EGL vs GIA

[abbymax825]

Is there any difference in quality or reliability between these two certs? Is there any way to find out if it is EGL israel or EGL USA? _the reason being, when I search for diamonds using just gia or agl(?) there are significantly less diamonds to choose from and when using the egl cert, there were more diamonds to chose from that were larger and less money, which makes me nervous. (a 1.51 G SI2 with pretty good depth and table that was $4325, no i didn''t get any more info, so it is still a guess, but I was searching for H&A cuts on rounds, any opinions????

 

[niceice]

This has been discussed in detail on many threads here on PS, but essentially the EGL is used by many dealers because they know that they will get better looking paper with the EGL than they will with the AGS or GIA in terms of clarity and color... The more reputable dealers rely on the AGS & GIA for reliable, consistent grading. Our experience has been that while the EGL graded diamonds may appear to be less expensive on a surface level, the reality is that they only seem less expensive because they are not graded accurately. In other words, the EGL graded, VS-2 clarity, F color diamond that you may be considering might only be graded as a G color, SI-1 by the AGS or GIA. The EGL may have it's place in the market, but in our opinion it is in the "Maul" stores.

 

[pricescope]

There are also different EGL labs: USA, Israel, Belgium.

EGL-USA is stricter.

 

[diamondlil]

Among the two EGL-USA labs (Los Angeles and New York), is Los Angeles considered more accurate than New York? That was my impression.




Diamondlil

 

[Giangi]

Okay, here we go:

Antwerp: AO, AP, AQ, AR, AS or AT + 6/7 figures (the first one or two are the month... eg AS 4xxxxx was issued on april, while AS 11xxxxx was issued on november...). The certificate is white and NOT laminated

Israel: starts with 2000, 21, 22, 23... It has 10 digit... The cert is blue and laminated.

USA-NY: older ones start with NA or AN, while newer ones start with US 18/19/21/22/23... LA and NY certs have the same look --the common EGL USA cert--

USA-LA: Starts with 7.

EGL Johannesburg (very unusual): starts with SA.

 

[abbymax825]

so with all that said, and all of that taken into account, AGL or GIA is going to be a more accurate grading than some of the EGL. Before you decide on an EGL be sure to know which EGL lab graded it. As with all diamonds that you are thinking of selecting on the internet, be sure to get an independant appraisal? (My question reguarding this is that isn't an appraisal there to be sure that you are not paying too much for the diamond, or are these people certified to say something like..."I would consider this a "H" insted of a "G".") I guess that is why there are return policies and you should have a close relationship with the vendor that you are working with so that they can be your eyes. Is there anyone that would definatly NOT get an EGL certed stone? When some of you have looked for diamonds for me in the past, have you just looked at AGL or GIA certs or do you include the EGL certed ones also??