I am a Graduate Gemologist from GIA.
I would like to preface this post by saying there are many honest people in the diamond industry. They are forthcoming with the truth and willing to back up what they say with facts.
Now, that all having been said let me say this. There are many people in the trade that will do several things to confuse or disorient you from knowing what is really the truth about diamonds they sell. Here is one of the worst things that people are victimized by.
Some trades people will use inferior labs for many reasons. One of which is they are more generous about grading than GIA.
But know this, the most important diamonds in the world are all graded by GIA and anyone cutting, selling or buying any significant stone is going to have it graded by GIA. GIA (and this is important) CREATED THE DIAMOND GRADING SCALE and characteristics of diamond grading. Anyone who tells you anything else is lying. That is why you should always buy a GIA certified diamond. They created the process of grading diamonds. But I digress.
What many people do is buy stones that they know very well are not the quality that they are purported to be. Then they sell them as though they were what they should be, instead of what they actually are. Meaning they know perhaps that the cut on a diamond is not very good but it has decent color and clarity so they sell it as though the cut matched the other stats on the stone. They use other labs that will give them higher color grades or higher clarity ratings OR CUT GRADES and then use those false statistics to sell the diamond.
I know of one corporation that preys on military people through targeted advertising. They use inferior labs and information to confuse, and tell people they are as accurate as GIA which is not true. Then they call the managers Gemologist when all they have done is take a test from the company that tells them they are a Gemologist. Which I thought was a riot myself. But they could not certify a diamond in a court of law. And a GIA certified Gemologist CAN. THAT IS A BIG DIFFERENCE.
It is always best to go to GIA for grading because they are considered by the entire world to be the one place that has the highest standards for the grading of diamonds. Graff has their diamonds graded by GIA, as does Tiffany's, Harry Winston, and every other famous important jewelry house in the world. And most not so famous vendors also use GIA to maintain one standard for everyone.
So use that information for what it's worth. Do you want to believe someone that uses labs to camouflage the truth about a stone or do you go to the leading lab in the world that CREATED DIAMOND GRADING ?
Sometimes people just try to baffle you with BS until you just give in and buy it. And that is pretty easy to do since most people are not well informed about diamonds because they don't plan to buy many. That is an easy one to pull on people. They use pretty charts and photos in fluorescence to impress you when all you need to know is how to read a GIA cert and understand how the numbers work together to create a stone that does what it should.
Most good Gemologists can buy a diamond from a cert using the width and depth you can tell how much fire a diamond is going to have, unless the other facets are way off from a good depth to width ratio. Which happens to be 2% or less difference in depth to width.
Or they will tell you that market trends are changing for this reason or another. The whole point of using GIA is to have ONE STANDARD
for the whole world so that the rules remain the same at all times instead of having some labs use sliding scales to alter the one standard or another.
You should always be careful when you are spending a lot of money on anything as well as diamonds. If your easy to take advantage of then it's hard to feel sorry for you if you let yourself be vulnerable to the point of being gullible.
Most stores have diamonds that are GIA certified and then other stones that are not. Interestingly the GIA diamonds are always more expensive, because they know they are certified by GIA. So your first flag is who or what lab graded the stone ?
Some people sell diamonds that are not graded at all. At that point you would just have to take the sales person word for what that diamond is. And that, I would caution is a very dangerous place to be. It costs $100.00 per carat to have GIA grade a diamond. For a purchase that costs thousands you have to ask yourself WHY would someone sell a diamond that wasn't graded ? And also you should ask yourself why would someone use another lab ? When GIA created the standard for diamond grading ? That is a very good question.
I would never buy a diamond unless it was graded by GIA, that is just me, in the case of smaller diamonds like a one carat I would suppose that it is not a pressing issue, however most people that buy diamonds ARE looking for about a carat stone. So you have to ask yourself why wouldn't someone have it graded if it only costs $100.00 per carat and your spending thousands ? Which is another flag !
