GIA or EGL? Is one really better?

[Samara83]

I''ve noticed there is quite a big price difference in a loose diamond that comes with a GIA cert vs a EGL cert. People have told me that I must get a GIA cert, but is this really true? Why are the EGL diamonds less expensive? I heard that sometimes if you send a diamond with a EGL cert to GIA, you could get a totally different report back. I am confused!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Here is a very good discussion on EGL that will answer your question I think:

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/egl-certification-are-any-of-them-ok.142863/

 

[stone-cold11]

EGL is known to be soft in color and clarity grading, so much so that the trade traded the stones at a discount between themselves if the stones is graded by EGL when compared to GIA to take into account of the soft grading. If the stone is graded accurately by EGL, why would anyone not send these stones to GIA and get a better selling price for the stone?

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 5/23/2010 3:03:16 PM
Author:Samara83
I've noticed there is quite a big price difference in a loose diamond that comes with a GIA cert vs a EGL cert. People have told me that I must get a GIA cert, but is this really true? Why are the EGL diamonds less expensive? I heard that sometimes if you send a diamond with a EGL cert to GIA, you could get a totally different report back. I am confused!

EGL can be lenient on grading in some cases, so this often accounts for the cheaper price compared to GIA or AGS graded stones. Read more from this link from the Pricescope Tutorial which explains how the grading labs rank.

It can happen if an EGL graded diamond is sent to GIA that the stone can grade lower than EGL graded it. From the above link there is a survey which did just that you might be interested in.

 

[kenny]

A GIA F VS1 is not really more expensive than an EGL F VS1.
The problem is the EGL F VS1 is very unlikely to be graded F VS1 by GIA's standards.
GIA would very likely grade it lower, perhaps H SI1 or even worse.

This is shocking but true.
No lab has zero error and human judgement is involved, but GIA has higher grading standards and adheres to them more closely than EGL does.

This makes price comparisons meaningless.
Also since EGL is inconsistent you can't even assume a one-grade or two-grade price adjustment factor.
People who think GIA diamonds are more expensive than EGL diamonds have not been informed of all this.

That said, once in a while someone does get lucky (or did tons of homework and shopping) and finds an EGL diamond at a great price for what its true grades are.

 

[WinkHPD]

I was going to jump in here, but others already said it very well!

Wink.

P.S. In the trade we pay less for EGL because we know to expect less.