The previous installment of the 2013 Holiday Buying Guide covered the basics of the 4Cs of diamond qualities. But how will you know that the diamond you’re considering buying has the qualities you’re looking for? The answer…an independent, unbiased evaluation.   

This evaluation is called a grading report, and it is essential that you request to see a grading report for any diamond purchase you’re considering this holiday before you make your purchase.

As creator of the 4Cs and the International Diamond Grading System^TM, GIA is considered the benchmark independent grading laboratory. GIA was the first to issue independent grading reports in the early 1950s, and today its Diamond Grading Report and Diamond Dossier® are globally recognized and trusted. A GIA grading report contains a full scientific and unbiased assessment of your diamond’s 4Cs and discloses any known treatments.

What actually goes into a grading report? The third installment of the 2013 Holiday Buying Guide provides an informative video tutorial to walk you through the features and benefits found on a GIA grading report, and explain what that means for you and your diamond.

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First
Choose a jeweler as you would a doctor, lawyer or other trusted advisor. Your jeweler should be armed with expert training, open to questions and able to provide answers in clear, simple language. One measure of a jeweler’s knowledge is whether he or she is professionally trained. Preferably, his or her training comes from a highly-recognized and internationally accredited program, such as GIA’s Graduate Gemologist (G.G) or Accredited Jewelry Professional (A.J.P.) diploma programs. An educated jeweler will explain the 4Cs of diamond quality to you as well as be able to demonstrate the differences between apparently similar gems. They will also encourage you to compare a number of diamonds that fall in your budget.

Second
Familiarize yourself with the 4Cs of diamond quality in order to understand a diamond’s value and price.

Color − in most diamonds, the term actually refers to the absence of color. The less color in the diamond, the more desirable and valuable it is.

Clarity − measures the number, size and placement of internal ‘inclusions’ and external ‘blemishes.’

Cut − does not refer to a diamond’s shape, but to the proportion and arrangement of its facets and the quality of workmanship. The amount of brilliance, sparkle and fire in a diamond is determined by cut.

Carat − refers to a diamond’s weight. Generally speaking, the higher the carat weight, the more expensive the stone.

We will explore more about the 4Cs here tomorrow so you are prepared to ask important questions.

Third
Ask for a diamond grading report from an unbiased, scientific source like GIA. The differences in diamonds can be so subtle, even a trained jeweler can’t recognize them without lab verification. Insist that any diamond you buy come with verification of its quality.

Fourth
Protect your purchase by having your diamond appraised and insured. Appraisers and insurers rely on diamond grading reports (another good reason to ask for a grading report) to accurately evaluate the value of gems. There are several appraisal associations to assist you with finding one in your area. As an additional measure, consider having your diamond laser-inscribed with its GIA report number, to provide verification if it is ever lost or stolen.

Be sure not to miss our follow-up post tomorrow for more detailed information on the 4Cs, so you can make your diamond purchase with confidence. We’d love to help, so please ask any questions in the comment section below.

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Purchasing a diamond ring can be overwhelming. After you get through the education process of learning the diamond 4Cs there is still one more piece of the puzzle: understanding the difference between a grading report and an appraisal.

A diamond grading report, sometimes referred to as a certificate, is an official “blueprint” of a diamond. It will tell you the specific measurements and shape of your diamond, as well as point out the individual characteristics of your stone. One of the most widely recognized reports is the GIA Diamond Grading Report. Based on the International Diamond Grading System™ that GIA created nearly 60 years ago, the GIA Diamond Grading Report is an unbiased and scientifically-based assessment of your stone’s qualities. The report lets you know that your stone is in fact a diamond, and not some other material.  It describes your diamond’s Clarity, Color, Cut, Carat weight, proportions and finish. The report also identifies any known treatments.

A grading report, or certificate, is not the same thing as an appraisal. An appraisal is an estimate of a diamond’s monetary worth. An appraisal assigns a value based on current market conditions and the quality of the diamond. A GIA report, on the other hand, provides an objective assessment of a diamond’s quality, information which appraisers often use in assigning value.

Though a diamond’s value may appreciate or depreciate over time, a diamond’s qualities are unlikely to change. To document those qualities, GIA has developed three different types of grading reports: Diamond Grading Report, Diamond Dossier® and Diamond eReport. Most appraisers and insurance agencies consider GIA reports to be the most accurate and highly regarded official documents of diamond quality.

GIA Diamond Grading Report
In addition to a diamond’s 4Cs information, the Diamond Grading Report provides a plotted diagram of the stone’s clarity characteristics and a graphic representation of its proportions, information which serves to identify the individual stone.

