GIA to grade Labs Pass /Fail... 4 C's for Naturals only.

[freddyboston]

This is interesting.... I imagine in the future most Synthetics will be using IGI exclusively....(unless IGI follows suit)

“The GIA will start using descriptive terms to characterize the quality of lab-grown diamonds and will no longer use the color and clarity nomenclature that GIA developed for natural diamonds,” the institute explained.

GIA Migrates Lab-Grown Terminology Away from That of Natural

GIA has updated the terms it will use to describe lab-grown on reports, to distinguish them further from natural diamonds.

rapaport.com

Lab-grown diamonds have their place in the market. But we must stop pretending they are interchangeable with natural diamonds. They are not heirlooms, they are not investments, and they are not rare.

Breaking: GIA Redefines Lab Grown Diamond Grading Report

GIA updates its lab grown diamond grading report, replacing the 4Cs with new terms—clarifying the difference between lab grown and natural diamonds.

www.naturaldiamonds.com

 

[oldminer]

No doubt, the mined diamond sellers will be somewhat happy about this decision by GIA. It won't change the percentage of folks choosing Lab over mined. When diamonds are perceived to have a less costly or more questionable report, their asking price is often less. That may encourage even more competition to the bottom of prices and costs. Probably IGI will do well with continuing to grade Lab diamonds since it looks like they are doing a very large lab business with them and certainly grading within reasonable levels of accuracy. Will consumers want full reports?

I personally like diamonds to be accurately graded, Lab or mined. Consumers are well served by honesty and accuracy much more than by bits of incomplete information that often leads to added confusion. If you want color matched diamonds, either kind of origin, you need color grading from somewhere. The same with general clarity grading. If you want to know every detail, why not offer that information on a first class report?

How will this play out? It always turns out the whatever the consuming public demand is what the diamond trade does. Foot dragging is not uncommon, neither are mistakes in marketing a product, even highly successful ones. What do Consumers and Prosumers think about this? What are your expectations when purchasing diamonds with formal, major lab reports? How would you propose to buy diamonds with only the seller's grading?

 

[Tonks]

Really curious to see what this does to the market for both mined and labs.

 

[MissGotRocks]

Interesting turn. Will be very interesting to see how it plays out with this differentiation between naturals and labs.

 

[freddyboston]

Diamonds will be like airplane seats.... Economy, Premium Economy and Naturals....... GIA is closing the curtain.....

 

[hiratop]

if they want to move the business elsewhere, good move. Otherwise, stupid.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

Tbh from what I see in India, this would be a somewhat welcome move if it translates into a cheaper report and cheaper price for labs. Mostly everyone here who purchases labs is highly price sensitive and is hunting for bottom dollar. They are less fussed about colour and clarity than you’d think, especially compared to natural diamond buyers.

 

[DejaWiz]

The idiocy of GIA's anti-consumer choices, especially now that they could fully implement the far superior AGS cut grading system full-swing and create a true industry benchmark for the entire globe, never ceases to amaze me...

 

[MissGotRocks]

The idiocy of GIA's anti-consumer choices, especially now that they could fully implement the far superior AGS cut grading system full-swing and create a true industry benchmark for the entire globe, never ceases to amaze me...

I understand your sentiment, but I am sure there is a method to their madness. Perhaps not for them as a grading lab, but the the jewelry industry itself.
They can justify it by saying that most of the labs are in higher colors, have no fluorescence, and clarity not a huge concern. What is missing in my mind, is the assessment of cut quality. If you are well versed in cut, you are able to scope out the best. Most average consumers are not that well versed. On the other hand, that has been true of natural diamond buyers for years. The averaging that GIA continues to use tells me that they are very happy with broad cut parameters. Again, that benefits the whole industry as opposed to consumers.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Seems right now the vast majority of lab stones are DEF and VVS clarity…. Not sure how a nuanced report that differentiates among those grades matters especially when the grade has little impact in price. I don’t see this affecting consumers much tbh. For consumers who want much larger lab stones they can still rely on IGI if D vs E matters to them.

I’ve seen some more tinted and included lab stones. How common are those? Where does that demand come from in labs, other than desiring a more natural looking stone? And is there a large price difference from DE VVS? That seems the only real place where consumers would need a more detailed GIa report.

