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Client
Previews Diamond grading standards fall into four distinct categories, the "Four C's":
Think of these as sliding scales
*Local experience, equipment, credentials and "opinions" can vary greatly, so never confuse a local gemologist's opinion with a laboratory grading!."
Local talent is great for verifying a diamond matches
the certificate, but just because someone passes a home study GIA
course does not mean they duplicate lab conditions, or their predictable
results. Hey look, I am not trying to put the local gemologists down,
but they can neither duplicate the conditions nor match the experience
of the established gem labs, so why would anyone assume they offer
as low a degree of subjectivity? Fact is that the locals are fine
to "Match the diamond with the lab cert" but they are not fine to
duplicate the grading... When you want accuracy do what we dealers
do, and go to the labs as the well from 
which
consistency and accuracy spring. We in the trade honor lab certs,
and never ever take locally generated paperwork as anything but vastly
subjective, and so should you.
A couple grades can cost you alot, plus the laboratory certificates
are honored world wide, and are respected, so be sure that you are
farsighted and gain a graded lab certed diamond, for your trade-up
later and the value there of are totally dependant upon what you do
right now.
Most appraisals are written as "retail replacement" dollars. A retail
replacement appraisal represents the price at which a retail store would
sell the stone. Accordingly it would stand to reason that this figure
is generally not the actual "value" of the stone by a long way. Since
retail markups can be as high as 200 to 300%, retail replacement appraisals
tend to reflect this standard multiplier. If you are having appraisals
done for estate reasons be sure to make it known to the appraiser because
then the actual "Fair Market Value" would be determined at a figure
much closer to the cost to reproduce the item... ...not the most someone
might pay retail... If you want to trade in a diamond you bought retail
and paid too much for and recapture your investment the term "Diamonds
are forever" has special meaning... {Grin}... Seriously, we do trades
based on market value, and our pricing reflects that dedication to low
prices and extreme value. An appraisal done for estate purposes, for instance, will be much lower than a standard "retail replacement" figure. Since the transaction is from person to person, no retail profit need be figured in. Appraisals written in store may well just reflect the price that the merchant sold you the item for, or a higher figure to make you feel that "you got a great deal" so make sure you get a second opinion, or even better, and independent appraisal.... It's your money, make sure you make it count!!! If you're paying insurance premiums on an artificially inflated value it "costs you" hard earned money too... Knowledge is Power, be more Powerful...
