Inscription Numbers?

[gingercurls]

Hi all. I am usually on the colored stone board so please excuse me if I ask a question that is silly! I am looking into a buying a pair of diamonds. Both stones are GIA certified but only one has been laser inscribed. The vendor actually told me about the lack of laser inscription, I didn't notice it when I looked at both reports. Should this be a cause of concern? The diamonds are IF so I don't think inclusions could be used to verify the diamond that is not inscribed. Thank you for any help!

 

[flyingpig]

Does the report say anything about inscription?

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

The vendor can get the stone inscribed by the lab for you btw, that should not be an issue.

Natural Diamond Grading Reports & Services

Reports and Services available for diamonds.

www.gia.edu

^ I followed the links from the above page to get to a fee schedule, assuming your stone isn’t bigger than 3-4ct it’ll cost you 20-30usd to get it inscribed, well worth the peace of mind. I believe they will reissue the report with the inscription mentioned.

 

[gingercurls]

The report does not note an inscription. I am concerned about being able to match the diamond to the report because it is an IF stone. Would a jeweler be able to verify that the diamond matches the report using other factors/measurements because the clarity map would not be of any use?

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

The report does not note an inscription. I am concerned about being able to match the diamond to the report because it is an IF stone. Would a jeweler be able to verify that the diamond matches the report using other factors/measurements because the clarity map would not be of any use?

I’m not an expert, but I guess it would be reasonably possible by matching the exact dimensions. However I imagine it wouldn’t be foolproof. Matching a diamond to a sarin report would be easier since the exact topography and variations would be noted. But measurements and angles on a GIA report are averaged and rounded. So I’m not 100% sure.

Why not ask the vendor if they’d be willing to send the stone back to GIA to laser inscribe the number on? You can offer to pay for it, it’s not expensive - the only reason I say to get the vendor to do it is a) their insurance will cover shipping a loose stone and b) your bases are covered in case the stone turns out to not match the inscription because it will be before you took delivery and so you are not to blame. GIA will verify that the stone matches the number it was issued (I assume they can do this as they probably collect data on the stone when it is submitted that they don’t make public in the report which can be used to identify it uniquely) and then will inscribe the stone and (I believe) reissue the report mentioning the inscription on it. The number will remain the same.

 

[AnastasiaBeaverhausen]

@gingercurls That was my understanding as well. That for a slightly lower cost, GIA can "verify" stones that has a GIA report already but no inscription, then add an inscription (for a fee). Worst case scenario, you can always have it recerted?

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

@gingercurls That was my understanding as well. That for a slightly lower cost, GIA can "verify" stones that has a GIA report already but no inscription, then add an inscription (for a fee). Worst case scenario, you can always have it recerted?

Thanks for clarifying @AnastasiaBeaverhausen I’m not sure that the “verification” has a cost or at least not a major cost. I’m trying to remember, as this is something that a friend of mine told me. She bought a stone with a GIA cert and no inscription and asked her jeweler to have it inscribed before she took possession. The jeweler told her it would cost something like $20 or $25 I think but then ended up waiving the cost entirely and she didn’t pay anything. So I’m not sure maybe things have changed or maybe the jeweler ate the whole cost. But it’s definitely worth reaching out to GIA, OP, and asking them.

edit: I was wrong, I checked the link and it says verification is 50% of the applicable report fee. Perhaps for my friend the jeweler just decided to do her a solid

 

[AnastasiaBeaverhausen]

Thanks for clarifying @AnastasiaBeaverhausen I’m not sure that the “verification” has a cost or at least not a major cost. I’m trying to remember, as this is something that a friend of mine told me. She bought a stone with a GIA cert and no inscription and asked her jeweler to have it inscribed before she took possession. The jeweler told her it would cost something like $20 or $25 I think but then ended up waiving the cost entirely and she didn’t pay anything. So I’m not sure maybe things have changed or maybe the jeweler ate the whole cost. But it’s definitely worth reaching out to GIA, OP, and asking them.

edit: I was wrong, I checked the link and it says verification is 50% of the applicable report fee. Perhaps for my friend the jeweler just decided to do her a solid

There's a "fee schedule" button at the bottom of the webpage to that link you shared before. Looks like it'd cost 50% of the cost of a report for GIA to reverify that the diamond matches the report. Then it's a small additional fee for the laser inscription.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

There's a "fee schedule" button at the bottom of the webpage to that link you shared before. Looks like it'd cost 50% of the cost of a report for GIA to reverify that the diamond matches the report. Then it's a small additional fee for the laser inscription.

Yes I spotted that, thank you! I guess when I looked it up earlier I didn’t bother to read past the laser inscription cost part haha. Once you made that comment I made a knee jerk response but then I went and checked my own link and I saw it was there A bit of premature typing there.

 

[AnastasiaBeaverhausen]

Yes I spotted that, thank you! I guess when I looked it up earlier I didn’t bother to read past the laser inscription cost part haha. Once you made that comment I made a knee jerk response but then I went and checked my own link and I saw it was there A bit of premature typing there.

No worries! It's like 3 solid pages of teeny tiny font.

Side note: now that I'm home on the computer most days, I feel like I'm skimming through things more so than usual. Lol.

 

[flyingpig]

No inscription is no issue for me.
IF diamonds are relatively rare. So, if a diamond has any internal inclusion, it is not yours. In addition, the color is relatively easy to determine without any special tool. Lastly, MRBs perform and appear very predictably based on the proportions. For me, if someone swaps my 55/35/40.5 with 57/35/40.8 (both are in the recommended TIC range), I will be able to tell.

Now, for someone who is not familiar with MRBs, I can see why no inscription is concerning.

 

[AnastasiaBeaverhausen]

Plus, stone swapping seems to be pretty rare. You probably won't ever need to check the inscription unless you're trying to sell it at some point. But for <$100, you could have it laser inscribed just for a peace of mind. I just dunno if you'd wanna do that to your IF stone!

 

[Texas Leaguer]

The report does not note an inscription. I am concerned about being able to match the diamond to the report because it is an IF stone. Would a jeweler be able to verify that the diamond matches the report using other factors/measurements because the clarity map would not be of any use?

Yes, a gemologist is trained to use the data on the report to identify a diamond.

Laser inscription only came to the market in the late 1990's, so all diamonds ever traded to that point were identified the old fashioned way!

The fact that it is IF makes the stone plot, and lack of any internal characteristics, a particularly useful data point. A positive ID is made in a holistic way examining the diamond against the weight, clarity plot, color,dimensions, and proportions. The diamond needs to match all aspects, within acceptable tolerances, to be confirmed.

Although an experienced and reputable jeweler can perform this function, for peace of mind it is best to seek out a third party credentialed gemologist for verifications and appraisals. Someone who is a Graduate Gemologist or a Diamonds Graduate of the GIA.