GIA Diamond Dossier ®
The Diamond Dossier, available for diamonds that weigh between 0.15 and 1.99 carats, is a more concise, compact version of the GIA Diamond Grading Report. Instead of a plotted diagram of the clarity characteristics, this service includes the laser inscription of the diamond’s unique report number on the stone’s girdle.

GIA Diamond eReport
The eReport is a digital-only, paperless report that includes a graphic representation of the diamond’s proportions, and the added feature of a detailed face up image of the diamond captured during the grading process.

All GIA grading reports are intended to be used as a source of accurate, unbiased and trustworthy information about a diamond’s quality. Remember, a diamond report is not a certificate or guarantee and does not indicate a diamond’s monetary value. While an appraisal does not guarantee a price that can be fetched on the market for a given stone, it is an indicator that helps consumers understand the potential value of their diamond.  Both are important, but be sure to get a Diamond Grading Report before purchasing your very special diamond, so you are clear about what your diamond’s quality is.

The post What is the difference between a Diamond Grading Report and an Appraisal? appeared first on GIA 4Cs Blog.

Perhaps a special piece of diamond jewelry has been passed down to you. It may be a ring or a pendant set with a beautiful gem. Because this item did not come from a jeweler or gemologist, you really have no way of knowing anything about the diamond’s color, clarity, cut or carat weight – those factors that determine quality, and help you decide whether the diamond is  worth resetting or leaving it as it came.

GIA Diamond Grading Report

A GIA Diamond Grading Report is ideal for this exact situation. The report is easy to read and provides important information about your stone.   First, a GIA Diamond Grading Report will confirm that your stone is in fact a diamond – and not a diamond simulant or diamond synthetic.  It will tell you the 4Cs (color, clarity, cut, and carat weight) of your diamond’s quality as well as give you a plotted diagram of its clarity characteristics and a graphic representation of the diamond’s proportions.  And while a GIA report does not list monetary value, appraisers will use the report as a basis for determining your diamond’s value should you decide to insure or sell your stone.

People from all over the world send their diamonds to GIA for grading and analysis – and you don’t have to be a jeweler or industry professional to do so.  If you’re lucky enough to live in a city where GIA has a laboratory, you can walk in and request the service in person.  If this is not an option, your best bet is to find a reputable jeweler who carries GIA-graded diamonds or has GIA-trained associates on staff, and request them to submit the stone on your behalf.  While you can certainly send your diamond to GIA on your own, the complexities of packaging, shipping and insuring items of high value are best handled by people who do this regularly.

Another reason to submit your diamond through a jeweler is that the diamond will have to be removed from its setting prior to being sent to GIA, since GIA Diamond Grading Reports are only issued for unmounted stones.

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GIA strives to make sure diamond grading is objective and fair, keeping a standard in the diamond market, so that the public can buy a diamond with a GIA report and know that the report is accurate and absolutely impartial. This creates the ultimate peace of mind for your diamond purchase.

GIA takes elaborate steps to ensure that its grading processes remain impartial. One way is by making sure that a diamond goes through the process anonymously – meaning that the graders and gemologists who examine the stone do not know who its owner is, and the diamond’s owner has no way of knowing who grades his stone. This ensures that a diamond will be evaluated with the utmost objectivity and integrity.

Blind grading is very important because a diamond’s price is directly tied to its grade. So you want to be certain that the grade is based on independent, unbiased evaluation. As a scientific institute dedicated to protecting the public trust, GIA remains scrupulously focused on nothing but the truth of the stone.

When GIA receives a diamond at the laboratory, it’s immediately placed into a custom designed, transparent storage case, and all references to its owner are removed or concealed.

The diamond is then assigned a bar-coded label with a unique internal identification number that is used to track it throughout the grading process.

GIA’s Inventory Control Department serves as the hub for laboratory operations. Between grading process steps, a diamond is distributed from and returned to this department, ensuring that the distribution of diamonds to graders is random. This is just one of several critical measures in an independent and impartial grading process.

Additionally, client information is masked within the software diamond graders use to enter their assessments. GIA asks clients to assist in this process by submitting items in parcel papers free of information that identifies them as the client or refers to grading information.

Source:

http://www.gia.edu/lab-reports-services/diamonds/index.html

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If your stone has a GIA grading report, it’s in our database. Isn’t that comforting?

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Says Tom Moses, senior vice president of the GIA Laboratory and Research, “We are confident we can identify virtually all of these treated diamonds as a result of our extensive research in this area.”

The added benefit of getting a grading report from GIA is that the grading process always reveals the diamond has been treated. That gives you added peace of mind about your purchase.

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