Certified Loose Diamonds; Major USA Diamond Labs; GIA vs. EGL

What Is A Gem Laboratory?

A Gem Laboratory an independent organisation which grades diamonds or gemstones. They are a third party profit or non-profit organisations that does an unbiased grading and evaluation of a loose diamond or loose gemstone. The final printout of the grading is called a "Certificate" or a "Grading Report". It is an honest and educated opinion of the stone. At the end of the examination they issue a report for the item. There are several diamond grading as well as gemstone grading laboratories. More prominent among them are

GIA - Gemological Institute of America (New York City and Los Angeles)
EGL - European Gemological Laboratories (New York City, Los Angeles, Vancouver & Toronto)
AGSL - American Gem Society Laboratory Services (AGS is a sister concern of GIA, Las Vegas)
HRD - Diamond High Council (Antwerp, Belgium)
Gubelin Labs in Lucerne, Switzerland; Does mostly R & D
IGI - International Gemological Institute (Worldwide)
Several other local labs like AGA, GCAL, etc. are not included in this list

In the United States, the GIA, EGL and AGSL have a prominent presence. GIA and AGSL do not give a value to the gemstones graded. They are only interested in giving their honest and straight forward certification of the actual gradings and do not involve in the money wars of appraisals and monetary evaluations. EGL, on the other hand has this optional. They are called the Universal Gemological Services (U.G.S.)

As compared to GIA other laboratories i.e. EGL, IGI or any local labs tend to be softer. GIA diamond gradings are strict and more often than not, correctly represented. Majority GIA Graduate Gemologists agree that EGL gradings tend to be higher than the actual diamonds quality. They tend to highly disagree with the UGS appraisal of the stone. A gem laboratory should never give a value or appraisal to a stone. What's more important though is the grading. If the grading is linient then the value is going to be higher than what the actual value of the stone is!

GIA vs EGL!

GIA certified diamonds tend to be accurate representations of the clarity, color and the cut grading. However, since they have such a good reputation, GIA certified diamonds are more expensive. They also are more expensive to be certified and laser inscribed. On the other hand, there are some EGL certified diamonds that are cut to provide excellent brilliance and fire. They also cost slightly less. However, It is highly recommended to get EGL certified diamonds independently checked by a GIA educated Graduate Gemologist to verify the gradings.

So Would You Buy a Certified or an Uncertified Diamond?

The main purpose of a certificate is safety. A certificate comes with a plot or a map of the diamond, which points out the inclusions relative to what you would see under magnification. That is the whole purpose of a certificate. This way, you do not have to trust the seller. You can look at the diamond under the loupe or magnification and look at the plot. The actual inclusions in the diamond coincide somewhat with the inclusions marked on the plot, then you have the same stone. However, if you trust the seller, then he can provide you with just a plot of the diamond for your reference and records. This diamond plot will accurately depict the current condition of your diamond and provide you with the safety that you need.

Please visit our Online Store or contact us toll free at (800) 657-5435 to get information about or certified diamonds.