28 replies to this topic

[Adylon]

Thanks Neil, She wanted something very old-fashioned/hand-engraved, etc... here are some pics of the ring. don't mind the bottom discoloration of the ring, there was some wax holding it up. Also those pics don't show the true color of the center diamond in relation to the rest of the ring.





My wedding band is going to be a two tone platinum+18kyg tension band with a solitaire asscher cut, and some natural vivid yellow accent diamonds... but I have lots of time to work on that

Edited by Adylon, 27 March 2007 - 10:07 AM.

[diamondsonfifth.com]

Adylon, on Tuesday, Mar 27 2007, 02:02 PM, said:

Thanks Neil, She wanted something very old-fashioned/hand-engraved, etc... here are some pics of the ring. don't mind the bottom discoloration of the ring, there was some wax holding it up. Also those pics don't show the true color of the center diamond in relation to the rest of the ring.


jaq1.JPG
jaq2.JPG

My wedding band is going to be a two tone platinum+18kyg tension band with a solitaire asscher cut, and some natural vivid yellow accent diamonds... but I have lots of time to work on that

Wow this beautiful, what was the total cost for this.

[Adylon]

diamondsonfifth.com, on Tuesday, Mar 27 2007, 01:35 PM, said:

Wow this beautiful, what was the total cost for this.

Well I'm a jeweler... you want the MSRP? If I were selling the ring it would be aprox $4800 for the stone and $3000 for the ring.

The maker/designer was Gregorio, one of my favorite manufacturers to work with in the downtown LA jewelry district. But really the "design" is nothing unique, he just did a great job with the craftsmenship.

This is going to be my tension set wedding band:


On the platinum side will be 4 vivid yellow diamonds, and on the yellow side will be 4 top white diamonds. It will look very simple yet modern with a nice designer twist

Edited by Adylon, 27 March 2007 - 10:55 AM.

[engagediamonds]

The one things I haven't seen discussed here is the validity of grading done on diamonds by EGL international (ie. EGL Israel). My experience has been very poor to say the least.

[barry]

EGl-Israel has been noted several times on this Forum. Use the Search Function to find past comments.

[Adylon]

I think EGL-Int'l reports suffer from the same problems as most other labs based outside of North America in that they are very inconsistent. Major labs based in North America (Canada as well as the US) are much better.

Also the more fragmented an organization is the less consitency you will see obviously because they can try to all run the same but in the end they are operated by different people. EGL Int'l has 6 labs, EGLUSA 4, GIA 2, AGS 1. So obviously there will be much more deviation in EGL Int'l and even EGL-USA althought the latter is trying very hard to be more consistent. The same can be said about IGI because they have so many branches. The major US labs (GIA and AGS) are much more exclusive and their growth has more or less been confined within the same walls as always and so they have much more control over what goes on in their labs. I would like to think EGL-USA is another major reputable lab in North America because they really are good and honest people who grade accurately and fairly, have many offices and have a good brand more or less, but they have suffered as a result of EGL-Int'l which is unfortunate and this is why the truley "important diamonds" like Barry says are not sent there.

Bread and butter stones like 1/2ct-2ct I1-VS1, fair to premium cuts go there all the time and yes for the most part they are graded accurately.

GIA is under huge strain right now to grade stones quicky, they are backlogged sometimes for 2 months or more in peak season times. We all know they grade accurately. So what will they do? Hire more diamond graders? Open another office? It will be interesting to see how they expand without loosing that consistency they are known for beacause as I said fragmentation = less consistency.

[Adylon]

By the way, here's one more pic of the ring.

You can see the color more accurately in this photo. The photobooth is facing a window that lets in a lot of the California sun So the blue flourescence really makes the stone glow. I think it is a D color and I think GIA graded correct but then again that's just my opinion

Edited by Adylon, 29 March 2007 - 01:29 PM.

[engagediamonds]

I've been notified by GIA's lab in New York that diamond grading services are now also being offered out of their Hong Kong offices as of March 1st, 2007.

Edited by engagediamonds, 29 March 2007 - 01:39 PM.

[Adylon]

engagediamonds, on Thursday, Mar 29 2007, 04:38 PM, said:

I've been notified by GIA's lab in New York that diamond grading services are now also being offered out of their Hong Kong offices as of March 1st, 2007.

Very interesting I didn't know that. Will the HK office grade exactly the same as the NY and Carlsbad labs? Probably not but I'm sure they will be very close. Will they intentionally grade more strict in an effort to keep GIA's name strong? Maybe. And if so will NY and Carlsbad be perceived as being soft compared to HK? That's the problem they're going to have to face, thats the problem all companies face when they expand. I'm sure they'll do a good job, if anyone can do it the GIA can but it's a very challenging thing to do.

People have to understand variations exist between labs because in the end it all comes down to human evaluation.