EGL Certs

[Googleman]

My boyfriend and I are looking for a diamond around 3 carats. The EGL certed diamonds seem to be better priced. We have the budget for a diamond that is around an H SI1 (with an HCA of 2.0 or less) with a GIA cert. However, it seems as though we could realize significant savings by purchasing an EGL certed stone.

Is it really worth paying a few thousand more for a GIA certed stone? Would it be a good idea to upgrade the color/clairty of the stone and look for something that is EGL certed around the same price? (I don't really feel as though it will be necessary to use the savings to get the same color/clarity in a larger EGL certed stone carat wise--I think 3.0 would be large enough.) Or should we just save some money and look for an G/H SI1 with an EGL cert? Is the EGL really that bad?

Since we are looking to buy over the internet I don't want to have stone after stone shipped to me only so I can have an appraiser tell me it doesn't match the cert and have to ship it back. At the same time I don't want to pass up significant savings on a stone that could be perfectly beautiful just because it has an EGL cert.

 

[Mara]

If I remember correctly, EGL has a few different labs, the one you want to watch out for is one that is not in the US (e.g. EGL Israel). If the cert was done in EGL Los Angeles or similar, supposedly their grading labs here in the US are stricter than international. Do a search on the forums for 'EGL' and I bet you will get lots of info on this topic. Ask to see the certificate when you are considering a diamond and then check to see which EGL lab it was..it says somewhere on the document. Doing this, you may be able to get the EGL savings you mention, but at least ferret out which most likely are more credible. Good luck!!!

 

[Mara]

Also if you are buying online, many reputable sites will be fine with shipping the diamond BEFORE purchase to an independent appraiser (sometimes they have their own list, sometimes you can give a name and they are fine with it) to find out if it's the real deal. Pricescope has a listing of independent appraisers on their site.

here is a url to an old topic where there was a discussion about EGL and the different labs and grading:

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/leonids-posting-on-whiteflash-auction.1891/

I've never posted one of the url's here before so I hope it works. If not, then do a search for 'Leonid's Posting on WhiteFlash'..I think that is the name of the topic.

Good luck!

 

[ADigiusGG]

As a GIA Gemologist, I have seen a lot of different certificates. In my opinion, the savings that you perceive to be getting is based truly on the industries confidence of the grade its been assigned. Its been proven that an EGL certified diamond G/VS2 will come back as a lower color and clarity grade at GIA. In some cases I have seen a difference of up to two quality grades on the same diamond. So when you see these “incredible savings” while your searching this vast market remember the market rarely misquotes the price of a diamond. This savings reflects the confidence of the industry on the quality grade given and the representation of the laboratory grading it.

If you want a diamond that has gone through the most stringent evaluation process that every gemologist in this world respects, then your going to buy a GIA certified stone. If you just want a diamond then just buy an EGL certified stone, but remember not to frown at the gemologist that grades your diamond differently than its certificate.

 

[fire&ice]

I'll jump in with my experience since we recently purchased a 3 carat stone.

The cert IS NOT an indication of the beauty of the stone. My stone is an EGL certed stone. I am very pleased w/ my "I" EGL graded stone at a substanial savings over a GIA graded "I" stone which I saw visible yellow hue.

That said, my jeweler (GIA GG) told the dealer that the stone was going right back if the cert did not hold up to GIA standards. The color held up quite well - the clarity was border line SI2 instead of the stated SI1. It was love at first sight & the price reflected more of an SI2 stone -and neither of us could see inclusions w/ the naked eye.

I would be more cautious w/ EGL NY/LA certs; but, I wouldn't discount them. I would employ the help of an independent appraiser or jeweler who will be your advocate. Actually, in a purchase this large, I wouldn't consider purchasing with out one.

Also, I really would look for a stone w/ Bl. Fluor. Again, it won't change the color grade; but, it could impact what the stone faces up as.

 

[Greentree]

Too true. Buy the diamond, not the cert. I use the cert to decide if a diamond is "in the ballpark" of what I am looking for. A while back I bought my wife an EGL certed diamond. It was rated VS2. It looked great. I couldn't find anything wrong with it. So, before purchase I asked my GIA trained appraiser to grade it and warn me if there was any appreciable error in its grading. Maybe I had missed something important. No problem. I bought the diamond.

I get the feeling that people are equating GIA with Mercedes, AGS with Jaguar, EGL with Toyota, and IGI with Chevrolet. The issuer of the cert has nothing to do with the quality of the diamond.