Please, be brutally honest about this EGL Hearts & Arrows

[aljdewey]

Date: 1/29/2007 7:55:18 AM
Author: Ellen

That''s a damaging, fear inducing statement kenny. Besides the OP, anyone searching threads who reads that and wants a great stone will very possibly dismiss any GIA stones they might have considered (of which there ARE great ones). And people who already bought a GIA stone are going to freak out thinking they may have bought a less than desirable stone.

I really wish people around here would stop spouting personal opinions as fact.

A HUGE amen to that sentiment, Ellen.....on a number of fronts. I share your sentiment.

 

[lumpkin]

I wish we could get some more pictures of it. It looks a little dark in the lighting and the angle that the diamond was photographed in, although it does look pretty sparkly. It''s hard to tell from just the one photo, and as discussed, the numbers may belie it''s beauty.

I had to work on a budget, too, and I have a GIA very good cut diamond. I''m really happy with it. Sure, if I''d had more money and hadn''t been tied to a specific vendor, I could have gotten a super ideal cut in a larger size and a higher color with an AGS report, but for the money I had to spend I''m content with the compromises I made. Other people might not have been, but I am, and there are others here who have EGL or GIA diamonds that are just beautiful.

Sounds like your stone is a winner per the HCA. If you really want to compare, though, maybe you could have one of the super ideal diamonds sent to you to look at and see how your EGL diamond stands up visually. A visual comparison is probably the only way you will know for sure how much compromise you will be willing to make for the money.

 

[strmrdr]

It sounds like a fair price on a nice diamond.
It isnt super-ideal but the price isnt super-ideal price either.
If you love and are happy with it then it id say buy it.

 

[shiatsu]

As others have said, the reason people generally send a diamond to EGL instead of GIA or AGS is because GIA and AGS are much stricter graders and if the people sending it know it won't get graded very well from GIA or AGS they'll send it to EGL instead for a better grade. This is also the reason why diamonds with an EGL cert sell for much less, because people don't trust the report as much. Why would a jeweler send it to EGL if they couldn't get as much money for an EGL graded stone? Because they are afraid they would get even less if GIA graded it what it should be. This is also the reason why people are asking if the person selling it is trustworthy. Odds are the seller also has GIA graded stones but sells them at a higher price because they are higher quality.

That said, $4500 is a great price for a 1.21 carat stone, especially when being bought from a third generation jeweler. If you were to pay that much for a Blue Nile GIA graded stone, you'd get a 1.2 carat, J color, SI2 stone:
http://www.bluenile.com/diamonds_details.asp?__fun_frm=i&pid=LD00162838&filter_id=0
but at least with a GIA cert you know what you're getting.

My only concern would be that the EGL stone you're being sold might actually be K in color, so they sent it to EGL to get a softer grading because nobody wants to buy a K colored stone, and EGL graded it softer to an I color. If this is the case you'd be getting ripped off, and there's actually a very good chance this is the case.

One of the guys on this forum bought an EGL diamond from a locally owned New York brick & mortar vendor and when he went in for an upgrade the vendor wouldn't even accept his EGL graded stone because the vendor didn't want to replace his EGL stone with a GIA stone:
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/best-options-for-dealing-with-crooked-vendor.54623/
what does that tell you about the quality of his stone and whether or not he got ripped off?

 

[:)]

I am not as anti-EGL USA as EGL elsewhere! I am biased because I briefly had an EGL Israel stone that was two colors and clarities off. EGL USA I believe is a bit better at grading and from what I have heard have been working to improve their image. I have seen some nice EGL USA stones in person. The only thing I didn''t like is that they won''t reveal what their "ideal plus'' parameters are. I have called and emailed, and they tell me they will get back and never do! It must be proportions, but what precise proportions comprise their ideal vs. ideal plus they don''t seem to want to share!! I would be hesitant with an EGL stone buying sight unseen, but feel much differently about it if you can see it in person with your own two eyes. In the end, you are wearing the stone, not the grading report! If you have seen it and love it, then the report doesn''t matter (unless it was grossly overgraded and you paid too much, but the independent appraiser that you take it to will confirm the specs/price for you).

 

[Regular Guy]

Most appraisers probably don''t have the equipment to proof check crown & pavilion angles, which is what the cut business is largely about. And....while EGL whoever may be negligent at describing the descriptors...if we don''t think they fudge the numbers themselves...at least we have tools here to analyze them, independent of the categorization EGL may or may not do.

Only Jonathan has raised performance issues...which as I recall were modest. Again...less clear to me is a) the extent to which crown & pavilion represents 50 or 90 % of the story, and b) the extent to which the reported averages sufficiently describe the actual stone, presuming the measurements were done accurately...which I think we can presume were done pretty well, though I don''t know.

 

[surfcheck101]

Thanks everyone for all your opinions!
Very kind of each of you that posted and gave your 2 cents.
Learned alot.
Thanks again, let you know how it turns out.