You have a big beautiful Diamond and you happened to Chip or Nick the side of it. (The vulnerable part of the Diamond is the
Girdle!)
Does that little Chip or Break hurt the Value of your Diamond? Does it lower it? Does it lower the Quality and Clarity of your Diamond? How about the Appraisal?
Lots of nervous Diamond owners want to know the truth.
Sad Reality
The sad reality of it is this: YES! Yes, it does affect the Value of the stone. Yes, it does lower the Diamond's Clarity. Yes, you do have good reason to be nervous and alarmed!
Once you Chip or Break a Diamond, there is NO WAY to repair it. Once a Chipped Diamond, always a Chipped Diamond.
Sure, you could get your Diamond recut to remove that little "Chip" on the Girdle. (Where most common Chips are located!) Recutting your Diamond will make it a little bit smaller. It'll probably lose a couple points, and it may even lose Appraisal Value if it loses enough Carat Weight.
Unless you get lucky and recutting it only removes a few points, it may not harm your value. It all depends on where the Chip is, how they have to recut the Diamond, and how much weight is lost.
And that's to say that you actually spend the time and money to send your Diamond out for recutting. Most don't or wouldn't. Most people either do one of two things when they Chip a Diamond: They either keep their Diamond and live with the Chip, or they Trade their Diamond in towards a better one. (Note: A lot of Insurance Companies will pay to replace a Chipped Diamond! Check it out! See what your agent or policy says!)
Chips lower value
So Yes, leaving your Diamond in a Chipped state will lower it's value. Plus it makes it harder to resell the stone as well... Who wants to buy a Chipped Diamond? Even Trading in that Diamond won't be all that great either, since the Jeweler will have to pay more to have the stone recut just so they can resell it themselves. It's a no-win situation.
Chipped Diamonds are sad and unfortunate. But it happens all the time, and once your Diamond is Chipped, the Quality of the Diamond drops! Why? Because Chips and Breaks are considered Inclusions and Flaws in Clarity! The more Flaws you have, the lower your Clarity rating is. The lower your Clarity, the lower your Diamond's Value!
Plus a Chipped Diamond does one more thing to that lovely Diamond of yours... It makes is vulnerable to MORE Chips and Breaks! That's right. A Chipped Diamond weakens the integrity of the Diamond's structure. Hitting your Diamond in that same spot can make that Chip or Break bigger and may even fracture your stone all together!
Recommendation
So when it comes to Chipped Diamonds, I would recommend this: Either see your Jeweler about recutting the Diamond and making it perfect and new again (Although slightly smaller!), or Trading in your Diamond with a sparkling new one! And, if your Insurance will cover it, then you've got nothing to lose! (Except the Chip & your deductible!)
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