Gary Wright here on POLY has some AGS sets from time to time. I am always looking for masters in my .25 to .30s and have gotten two GIA stones in the last 6 yrs of trying. Granted, fairly low volume, but GIA masters are very difficult – almost impossible – to get. I have a 4 stone set. I was very happy when I got my GIA H because now I have a GIA H and an AGS H straight grade masters. A 1.55 RB that I bought just recently was borderline G-H and I was glad I had those babies instead of CZ where split grades and differing refractive indexes made them useless in comparison for me. Poly member 100820
I wouldn't use CZ's. Color graders are one of the best investments you can make in this business. Poly member 3748
Accredited Gem Appraisers (AGA) allows split grade masters for their Certified Gem Lab application. Even split grade masters are better than CZ's IMO. The Jewelry Judge 10 stone CZ set that I had about 10 yrs ago was pretty good by CZ standards, but they were very harsh on color. CZ's were always higher than the grade they were supposed to be. AGS sets seem to be doing well for me with GIA submissions. PS. This is a cooler "master" set. Really more of a reference but it is getting better by the year. I have 4 more stones now including a natural brown purple. Poly member 100820
Agreed... CZ’s will color change over time, so do not buy used ones and keep lid closed when not in use IF you think they are your only option. Even if you start with 3 stones in your (diamond) master set and build from there, the investment pays for itself many times over! Poly member 1269 That all pink master set is very cool, regardless of whether they are natural or not. Reminds me of when I was traveling to Sri Lanka, Thailand and Africa four times a year. I found it very difficult to get a consistent idea of color overseas, compared to what the stone looked like back in my office. I made a master set of colored stones for sapphire, ruby etc. and I can't begin to tell you how helpful that is. Even traveling here domestically, stones look different in different locales. I would recommend that anyone who has a strong presence in color develop a set to their needs. Poly member 4044 As someone who does NOT own a master set, but would like to do so, how do we get started? Can we start with a stone at a time? Is it easier to piecemeal the set than to get a set all at once? Where do we buy them? Why are they hard to purchase? Re. COLOR: How do you recommend a store that does a lot in color start a master and what constitutes a sapphire master set? Poly member 88482 My opinion is buy a 5 stone set. Pick one up from a dealer retiring if you can. When you see something, grab it. Even if it is a split grade set. I have GIA K-L, I-J, H, F-G and AGSF, H, J, L, N. This combo is very useful. I put the GIA set together from a 2-stone set I purchased on the Bargain Channel about 5 yrs ago and stones that I submitted to GIA. I got the F-G and the H. Poly member 100820
As far as colored stone master sets, it is really what works best for you. If I was making a sapphire sample set I would have 3 to 5 varying shades of blue sapphire, from the lightest to the darkest that I would want to own and sell. When you go to a show or travel overseas you will then have a reference point of how these stones compare to what you know looks good in your particular lighting situation. When I was traveling overseas I noticed that darker blue sapphires and rubies looked great in Thailand and Sri Lanka (they are both much closer to the equator and thus a "brighter" sun that even here in Arizona). But when I brought them back home they were "over dark" too much extinction or black reflections. The good news was that stones that were slightly too light looked terrific back home. I have always preferred stones that are just slightly lighter than the optimum tone because once they are set they look great. The other important point and a great selling tip, is most jewelry is worn for evening occasions and in low light stones of lighter tone brighten up, where darker stones go black and lose their color. When we were displaying for years in Tucson and Vegas we always had customers who would come to us and say that they found the same fantastic color tanzanite or sapphire that we had for much less. When we asked to see these stones side by side with ours, often the colors were significantly weaker. The lesson is that it is very hard to memorize color, our eyes fatigue as the day goes on and lighting plays a very important factor. Very difficult to have a consistent source of lighting etc. so that you can compare stones equally. Poly member 4044
I put together my own set. Sending in five stones to get a four stone set. They have to have certain cut parameters and clarity limits too. My set is an E-F, F-G, H-I, K-L. Anything better than the E-F is a D. Anything worst than K-L is cape. This set has worked like a charm for me for over 30 years. Poly member 3748
AGA requires a 5 stone set for Certified Gem Lab. The AGS stones have their colorimeter grade on the paper. I think the reason they are easier to put together is that AGS allows about a 0.10 tolerance. For instance my grades on my stones are as follows: • F is 1.10 – I interpret that is not quite the best F by 0.10 on the AGS scale. Where 1 would be the best possible F. and 0.50 would be the best possible E.
• H is 1.90 – I interpret that to mean it is slightly better than the best possible H where it would be 2.00
• J is 3.00 – Straight best possible J
• L is 4.00 – Straight best possible L
• N is 4.90 – Slightly better than the best possible N that would be a 5. AGS stones will have the color grade laser inscribed on the girdle. I am not sure that it is mandatory. GIA stones have the set number and the stone number in order of addition to set laser inscribed but this is not mandatory. The corresponding number is put on the stone paper where the color grade is. I prescreen stones before submitting. Rarely do I have a stone that qualifies and then it usually has a buyer before it goes to GIA. These are my interpretations and I am open to being corrected if someone knows more about the AGS system than I do. As soon as I got my four stone set I sold my CZ masters in the acrylic case. Never looked back and supplemented with non master actual diamonds until I got my additional 5 stone set. My CZ masters only hindered my results and I had them checked out as they were getting old. They did not produce good results for my eyes. But maybe they can help someone. I personally think a half carat set would be better because those big CZ's always looked super white next to a I color .50 pointer. Most people like the 1 carat size and I don't even know if they do 1/2 caraters. Poly member 100820
