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Jeweler says my 2.05 I color AGS 000 VS1 is inferior to his 2.02 I color GIA Ex-VG-Ex SI1?

Don’t get your jeweler’s GIA. A 2 carat SI with a bunch of clouds is not the bargain you might be looking for. Like you say he’s just trying to make a sale, nothing personal. If you love his settings then I’m sure your ring production will be safe with him even though he will only be taking a little of your money instead of a lot.

That AGS is sparkly and pretty and obviously far from colorless. If she wants two carats on your budget and is fine with a diamond that looks like a GIA J or high K then the AGS is a great selection. Plenty of people do like warmer diamonds so if she does, you’re good to go.

If she values high color then keep looking. I really really really advise people who are buying diamonds for someone who wants high color not to buy low color diamonds regardless of how well cut they are or how white they “face up.”
 
You are making the right decision. He wants your sale badly.
 
oncrutchesrightnow said:
Don’t get your jeweler’s GIA. A 2 carat SI with a bunch of clouds is not the bargain you might be looking for. Like you say he’s just trying to make a sale, nothing personal. If you love his settings then I’m sure your ring production will be safe with him even though he will only be taking a little of your money instead of a lot.

That AGS is sparkly and pretty and obviously far from colorless. If she wants two carats on your budget and is fine with a diamond that looks like a GIA J or high K then the AGS is a great selection. Plenty of people do like warmer diamonds so if she does, you’re good to go.

If she values high color then keep looking. I really really really advise people who are buying diamonds for someone who wants high color not to buy low color diamonds regardless of how well cut they are or how white they “face up.”
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My AGS diamond is now with my jeweler. I guess we’ll see how it looks when it’s done. If the color of our stone ends up bothering us, I suppose we could always sell it or return it for a full refund. I have a feeling my girlfriend will really love it though. And the type of mounting this stone will be in will hide most of the side view.

AprilBaby said:
You are making the right decision. He wants your sale badly.
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He seemed ok when I told him that I was going with my diamond over his. And we established a price for making the ring before we even started looking at diamonds. So there won’t be any sort of artificial markup when the ring is done for not buying his diamond.
 
As others have said on here, it's difficult to tell much from the photos under the lighting conditions. But I wonder if perhaps your AGS stone is slightly brownish? I cannot for the life of me remember if this gets marked on AGS certs (someone here will know), but it does get marked on color grades lower than G on GIA certs.
 
Walter Buffalo said:
As others have said on here, it's difficult to tell much from the photos under the lighting conditions. But I wonder if perhaps your AGS stone is slightly brownish? I cannot for the life of me remember if this gets marked on AGS certs (someone here will know), but it does get marked on color grades lower than G on GIA certs.
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No brown was really mentioned by my jeweler. He just said that it seemed darker/warmer than an I colored diamond should be.
 
As Wink pointed out, AGS “might“ be a bit soft on borderline diamonds but your I color should not be equivalent to a GIA J or high K unless it was grossly misgraded.

For me, and for most of us here, I’d guess, cut is the most important “c” and I’m glad that you’ve prioritized that. I’m thinking your ring was be beautiful when it’s set!
 
Patty said:
As Wink pointed out, AGS “might“ be a bit soft on borderline diamonds but your I color should not be equivalent to a GIA J or high K unless it was grossly misgraded.

For me, and for most of us here, I’d guess, cut is the most important “c” and I’m glad that you’ve prioritized that. I’m thinking your ring was be beautiful when it’s set!
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I totally agree and find that statement terribly misleading. That is an opinion - not fact - and none of the vendors here that have had experience with many, many diamonds would agree. Making statements like that are not helpful to buyers IMO.
 
Patty said:
As Wink pointed out, AGS “might“ be a bit soft on borderline diamonds but your I color should not be equivalent to a GIA J or high K unless it was grossly misgraded.

For me, and for most of us here, I’d guess, cut is the most important “c” and I’m glad that you’ve prioritized that. I’m thinking your ring was be beautiful when it’s set!
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MissGotRocks said:
I totally agree and find that statement terribly misleading. That is an opinion - not fact - and none of the vendors here that have had experience with many, many diamonds would agree. Making statements like that are not helpful to buyers IMO.
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I appreciate the positive feedback!
 
I got the ring today! I think it looks nice and am happy with it. My girlfriend will be the one wearing it, though, and hopefully the stone isn’t sitting too high for her. The jeweler didn’t set the diamond as low as I thought he would. I gave him pictures of several angles and a video of the exact design I wanted being explained by another jeweler. He said that in order to set the stone exactly how I wanted, he would have had to cast a basket which would have resulted in a weaker setting. So he used a forged platinum head that makes the stone sit higher.

The final specs on the ring are:

2.05 carat round I VS1 AGS 000
42 melee stones .63 CTW
4.75 dwt 950 platinum
Size 5.75

Here’s some pictures. It was cloudy and dreary all day here so I don’t have any shots in sunlight. Sorry for my poor camera skills!
B5939703-1CCB-4C14-9705-26554F38E657.jpegBD252E31-CAA9-4C7B-A459-CCAA09F35C82.jpeg
 
Walter Buffalo said:
As others have said on here, it's difficult to tell much from the photos under the lighting conditions. But I wonder if perhaps your AGS stone is slightly brownish? I cannot for the life of me remember if this gets marked on AGS certs (someone here will know), but it does get marked on color grades lower than G on GIA certs.
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I thought GIA usually only noted faint brown on stones below a K color, or at K and below. Am I remembering incorrectly?
 
