Grading scandal at GIA

Comments

• kranky Posts: 8,709 ✭✭✭

  December 20, 2005 3:33AM

  Read a few links I found via Google. It appears to be a foregone conclusion that people were bribing some graders in their NYC grading lab and it had been going on for years.
  
  What really floored me in what I read was this tidbit from a large diamond seller: "While a highly confidential list identifying our numbers* and the owners is provided to GIA management on an occasional basis, to the best of our knowledge, this list was kept entirely confidential and not shared with any lab employees or supervisors who would have an opportunity to change any grades."
  
  Gee, I'm sure the owners appreciate having their names and info about their holdings provided to the GIA management. I'm sure there was a good reason for that....
  
  *numbers = unique inventory number the seller assigns to each diamond.

  New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.

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• kranky Posts: 8,709 ✭✭✭

  December 20, 2005 10:56AM

  This is about the best link I found. It's long and assumes some knowledge of the diamond business but you still get the gist of what the scandal is about.
  
  Thought this was an interesting story with potential parallels to numismatics. Worth a look by the evening crowd.

  New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.

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• AACoinCo Posts: 241

  December 20, 2005 11:28AM

  That is eyeopening to say the least!

  All American Coin & Jewlery Co.
  6024 N. 9th Ave #5
  Pensacola, FL 32504
  HTTP://WWW.AACoinCo.Com

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• morgannut2 Posts: 4,293 ✭

  December 20, 2005 12:54PM

  I see why PCGS (CLCT) just bought into the diamond grading business now!! GIA has 97% of the market so there's plenty of potential there---Plus grading diamonds is MUCH less opinion than coins on color, cut, and weight (the inclusions are a bit arbitrary like abrasions on coins)--

  morgannut2

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• Mintstate Posts: 254 ✭✭

  December 20, 2005 1:00PM

  It was reported in todays Wall Street Journal today also.

  My Non-Sport eBay auctions

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• michael Posts: 9,524 ✭✭✭

  December 20, 2005 1:04PM

  old news really old news as anybody who is anybody in diamonds figured this out long ago
  
  just take a look see at many of their graded diamond certificates and thern the diamonds in many retail stores
  
  does not take a genius to figure this out
  
  not highey overgraded but definately pushed in the grade department

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• MrEureka Posts: 24,417 ✭✭✭✭✭

  December 20, 2005 2:07PM

  In the DIB article recommended by Kranky, the author does not cite a single bit of hard evidence that bribery occurred. The following quotes are as close as he gets:
  
  People who had sold stones with a certain certificate subsequently discovered the trading of these stones with an upgraded certificate.
  .
  .
  .
  There is too much anecdotal evidence of malfeasance for the GIA to hide behind the time-honored defense of “borderline cases” or “subjective process.”
  
  Good thing the author writes for a diamond trade paper and not for Coin World.

  Andy Lustig
  
  Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
  
  Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.

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