GIA SI2 Diamond, compared to what you had, could look like a night and day difference. It may not be a bad idea to invest. What ever you do, make sure you get a new Appraisal on your new Diamond and get it fully insured incase this ever happens again.

Good luck!

-Richard

P.S. Just as a comparison to the above prices, check out these Certified Diamonds you can get at James Allen at the time of this post!

CARAT WEIGHT, CLARITY, COLOR, CUT, CERTIFIED	PRICE	VIEW
1.12, SI2, G, IDEAL, AGS	$6,120	VIEW
1.21, I1, H, EXCELLENT, GIA	$5,230	VIEW
1.14, SI2, H, IDEAL, GIA	$4,890	VIEW

P.P.S. If you use the code “RINGSUM” at checkout, you can get an additional 10% off their Ring Mounting Prices. That’s a Deal worth looking into. :)

Reply:

Thank you for such a rapid response! It’s helpful to get a second opinion since a lot of the rating does seem very subjective.

I will definitely get the Appraisal and insurance this time.

Thanks again, Judi.