How would you verify the provenance of a "Golconda" diamond?

[klrrrr]

I was looking at a stone today that I initially dismissed based on low carat weight. The vendor coaxed me in with a story: it's a Golconda stone, albeit with no papers. Clueless me had to Google to understand the reference, but I take it they're quite special. This is a 1.5 carat stone, so it's not going to be auctioned at Christie's, mind you.

If you were in this situation and looking to buy, what would you do to verify that claim?

 

[whitewave]

Why doesn’t he have papers on it?

 

[icy_jade]

I was looking at a stone today that I initially dismissed based on low carat weight. The vendor coaxed me in with a story: it's a Golconda stone, albeit with no papers. Clueless me had to Google to understand the reference, but I take it they're quite special. This is a 1.5 carat stone, so it's not going to be auctioned at Christie's, mind you.

If you were in this situation and looking to buy, what would you do to verify that claim?

Is it a properly certified Type IIa? At least GIA cert. If it is, that is a start but still cannot verify if no papers.

I suppose it’s at a premium? Is it worth the premium especially as you cannot prove the origin when you want to sell. Is it better looking than another diamond of similar size and cut?

As you said, it’s not a Christie’s type of diamond. It’s also smaller than what you were looking for. I’ll question if you are just buying into some marketing hype.

 

[lovedogs]

Why doesn’t he have papers on it?

Exactly. Unless it's a trusted vendor, I would run away

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

You literally can’t without papers. I would not purchase a diamond that didn’t come with a certificate and the type IIa classification letter from GIA. As I understand it, there’s no way of knowing if it is specifically from Golconda or not, but there are ways of determining whether they’re legitimately IIa. There’s a lot of liars out there so I wouldn’t entertain someone who doesn’t have papers to prove it. Even if it’s a obtained from a private seller who inherited it and doesn’t have paperwork, the vendor ought to send it in to GIA for certification. If it comes back IIa I would say the chances of it being Golconda are decent.

ETA: I also wouldn’t pay a hefty premium. A small premium is okay, but not too much to a comparable non IIa stone.

 

[prs]

According to this article LINK the only way to prove a diamond is from Golconda is to have verified chain of ownership going back to the date it was mined. The origin cannot be proven scientifically. t's true that many Type IIa diamonds came from Golconda, but they also come from all the other mining regions.

I think the Golconda premium only applies if the diamond is a certified D color and has the provenance. I seem to remember previous threads here discussing if Type IIa diamonds in general carried a premium, and the answer was NO.

In my view: No Golconda provenance, no Golconda premium!

PS: Part 2 of the above linked article is also interesting.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

I did some further digging and found this article from the Rapaport Diamond Report which says that Gübelin does release a “Golconda Appendix” as an addition to the normal report if the stone meets certain criteria in terms of being IIa, colourless, and old cutting style. So that would probably be as close as you’d get to a ‘Golconda seal of approval’ since establishing provenance from 18th century India would be exceptionally hard. I also would think that obtaining a GIA cert + IIa designation is likely “good enough” unless the premium being charged is really significant.

 

[kenny]

I was looking at a stone today that I initially dismissed based on low carat weight. The vendor coaxed me in with a story: it's a Golconda stone, albeit with no papers. Clueless me had to Google to understand the reference, but I take it they're quite special. This is a 1.5 carat stone, so it's not going to be auctioned at Christie's, mind you.

If you were in this situation and looking to buy, what would you do to verify that claim?

I wouldn't bother.
I'd walk away and buy a diamond from a trusted PS vendor that was graded by a trusted reputable gem lab like GIA or AGS, or AGL if a colored gem that wasn't diamond.

You are being conned.