I can't think of a reason they wouldn't have GIA grade a diamond.
You can always go to Rapaport news to find some kind of value of diamonds with particular characteristics, but they again use GIA standards on their diamonds to evaluate their worth, and also you have to keep in mind that diamond buyers get considerable discounts from the Rapaport value of diamonds especially if they are big buyers and purchase a lot of stones. So you can get a ball park idea of what a diamond is worth but buyers don't pay those prices for stones either. It is just a guideline for reference.
I always ask why it wasn't graded by GIA ? If they say the other labs are just as good. I know from that point on they are lying. It's a good test to ask someone that question. You can't do something better than the business that created the system. It's just not possible. Anyone that tells you anything different has an agenda of one kind or another. Another thing you can do is tell a seller that you will buy the diamond if they send it to GIA and it comes back with the same stats as the other labs. The dishonest ones will balk at this and hem and haw about why that wouldn't make a difference. The people on this site that are telling you that other labs are as good as GIA are simply lying to you and what's more they know it.
So ask yourself these few questions when your thinking of buying a diamond.
Why isn't the diamond graded by GIA (since they created the diamond grading scale)
Why isn't a diamond graded at all.... ( very important question ) and this situation leaves you completely vulnerable to what ever the sales person wants to tell you... NOT GOOD
And IF they used another lab why would they do that ? What stat on the diamond are they trying to mask with a more generous grading lab ?
After those questions are answered you need to learn what makes a diamond have fire and sparkle, what characteristic of the grading allows this to happen and what characteristic is keeping it FROM happening if it isn't . A diamond should have so much light refraction that the rainbows in the stone actually make it difficult to see the pavilion facets. If this phenomenon does not occur then why and which graded element is keeping it from happening. Proper cutting is what makes this happen unless it is heavily included.
A diamond should not look like a piece of glass that you can see down into easily.
It should be cut so well that the light goes into the stone passes across the pavilion facets and bounces back out the top of the stone.
If it does not do that, there is something wrong. It is your job to find out why and to find a stone that does refract light correctly.
Even brown diamonds refract rainbows if they are cut properly. It is the refractive index of diamonds that makes them beautiful.
It is the sparkle of diamonds that has lured mankind to desire them.
Many of these people trying to sell diamonds know this they are just grateful that you don't know this. There are always in any business the few that give the honest people a bad name by not being honest.
The long and short of it is that if a diamond has 2% or less in depth to width ratio (and providing that the other numbers are not way off from what they should be) it is going to have a lot of light bouncing out the top of the stone in the form of rainbow colored refraction.
Don't be anyone's fool for any reason. If your spending a lot of money, i.e. >more than 10 thousand dollars then you should dig in and learn what you need to know to get value in your diamond. You wouldn't let someone sell you a Volkswagon and tell you it's a Mercedes would you ? Pay attention. And if your spending a lot of money, look around you... if everyone that buys magnificent diamonds has them graded by GIA then who do you think you should have your diamond graded by ?
Don't take anyones word for anything, make them prove it with a GIA cert. Don't let these few babblers throw you off of your focus !
They love to babble & hear their own voices make exceptions for the truth, and make excuses for why they aren't doing what they should.... look around you, and do what smart people do when they are buying a diamond.
No matter what anyone says or how much they babble be logical, and follow what most intelligent people do when they are buying a diamond. It's your money, if you don't care then there are many people ready to take advantage of you. The truth is most honest jewelers will tell you what I have said and they will be happy to get you a GIA certified diamond. It's the other people you should be worried about. I know many honest jewelers and they will tell you exactly what I have written here. And they would be happy to get you a GIA certified diamond of your choice.
If they start trying to tell you that the other labs are the same, you should be cautious from that point on. Ask any of the finest jewelers in the world and they would all agree.
Please be aware of anyone that tells you anything different. The most important people in diamonds are not all wrong.
Be wise, be alert and don't trust anyone that deviates from the norms. If they do there is a reason. Find out what it is.
