DIAMOND GRADING REPORTS
Learn About Diamonds
Introduction to Diamond Education
The Four C’s
More Information
Diamond grading reports are issued by independent gemological laboratories. There are several grading laboratories, the most prominent being:
The Gemological Institute of America (GIA);
The American Gem Society (AGS);
The reason it is important to have a Diamond evaluated by an Independent Gemological Laboratory is that Diamonds often contain minute, invisible to the naked eye inclusions or imperfections. These can have a major influence on the price. Therefore, if not for a great deal of scrutiny on the part of the buyer, it is easy to make a mistake and purchase a Diamond of lower value, believing it to be of higher value.
If you find a Diamond you like, and it does not have the proper documentation, there is nothing wrong with asking your Jeweler to send it to a reputable Independent Gemological Laboratory for grading. If your Jeweler has a problem with that, then you should start asking your jeweler and yourself many more questions! This request is a standard practice in the Diamond Industry.
A Diamond grading report is a document issued by a Gemological Laboratory and is essentially a statement confirming the characteristics and authenticity of a Diamond and will usually contain the following information:
REFERENCE NUMBER
This number allows laboratories to access your Diamond information in the event of any queries you may have
SHAPE & STYLE / CUT
The shape & style characteristics relating to your Diamond. Eg. Round Brilliant.
MEASUREMENTS
The measurements for your Diamond, which will either be shown as (minimum diameter) – (maximum diameter) x (depth) for round brilliant Diamonds and (length-top to bottom) x (width-left to right) x (depth) for all other shapes. All measurements will be given in millimeters.
PROPORTIONS
This information is used to highlight your Diamonds values in terms of girdle, culet, durability, weight ratio and tilt.
FINISH
Used to describe the Polish & Symmetry of your Diamond and relates to how smooth the Diamonds facets are. Finish information also takes into account the placement of the Diamonds facets and their uniformity.
COLOR
The laboratories opinion on the color of your Diamond. This may be displayed as a letter (D to Z, with D being a colorless Diamond) or as a number (0 to 10, with 0 being used to describe a colorless Diamond).
CLARITY
This information refers to any blemishes and inclusions that your Diamond may have. This information may be displayed as Flawless / Internally Flawless (FL/IF) to I (Included). As with color, this information may also be displayed as numbers (0-10), with 0 representing a Flawless / Internally Flawless Diamond.
FLUORESCENCE
This part of the report provides you with information on any fluorescence in your Diamond. Fluorescence is a form of illumination that is created when a Diamond is exposed to low or high wave ultraviolet radiation. Fluorescence is graded from none through faint, slight, medium or moderate and continues up to strong and extreme.
WEIGHT
This section gives your Diamonds weight information, to the nearest thousandth of a carat (one carat = 0.2 grams). Carats are further divided into points. Points are used to describe Diamonds of sizes less than one carat in weight. A hundredth of a carat is also called a point. Therefore a 0.10 carat stone can be called either 10 points, or 1/10 of a carat.
PLOT
This part of a Diamond Grading Report will show an enlarged picture of your Diamond and will illustrate the location/s of any blemishes or inclusions in your Diamond.
SCALE
Use this part of your report to compare your Diamonds characteristics against the Color, Cut & Clarity scales.
Worthy of note is that Gemological Laboratories do not sell Diamonds and therefore are able to remain totally impartial when assessing a Diamonds grade.
We only offer Diamonds graded by prominent laboratories including, GIA (Gemological Institute of America)and AGSL (American Gem Society Laboratories)
Please do take the time to view examples of Diamond Certificates from all of the above laboratories, which can be seen below. These examples should help you to become acquainted and familiar with how each report is structured. Additionally, feel free to visit any of the web links on the certificate pages for further information.
Gemological Institute of America
American Gem Society Laboratories
We believe that by offering independently graded Diamonds our customers are able to feel confident and secure in the knowledge that they are getting the Diamond they want. There cannot possibly be any conflict of interest as each of our stones is graded by an independent laboratory.
Our customers are purchasing the ultimate symbol of love and devotion, commitment and togetherness. We believe that our customers are entitled to expect the best, and deserve to be able to feel confident in their decisions.
For these reasons we only offer independently graded Diamonds.
