Century Diamonds, Inc Dara's Diamonds Misleading diamond quality Los Angeles California

Sorry for the length of this report, but this is a long story and you need to know all of it to understand my problem with Century.

I bought a three-stone ring from them a couple of years ago, and when it first arrived, the center stone seemed smaller than what they claimed, but we did not know any better, and so we upgraded to a larger one. The second ring looked good until my fiancee was washing her hands, and under the running water, the ring had a very strange look. We took it to a jewelry store in the mall, and they put it under the microscope, which showed a huge “feather” that was cloudy under the running water. They told us that the stone should definitely not have been graded SI-2, as Century claimed. We contacted Century and they said we could exchange the ring, so we just put it down to an honest mistake, and sent it back. The new ring that came looked good and had no major flaws, so we were okay with it.

Fast-forward to a few months ago, when I decided to upgrade the ring, and we chose a solitaire instead of the three-stone. The price was $3,100 for the new ring, and I returned the original one and paid $1,200 for the upgrade. The ring arrived and the stone looked nice but the setting was plain, so we decided to find a new setting. A jeweler who looked at the ring said that he didn’t believe that it was 1.25 ct based on the diameter and height, but he couldn’t be sure without removing it from the setting, which would void the return policy. We took it to a second jeweler who said that he thought it was no more than 1 ct. A third measured the stone and agreed that it was not 1.25 ct. He took a digital photo under a microscope that showed two huge feathers and lots of small inclusions. He said that with one feather it could be an SI-2, but not with both, and he estimated the value at no more than $1,500.

I called Century and told them our concern about the weight, and they had us send the ring back. I felt as if we had been misled, but I didn’t want to alert them to my suspicions, so I did not mention the flaws and our concern about the grading. I wanted to see if they would be honest about the weight, since three different jewelers had disputed it. After they got the ring back, they called to say that they weighed it and insisted that it was 1.25 ct. I said that I did not want it, and they refunded the $1,200 upgrade charge, but would only give me a credit for the original $1,900 purchase. I told them that I did not want to buy anything from them, as I do not trust their grading.

They said that they never claimed that their diamonds are graded by GIA, which is true; but they also do not disclose that they are not graded to GIA standards, even though they use GIA terminology. The stones are graded to the standard of the European Gemological Laboratory, a for-profit corporation, not non-profit like GIA. I did some research and found that EGL uses the GIA grading terminology, but a lower standard, and the same diamond will have a higher grade by the EGL standard than graded by GIA standard. So whatever grade Century puts on a stone, understand that any jeweler using the GIA standard will grade it one to two grades lower.

Their website states that a “third-party appraisal certificate” is provided, but does not indicate who issues the appraisal. The appraisal is issued by GSS and signed by someone that the GSS website identifies as a “certified Master Gemologist” but does not indicate his certification. It states that he is “Accredited by the Institute of Belgium” in diamond grading, but I looked online and couldn’t find any reference to that institution. And they don’t give you any of this information until after the fact, so I didn’t find out about the appraisal until after I purchased the ring. The website says that “an independent third-party appraisal certificate ” is provided with each purchase, but GSS has the same address as Century Diamonds. If the appraiser shares an office with them, there is a major conflict of interest that is not disclosed anywhere on their website, and to represent this appraiser as an “independent third party” is outrageously misleading.

I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, and Century offered to refund my original purchase less a 40% restocking charge, which is abusive and insulting. I rejected this, and offered to settle for a 15% restocking charge, but have not gotten a response. I have documented evidence of everything that I have posted here, and also filed a complaint with the State of California Attorney General.