Many disreputable diamond grading reports or certifications already come with an appraisal. Appraisals can be done by anyone, even someone with no training. Appraisals are often done by the seller. Always have your own appraisal performed by a gemologist and not a jeweler. Chances are if the person verifying the grading report sells diamonds or is connected to a seller, they’re going to say anything to try to get you to return it, so you’ll buy from them or someone they deal with instead, not to mention that appraisers can damage a diamond in the appraisal process. Some jewelers even give kickbacks to jewelry and estate appraisers. If you read the fine print, virtually all appraisals include legal disclaimers to protect the appraiser from legal recourse if the appraisal is severally inaccurate. Disclaimers usually state the appraisal is no guarantee of quality and is only the opinion of the appraiser. In other words, it’s meaningless.
When you do take a diamond to a second store (regardless of their reputation or how long they have been in business), the "unbiased appraiser" may very well bash your purchase, and convince you to take their purchase back and then buy a diamond from them instead.
This practice is also called "lowballing", and it plagues the industry. A lot of appraisers sell diamonds or have some connection with a store, and are quite eager to break your confidence in your carefully chosen diamond specialist so they can make a sale to you instead. Many will grade a diamond lower than the actual quality when it comes from someone else, and grade it higher than actual quality when you buy it from them.
Be very careful about selecting a good appraiser. Please, please, please, do not make the mistake of thinking that an appraisal is a good idea without thoroughly checking out the appraiser first. It is crucial that the appraiser not be associated with anyone that is selling diamonds.
It’ll cost more to have your diamond verified by a gemologist, but if you really want to know the truth it might be worth as much as you paid for the diamond. We’ve sent in undercover staff to evaluate some of our former retailers by seeing how honest they are. One retailer on 47th street and 5th Ave in NY said that an EGL graded H VS2 was actually an M SI1 and worth less than half of what our rep told them she paid. The retailer even compared the diamond to a supposed K color GIA graded diamond and explained that it couldn’t have been a K as it was more “yellow.” The retailer asked our rep if she could still return the diamond. When she replied that she could the retailer told her to return the diamond because he felt bad for her, and would sell her a J SI1 for the same price as she paid for the H VS2. Chances are his GIA K color was actually a GIA G color. Unfortunately, this is common practice in the jewelry field. Think of it this way, would you get more money for your car selling it to a dealership or selling it yourself? This is one of the main reasons we’ve decided to sell directly to the public.
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