Suzanne, I spent quite a few years getting my GG in residence,
working as a diamond grader, and working in a retail jewelry store.
Then I opened my own business. A few years later, while a
customer’s ring with a 1.60 carat round brilliant cut diamond was
being polished, a “pit” was pulled out of the table of the stone.
(There had been an included crystal at the surface, and the polishing
processs lifted it out.)
We wound up buying an equivalent quality diamond for the customer to
replace the damaged stone (a BIG financial ‘hit’ for a small
business.) We put the damaged stone into stock (it was unrealistic
to recut it) and it sat there for two or three years.
Finally, a friend came in to buy his lady a larger diamond than he
could possibly afford. We designed a very “organic” ring with vines
and leaves and tendrils which used the damaged stone, and which had
a tendril that arced up over the top of the diamond and “landed” in
the hole in the table. No one who sees the ring need ever know there
is a hole there.
Moral: There is a customer for every item.
Moral #2: When YOU buy a finished ring, UNSET THAT STONE to look for
hidden defects ! ! ! !
David Barzilay, Lord of the Rings