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waveoff said:
I got the ring today! I think it looks nice and am happy with it. My girlfriend will be the one wearing it, though, and hopefully the stone isn’t sitting too high for her. The jeweler didn’t set the diamond as low as I thought he would. I gave him pictures of several angles and a video of the exact design I wanted being explained by another jeweler. He said that in order to set the stone exactly how I wanted, he would have had to cast a basket which would have resulted in a weaker setting. So he used a forged platinum head that makes the stone sit higher.

The final specs on the ring are:

2.05 carat round I VS1 AGS 000
42 melee stones .63 CTW
4.75 dwt 950 platinum
Size 5.75

Here’s some pictures. It was cloudy and dreary all day here so I don’t have any shots in sunlight. Sorry for my poor camera skills!
B5939703-1CCB-4C14-9705-26554F38E657.jpegBD252E31-CAA9-4C7B-A459-CCAA09F35C82.jpeg
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That looks great...and the presentation box is totally cool!
 
It looks beautiful! Do you have a side view? I prefer a slightly higher setting but you and your girlfriend need to be happy with it.
 
It turned out beautiful! She will surely love it and say yes!! Come back with hand shots for us!
 
waveoff said:
Thank you! Here’s some side shots…8BCD703E-D36B-424C-8998-EE176F4C8489.jpeg7E33F1A4-8F53-42E8-9D11-86B2D687152B.jpeg
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Gorgeous! And I don't see brown in these photos, just a beautiful ring! I would wear that ring set high with pride.
 
I think the diamond looks beautiful in the setting! However, I agree that it is set quite high. I am not buying the story about the handforged head. It looks like a stock type head to me. I think this jeweler stretches the truth when it suits him. I don't mean to put a damper on your exciting time. I truly hope she loves the ring as it is. You definitely made the right choice to keep the ideal cut diamond with 2 clarity grades higher!
 
diamondseeker2006 said:
I think the diamond looks beautiful in the setting! However, I agree that it is set quite high. I am not buying the story about the handforged head. It looks like a stock type head to me. I think this jeweler stretches the truth when it suits him. I don't mean to put a damper on your exciting time. I truly hope she loves the ring as it is. You definitely made the right choice to keep the ideal cut diamond with 2 clarity grades higher!
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Many stock heads ARE die struck though, which would make them stronger. But yes I do think it looks like a peg head in a possibly stock setting.
 
diamondseeker2006 said:
I think the diamond looks beautiful in the setting! However, I agree that it is set quite high. I am not buying the story about the handforged head. It looks like a stock type head to me. I think this jeweler stretches the truth when it suits him. I don't mean to put a damper on your exciting time. I truly hope she loves the ring as it is. You definitely made the right choice to keep the ideal cut diamond with 2 clarity grades higher!
Click to expand...

Thank you! I tend to agree with you about this jeweler. He was very quick to rationalize why this setting was not made the way I asked for it to be made. He showed me a catalog of stock heads and tried to say there was no head that existed to make my stone sit lower. He said that if he were to cast a head, I would have to sign a liability waiver saying I wouldn’t hold him responsible for the head failing.
 
distracts said:
Many stock heads ARE die struck though, which would make them stronger. But yes I do think it looks like a peg head in a possibly stock setting.
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The shank is cast but the head definitely has a manufactured look to it. I’ll see how my girlfriend likes the ring and go from there.
 
waveoff said:
Thank you! I tend to agree with you about this jeweler. He was very quick to rationalize why this setting was not made the way I asked for it to be made. He showed me a catalog of stock heads and tried to say there was no head that existed to make my stone sit lower. He said that if he were to cast a head, I would have to sign a liability waiver saying I wouldn’t hold him responsible for the head failing.
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I agree with @diamondseeker2006 and @distracts that this looks like two stock pieces (shank + head) picked from a catalog and soldered together by the jeweler.

OP I'm sorry that this jeweler seems to be picking and choosing what is convenient for him, rather than what is right for the customer. Sounds like he's using scare tactics to avoid having to do any actual work. I bet even if you had bought his (inferior) stone he still would've been taking you for the same ride now with the setting.

In the end I hope you get a ring that you and your FF are happy with! Hopefully he is willing to work with you to come to a satisfactory resolution.
 
emmy12 said:
I agree with @diamondseeker2006 and @distracts that this looks like two stock pieces (shank + head) picked from a catalog and soldered together by the jeweler.

OP I'm sorry that this jeweler seems to be picking and choosing what is convenient for him, rather than what is right for the customer. Sounds like he's using scare tactics to avoid having to do any actual work. I bet even if you had bought his (inferior) stone he still would've been taking you for the same ride now with the setting.

In the end I hope you get a ring that you and your FF are happy with! Hopefully he is willing to work with you to come to a satisfactory resolution.
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The shank was definitely cast by the jeweler but it does appear the head is a stock piece. He did say that I can bring the ring back if my girlfriend finds that the higher sitting stone is an issue. Hopefully he can be accommodating and make it right if the existing ring doesn’t work out.
 
Well yes! That ring is fabulous.
 
That's a young hand, you must have robbed the cradle.
Seriously, everyone is happy for you, and we'll always enjoy more hand shots.
 
Ibrakeforpossums said:
That's a young hand, you must have robbed the cradle.
Seriously, everyone is happy for you, and we'll always enjoy more hand shots.
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You’re so sweet! You made my fiancé’s day! Thank you!
 
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