Having the GIA cert your diamond

[Bamgela]

Can anyone tell me how much it would cost to have a diamond certified by a major gem lab..... i.e. GIA, EGL, AGS....and who to contact about having that done?
THANKS !!!!
Angela

 

[pricescope]

All these labs will give you a quote if you contact them. Keep in mind that the diamond should be lose and you also pay for shipping & insurance. here are the contact pages:

http://www.agslab.com/contact.html

http://www.gia.edu/contact/114/contact.cfm

http://www.eglusa.com/contactus.html

 

[RockDoc]

GIA will accept diamonds for grading from consumers. 800-421-7250 for more information.

AGS does not accept stones from consumers for grading. A courteous trade person may arrange this and ship it for you.

The costs vary based on who is submitting them ( a trade member will pay less than a consumer will at GIA). The costs also vary based on the type of report you order as well. GIA has a full report, and a Dossier report which are the most common ones for colorless diamonds. They also have several types of reports for fancy color diamonds that also vary in cost.

Same goes for AGS except at this time they don''t do fancy color gradings.

I would suggest however, that you might consider taking the item to a gemologist appraiser who can review the stone before you send it to a major lab. If the diamond you''re considering sending in for grading is one that was given to you that has been previously worn, their may be slight chips or bruises that should be "repaired" before it is sent to the major lab.
The local gemologist will charge you less and perhaps provide some advantageous advice before you start shipping, insuring and sending the stone out. An additional advantage is that most local gemologists can render their opinion based on their in person examination of the stone while you are present, and basically you''d have an opinion at the same time. With GIA and AGS there would be a "waiting period" from several days to several weeks.

GIA offers a service that reports "potential" remarks too. But you have to request that. Essentially, they temporarily tell you if the diamond could be improved without issuing the report, and providing you with the option of getting it improved before they issue the grading document. Not every diamond is improvable, but some are.

Being aware of their different services can make "all the difference" so the grading is done in your best interest.

GIA has labs in CA. and in NY so if you are geographically close you could take it in without having the added costs of shipping.

Rockdoc

 

[elmo]

Date: 7/28/2006 8:01:29 PM
Author:RockDoc
The costs vary based on who is submitting them ( a trade member will pay less than a consumer will at GIA).

Actually I was told by GIA-GTL in CA that this changed recently, presumably as a result all of the stuff going on there in the news. Everyone gets the same price now. As a result, report costs have dropped fairly significantly for consumers. Fee schedule is online, still under the 'trade' section though.

I've actually had folks in the trade set up AGS grading on their account for me, with me shipping to and receiving directly from Vegas. That does take a good relationship with someone though. It is my understanding that there are two different prices for AGSL though, one for the general trade and another for AGS members.