James Allen Diamonds GIA vs. IGI Is one better than the other-differences for the buyer?

[Diamond Best Friend]

Can anyone explain why the company James Allen Diamonds seems to be carrying more and more IGI diamonds? I thought GIA was the gold standard for labs? Thanks

 

[musicloveranthony]

Cost to certify and generosity of grading would be my assumption (decreased cost and increased asking price resultant)

 

[Karl_K]

IGI in my opinion is okish for mmd or lab diamonds as long as it is the graded unmounted report due to the lower cost but gia/ags is the standard for mined diamonds.
This came to be mainly because of the way gia/ags has treated mmd.
They are trying to ride the mmd momentum into the minded diamond space.

 

[kb1gra]

They carry a lot of lab stones where IGI is the lab of choice since for a long time GIA wouldn’t grade them.

 

[Ibrakeforpossums]

Which lab does Wink like for lab-growns? Is it G-Cal?

 

[kb1gra]

Which lab does Wink like for lab-growns? Is it G-Cal?

GCAL grades light return for some cuts, so it is nice if you can find it, but still pretty rare overall relative to IGI.