6 replies to this topic

[lbasilon85]

Hello, I am buying a diamond tomorrow from a seller in Miami, FL. I wanted to swing by the specifics and get an idea of how good a value this diamond is and whether there is anything I need to look for.

Carat: 1.90
Cut: Very Good, Very Good
Clarity: VS2
Color: J
Fluorescense: Very strong blue
Price: $9,140
Enhancements: None
Notes: No notes on GIA report

Is this a bad/average/good/great/incredible price?

Thank you!

[davidelevi]

What shape is it? If not a round, you have no indication by GIA of whether it is a good cut or not - what you have as "VG, VG" is likely to be polish and symmetry, which are "nice to have" but not necessarily an indication of cut quality.

If you use the Diamond Finder link at the top of the screen you can get an idea of prices quoted by competitive retailers on similar stones.

[lbasilon85]

The diamond is Round cut.

[denverappraiser]

Use the 'diamond finder' utility at the top of the page to find comparable offers from other vendors. The fluorescence is going to drive down the price a bit so make sure you looking at the right comps. 'Very strong blue' is a red flag for a lot of people because it may have some peculiar affects in high UV environments, particularly direct sunlight. It sounds like an older GIA that doesn't have cut information on it and that's not a particularly good sign. Can you get a scan of the original GIA report itself? There's both more information on it that would be helpful and it's the fastest way to decide if it's a 'real' GIA and not some GIA graduate. Your specs don't read quite the way that GIA writes them and this gives me pause. (for example they don't call them 'notes', they have 'comments')

Edited by denverappraiser, 01 November 2011 - 11:10 AM.

[lbasilon85]

I have summarized the facts based on my recollection, the GIA certificate is legitimate. My question is more towards the value? Is this a great value or am I overpaying?

[denverappraiser]

Whether or not it's a 'deal' depends on what it is and what you want. It's an entirely reasonable dealer price for what you're getting if it's correctly graded and if there are no 'off report' sorts of issues. Those are big if's. What might those be? Examples include overblue from the flurescence. Damage since the lab saw it. Cut grading problems. Durability concerns.

I suspect the reason it's less expensive than other J/VS2/1.90's is the very strong fluro and the old report. I think fluro has a bit more of a bad rap than it deserves but there *IS* a valid problem with certain stones and it drastically affects things like the resale market if you find yourself selling it later. Does that make it a bargain? Maybe. We don't know if any of this applies to your situation or to your stone. Are you overpaying? Maybe.

Edited by denverappraiser, 01 November 2011 - 02:27 PM.

[davidelevi]

Recent cautionary tale about old GIA reports... http://www.diamondre...now-what-to-do/

Edited by davidelevi, 01 November 2011 - 02:02 PM.