Jamiegems G. G.
I would like to preface this post by saying there are many honest people in the diamond industry. They are forthcoming with the truth and willing to back up what they say with facts.
Now, that all having been said let me say this. There are many people in the trade that will do several things to confuse or disorient you from knowing what is really the truth about diamonds they sell. Here is one of the worst things that people are victimized by.
Some trades people will use inferior labs for many reasons. One of which is they are more generous about grading than GIA.
But know this, the most important diamonds in the world are all graded by GIA and anyone cutting, selling or buying any significant stone is going to have it graded by GIA. GIA (and this is important) CREATED THE DIAMOND GRADING SCALE and characteristics of diamond grading. Anyone who tells you anything else is lying. That is why you should always buy a GIA certified diamond. They created the process of grading diamonds. But I digress.
What many people do is buy stones that they know very well are not the quality that they are purported to be. Then they sell them as though they were what they should be, instead of what they actually are. Meaning they know perhaps that the cut on a diamond is not very good but it has decent color and clarity so they sell it as though the cut matched the other stats on the stone. They use other labs that will give them higher color grades or higher clarity ratings OR CUT GRADES and then use those false statistics to sell the diamond.
I know of one corporation that preys on military people through targeted advertising. They use inferior labs and information to confuse, and tell people they are as accurate as GIA which is not true. Then they call the managers Gemologist when all they have done is take a test from the company that tells them they are a Gemologist. Which I thought was a riot myself. But they could not certify a diamond in a court of law. And a GIA certified Gemologist CAN. THAT IS A BIG DIFFERENCE.
It is always best to go to GIA for grading because they are considered by the entire world to be the one place that has the highest standards for the grading of diamonds. Graff has their diamonds graded by GIA, as does Tiffany's, Harry Winston, and every other famous important jewelry house in the world. And most not so famous vendors also use GIA to maintain one standard for everyone.
So use that information for what it's worth. Do you want to believe someone that uses labs to camouflage the truth about a stone or do you go to the leading lab in the world that CREATED DIAMOND GRADING ?
Sometimes people just try to baffle you with BS until you just give in and buy it. And that is pretty easy to do since most people are not well informed about diamonds because they don't plan to buy many. That is an easy one to pull on people. They use pretty charts and photos in fluorescence to impress you when all you need to know is how to read a GIA cert and understand how the numbers work together to create a stone that does what it should.
Most good Gemologists can buy a diamond from a cert using the width and depth you can tell how much fire a diamond is going to have, unless the other facets are way off from a good depth to width ratio. Which happens to be 2% or less difference in depth to width.
Or they will tell you that market trends are changing for this reason or another. The whole point of using GIA is to have ONE STANDARD
for the whole world so that the rules remain the same at all times instead of having some labs use sliding scales to alter the one standard or another.
You should always be careful when you are spending a lot of money on anything as well as diamonds. If your easy to take advantage of then it's hard to feel sorry for you if you let yourself be vulnerable to the point of being gullible.
Most stores have diamonds that are GIA certified and then other stones that are not. Interestingly the GIA diamonds are always more expensive, because they know they are certified by GIA. So your first flag is who or what lab graded the stone ?
Some people sell diamonds that are not graded at all. At that point you would just have to take the sales person word for what that diamond is. And that, I would caution is a very dangerous place to be. It costs $100.00 per carat to have GIA grade a diamond. For a purchase that costs thousands you have to ask yourself WHY would someone sell a diamond that wasn't graded ? And also you should ask yourself why would someone use another lab ? When GIA created the standard for diamond grading ? That is a very good question.
I would never buy a diamond unless it was graded by GIA, that is just me, in the case of smaller diamonds like a one carat I would suppose that it is not a pressing issue, however most people that buy diamonds ARE looking for about a carat stone. So you have to ask yourself why wouldn't someone have it graded if it only costs $100.00 per carat and your spending thousands ? Which is another flag !
I can't think of a reason they wouldn't have GIA grade a diamond.
