Independent appraiser for H&A - any recommendations?

[Rocky_2012]

Dear all,

I am thinking about getting an independent appraisal before purchasing an H&A diamond. Would you have any recommendations for an appraiser? Has anyone on the forum ever worked with an appraiser on the purchase of a H&A stone?

Would be very grateful fora few tips.

Thanks very much in advance!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Depending on where you are getting the stone, an IA could be totally unnecessary. For example, the stones from Good Old Gold, WhiteFlash, and Brian Gavin are known to be accurately labelled hearts and arrows and there is no need for an independent appraisal. And if you want a true hearts and arrows stone, those are the best places to buy, in my opinion. But if you are looking at stones elsewhere that are not proving that the stone is H&A, then I can see the advantage of having it confirmed by an appraiser. And I am not sure that all independent appraisers could do this. I imagine Neil Beatty and David Atlas see a fair number of them and could confirm, though.

 

[Rocky_2012]

...thanks very much for the prompt reply!

To give you a concrete example: This stone would nicely match what I am thinking of, but 2 arrow heads seem off (despite the stone being labeled as a Brian Gavin signature H&A):

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/2.264-g-vs2-round-diamond-ags-104063219004

Hence my thought that an independent appraiser might be a good idea, given the amount of money involved....

BTW, with respect to this stone, how would you evaluate the two uneven arrow heads?

Thanks!

 

[yssie]

...thanks very much for the prompt reply!

To give you a concrete example: This stone would nicely match what I am thinking of, but 2 arrow heads seem off (despite the stone being labeled as a Brian Gavin signature H&A):

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/2.264-g-vs2-round-diamond-ags-104063219004

Hence my thought that an independent appraiser might be a good idea, given the amount of money involved....

BTW, with respect to this stone, how would you evaluate the two uneven arrow heads?

Thanks!

Two issues - inconsistencies (inconsistent w/ the label) in the stone and artifacts of photography.

"Uneven arrowheads" aren't due to anything actually being uneven, just that the stone wasn't completely, totally face-up relative to the camera during photography, so neighbouring "virtual facets" are reflecting asymmetrically.

Look at enough of these sorts of pics and the distinction becomes a bit easier to judge. There is also the fact that as DS said, BGD's H&A brand is one of the most tightly regulated lines around - apparent inconsistencies are going to be explained by photography far more often than w/ some other H&A brands.

 

[Rocky_2012]

Hi Yssie,

Many thanks - I wasn't aware that this may in fact be an artifact of photography.

In this particular case, would you personally think it's just an artifact? Wasn't 100% clear to me from your post.

 

[yssie]

Hi Yssie,

Many thanks - I wasn't aware that this may in fact be an artifact of photography.

In this particular case, would you personally think it's just an artifact? Wasn't 100% clear to me from your post.

Yes, no question.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Yssie's opinion is far more valuable than mine, but I wouldn't even consider wasting the time and money to have an independent appraisal on BG's signature or blue diamonds. They are among the very, very best. (And same with WhiteFlash ACA and Good Old Gold H&A)

Outstanding choice, by the way!

 

[Karl_K]

Have your SA arrange a phone call with Brian while he has the stone in front of him and talk to him about it.
It will be one of the most fun and educational calls you will ever have.
He will be 110% honest with you about every aspect of the stone.