Certificating a diamond in the UK?

[Lottie]

Hello all
I have a diamond that I think I would like to sell, it is uncertified and my thinking is that it will sell much better if it is certified however I live in the UK. Does anyone know where or how I would go about doing this in the UK, and for those that have had a stone certified (UK or US) roughly how much did it cost?

 

[kenny]

I think a GIA report is the most reputable you can get.
During a sale (to me at least) it will carry more weight than any document from any appraiser.

Since shipping for grading is not a sale, I'd find out if you temporarily send your diamond to NY and avoid taxes, fees, duty, customs, VAT or whatever your country calls it.

Here is GIA's fee schedule.

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

 

[Lottie]

Thank you Kenny, that's a great idea.

 

[kenny]

If it is a no-go on shipping it to NY, GIA has labs in other countries too.

I'd be interested to hear if they are as reputable, or if there is even anything on the report to indicate which lab/country it was graded in.

 

[Lottie]

I have just been looking the the GIA website and there is a base in London, I have emailed an inquiry as to whether or not I can have my diamond graded there and if it would be considered a GIA certification. We do have Gem-A here, which I believe is highly regarded but I have been unable to find any info on this subject on the Gem-A website.

I think I will give both labs a call in the morning, I will ask if it states on the report where it was graded as well.

 

[kenny]

I have just been looking the the GIA website and there is a base in London, I have emailed an inquiry as to whether or not I can have my diamond graded there and if it would be considered a GIA certification. We do have Gem-A here, which I believe is highly regarded but I have been unable to find any info on this subject on the Gem-A website.

I think I will give both labs a call in the morning, I will ask if it states on the report where it was graded as well.

If GIA-London does not grade it, perhaps they could ship it to GIA NY for you, avoiding sales-related fees.

 

[mastercut]

Within the U.K. the Achor Lab is quite good.
http://www.anchorcert.co.uk/

Or HRD in Antwerp
http://www.hrd.be/en/certification/certificates.aspx
Really high quality, very respectable European lab. The best in Europe. Some of the U.S. guys won´t agree, but I stand behind it is at least as good as GIA

 

[Lottie]

Just to update, I did ring GIA London who advised that the office here is purely for educationaly purposes and referred me to Gem-A.

They ship the stones to New York to be certificated which takes about six weeks in total, on top of the shipping and grading fee you also have to be a member of Gem-A which is a 90GBP annual fee.

 

[Pandora II]

Lottie, I'm a member - don't know if I can help you in any way?

 

[Lottie]

Thank you Pandora, thats really kind of you but I think I should probably just put the diamond at the back of the jewellery box, accept that I don't really like it and spend the money on something I do like instead. I keep going from resetting to selling it and I think ultimately I would be better off keeping it for Neve when she is older.

 

[Pandora II]

I would ditto the recommendation on HRD in Antwerp - I believe they drop-ship from somewhere in London as well.

To be honest, I wouldn't sell a diamond as the resale value is always so low - keep it for one of your daughters!