 

[freddyboston]

I wonder if GIA will stop weighing Labs too ? Just report the size + shape... "Premium" 9mm Round...

 

[Rockdiamond]

Freakin' looosers.............Such MAROONS!!!!
Good riddance.
I mean, I hate it that GIA is doing this...... but shooting one's self in the foot....so unattractive.
From the GIA page....
To understand why this change to lab-grown diamond grading matters, it’s essential to examine what drives the value of natural diamonds: rarity and identity. Each natural diamond is finite, with unique growth patterns, internal inclusions, and color subtleties shaped by millions or even billions of years underground. These one-of-a-kind gems are the original luxury product—not just beautiful but rare and no longer forming in nature. Synthetic or lab-grown diamonds, conversely, can be created in virtually unlimited quantities and replicated in appearance with astonishing ease. There is no rarity. There is no geological story. There is no true investment potential.

Ring Courtesy of The Clear Cut


Has this guy ever tried to sell a diamond??????
It's really disgusting for me, as a lifetime trade member.
LIE LIKE A RUG.

They're having a huge party over at IGI

 

[elle_chris]

Seems right now the vast majority of lab stones are DEF and VVS clarity…. Not sure how a nuanced report that differentiates among those grades matters especially when the grade has little impact in price. I don’t see this affecting consumers much tbh. For consumers who want much larger lab stones they can still rely on IGI if D vs E matters to them.

I’ve seen some more tinted and included lab stones. How common are those? Where does that demand come from in labs, other than desiring a more natural looking stone? And is there a large price difference from DE VVS? That seems the only real place where consumers would need a more detailed GIa report.

This.

The price difference between just one grade in naturals can mean tens of thousands.

But what does it really mean for labs?
Nothing.

For consumers that care whether their lab is a D or E, there's still IGI.

 

[Dreamer_D]

I wonder if GIA will stop weighing Labs too ? Just report the size + shape... "Premium" 9mm Round...

lol. Are you using reductio ad absurdum here or is this a real pondering?

 

[freddyboston]

seriously.. why bother weighing them ? they've crossed the Rubicon
from the Lab Forum... "Premium" 11.25 mm Round

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

I never understood why people need to get their lab stones graded especially by an expensive lab like GIA. If I buy a cheap heated sapphire, I send it to the cheap little lab and get it graded for $10. It’s not worth the price of a full report at a more expensive lab. I assume lab diamonds are the same. Why would you spend money grading on something that’s only worth peanuts anyway?

 

[newtojewels]

I never understood why people need to get their lab stones graded especially by an expensive lab like GIA. If I buy a cheap heated sapphire, I send it to the cheap little lab and get it graded for $10. It’s not worth the price of a full report at a more expensive lab. I assume lab diamonds are the same. Why would you spend money grading on something that’s only worth peanuts anyway?

I've thought this too. We don't get grading reports for CZ or lab sapphire or moissanite, so now that lab diamonds are moving into a similar price range, does it really make sense to grade them? Maybe it does for the ultra premium custom-cut lab diamonds, but that doesn't seem like the new majority of the market.

 

[oncrutchesrightnow]

As a consumer I don’t think it’s a bad move to shift toward not grading most diamonds. LGD and naturals. Why not do away with pointless reports in every case where there is nothing special? I have GIA reports on 0.23 ct natural side stones… could have done without those reports.

Agree that consumers will continue to want some guarantee of authenticity, quality, treatment, and origin. So simplified reports should suffice, LGD or natural.

But no detailed grading of any LGD whatsoever? Consumers may pay more for special cuts/colors/traits/brands and it seems there would still be a market for lab reports in those cases. E.g. “Authentic Geekshine branded diamond, deep forest green circular brilliant with orange phosphorescence and metallic inclusions sufficient to attract a magnet.” So why completely preclude oneself from grading any LGD?

The effort to distinguish natural and LGD will not, IMHO, lure back most consumers. The question is how many people will pay how much money for how much smaller and how much lower quality diamonds. Somebody very smart might have a good idea what those numbers are. And for how long. And then change course again.

 

[Tonks]

I've thought this too. We don't get grading reports for CZ or lab sapphire or moissanite, so now that lab diamonds are moving into a similar price range, does it really make sense to grade them? Maybe it does for the ultra premium custom-cut lab diamonds, but that doesn't seem like the new majority of the market.

