I have been watching for some time the diamond auctions on eBay. I
finally took the plunge and bid on a few items. I expected the goods
to be less than described because some of the sites make the idiotic
statement that appraisals are subjective and returns would only be
approved if the clarity was more than one grade below that described
and the color was two grades below that described. The first diamond
arrived last week. It was accompanied by an EGL appraisal certificate
which gave the clarity as SI2 and the color as J. The clarity was
actually SI3/I1, which wasn’t bad, considering, but the color was M
or N ( my color grading set only goes down to L). On careful
examination of the stone, I determined that the stated diameter was
slightly larger than the actual diameter. Also, the diagram of the
diamond showed a natural on the girdle which was not visible on the
delivered stone. It seems as though they substituted a lower quality
stone or the appraiser was drunk. I’m pretty confident that the other
diamonds will be equally disappointing. I also had ordered diamonds
from a company in Thailand. They were absolute crap. They were
described as top white, SI clarity. Try I3 clarity! Has anybody out
there had any good experiences bidding on diamonds on eBay? If so, I
would appreciate names of (don’t laugh) honest suppliers you might
have encountered.
Robert Hood