You can always go to Rapaport news to find some kind of value of diamonds with particular characteristics, but they again use GIA standards on their diamonds to evaluate their worth, and also you have to keep in mind that diamond buyers get considerable discounts from the Rapaport value of diamonds especially if they are big buyers and purchase a lot of stones. So you can get a ball park idea of what a diamond is worth but buyers don't pay those prices for stones either. It is just a guideline for reference.
I always ask why it wasn't graded by GIA ? If they say the other labs are just as good. I know from that point on they are lying. It's a good test to ask someone that question. You can't do something better than the business that created the system. It's just not possible. Anyone that tells you anything different has an agenda of one kind or another. Another thing you can do is tell a seller that you will buy the diamond if they send it to GIA and it comes back with the same stats as the other labs. The dishonest ones will balk at this and hem and haw about why that wouldn't make a difference. The people on this site that are telling you that other labs are as good as GIA are simply lying to you and what's more they know it.
So ask yourself these few questions when your thinking of buying a diamond.
Why isn't the diamond graded by GIA (since they created the diamond grading scale)
Why isn't a diamond graded at all.... ( very important question ) and this situation leaves you completely vulnerable to what ever the sales person wants to tell you... NOT GOOD
And IF they used another lab why would they do that ? What stat on the diamond are they trying to mask with a more generous grading lab ?
After those questions are answered you need to learn what makes a diamond have fire and sparkle, what characteristic of the grading allows this to happen and what characteristic is keeping it FROM happening if it isn't . A diamond should have so much light refraction that the rainbows in the stone actually make it difficult to see the pavilion facets. If this phenomenon does not occur then why and which graded element is keeping it from happening. Proper cutting is what makes this happen unless it is heavily included.
A diamond should not look like a piece of glass that you can see down into easily.
It should be cut so well that the light goes into the stone passes across the pavilion facets and bounces back out the top of the stone.
If it does not do that, there is something wrong. It is your job to find out why and to find a stone that does refract light correctly.
Even brown diamonds refract rainbows if they are cut properly. It is the refractive index of diamonds that makes them beautiful.
It is the sparkle of diamonds that has lured mankind to desire them.
Many of these people trying to sell diamonds know this they are just grateful that you don't know this. There are always in any business the few that give the honest people a bad name by not being honest.
The long and short of it is that if a diamond has 2% or less in depth to width ratio (and providing that the other numbers are not way off from what they should be) it is going to have a lot of light bouncing out the top of the stone in the form of rainbow colored refraction.
Don't be anyone's fool for any reason. If your spending a lot of money, i.e. >more than 10 thousand dollars then you should dig in and learn what you need to know to get value in your diamond. You wouldn't let someone sell you a Volkswagon and tell you it's a Mercedes would you ? Pay attention. And if your spending a lot of money, look around you... if everyone that buys magnificent diamonds has them graded by GIA then who do you think you should have your diamond graded by ?
Don't take anyones word for anything, make them prove it with a GIA cert. Don't let these few babblers throw you off of your focus !
They love to babble & hear their own voices make exceptions for the truth, and make excuses for why they aren't doing what they should.... look around you, and do what smart people do when they are buying a diamond.
No matter what anyone says or how much they babble be logical, and follow what most intelligent people do when they are buying a diamond. It's your money, if you don't care then there are many people ready to take advantage of you. The truth is most honest jewelers will tell you what I have said and they will be happy to get you a GIA certified diamond. It's the other people you should be worried about. I know many honest jewelers and they will tell you exactly what I have written here. And they would be happy to get you a GIA certified diamond of your choice.
If they start trying to tell you that the other labs are the same, you should be cautious from that point on. Ask any of the finest jewelers in the world and they would all agree.
Please be aware of anyone that tells you anything different. The most important people in diamonds are not all wrong.
Be wise, be alert and don't trust anyone that deviates from the norms. If they do there is a reason. Find out what it is.
Jamiegems G. G.
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