When a local jeweler started selling labs, GIA certification was the push the SA tried to use on me.

“They’re great now,” he said. “They are GIA diamonds!”

I am still in the natural camp but my guess is if they were pushing stock that way, the GIA name gave a certain edge that could push people over into choosing a lab over mined. It’s a huge name. It’s the one non-jewelry people know. It lends legitimacy.

 

[freddyboston]

GIA isn't really giving up much business.... IGI pretty much owns the Lab Grading space. But yes they did confer legitimacy and help contribute to the public's perception that Diamonds and Synthetic Diamonds are equivalents...

GIA has never become the lab of choice for created diamonds. Its president and CEO, Susan Jacques, told JCK earlier this year that GIA grades fewer than 5% of lab-grown diamonds on the market.
“At [current lab-grown] prices, certification doesn’t really make sense any longer,” she said.

GIA Changes Its Lab-Grown Grading (Again) - JCK

Later this year, GIA will stop grading lab-grown diamonds by the color and clarity scale it uses for natural diamonds and instead use two broad

www.jckonline.com

 

[Chelsea Palmer]

GIA isn't really giving up much business.... IGI pretty much owns the Lab Grading space. But yes they did confer legitimacy and help contribute to the public's perception that Diamonds and Synthetic Diamonds are equivalents...

GIA has never become the lab of choice for created diamonds. Its president and CEO, Susan Jacques, told JCK earlier this year that GIA grades fewer than 5% of lab-grown diamonds on the market.
“At [current lab-grown] prices, certification doesn’t really make sense any longer,” she said.

GIA Changes Its Lab-Grown Grading (Again) - JCK

Later this year, GIA will stop grading lab-grown diamonds by the color and clarity scale it uses for natural diamonds and instead use two broad

www.jckonline.com

What shocking to me is that Ms. Jacques used the word “ certification” to describe GIA’s services. Simply because GIA prohibits the use of the word “certify” to describe what they do. I know people erroneously refer to GIA grading reports as “certificates” all the time, but I did not expect the president and CEO of GIA to do the same.

 

[Dreamer_D]

seriously.. why bother weighing them ? they've crossed the Rubicon
from the Lab Forum... "Premium" 11.25 mm Round

Maybe! In that case it’s hard to imagine why a lab report is needed… for example just assume anything without a report is lab. What’s the point of the added expanse at all?

 

[Dreamer_D]

I suppose you want to know if it HPHT or CVD… but does it matter if it doesn’t impact price substantially?

It will be interesting to see where this goes in the next year. I still think back in the woman who posted here about 5 years ago who bought multiple 5+ct lab diamonds each in the 100k plus range…

 

[Lentibulariaceae]

I’ll finally admit it: I think lab diamonds are ugly as sin. I think the super white with grey modifiers is ugly. I think the super clear flawless rock is ugly.

That said: I think GIA is digging themselves a fairly nice pit with this. I could understand if they just said that they fall into such a narrow range, it is no longer reasonable to grade them by the same metrics as naturals. That’s fine.

But it seems here that they are taking the far more personal, one-sided approach that “lab diamond bad” and that is… not really a great look for them.
I think they absolutely could’ve done this without mentioning that part of it and suffered some loss, but now their reputation is on the line too.

 

[oncrutchesrightnow]

I suppose you want to know if it HPHT or CVD… but does it matter if it doesn’t impact price substantially?

It will be interesting to see where this goes in the next year. I still think back in the woman who posted here about 5 years ago who bought multiple 5+ct lab diamonds each in the 100k plus range…

It seemed like she was determined to spend a lot of money on a lot of stuff. Wonder what she is up to these days. I have a friend who was on a similar path (other stuff, not jewelry) and we could not stop her.

 

[maryjane04]

I still think back in the woman who posted here about 5 years ago who bought multiple 5+ct lab diamonds each in the 100k plus range…

I often think about her too, she's no longer active on here. She also had a collection of branded pieces too though. So maybe money isn't an issue.

 

[Dreamer_D]

I often think about her too, she's no longer active on here. She also had a collection of branded pieces too though. So maybe money isn't an issue.

It’s a mighty big loss though!