Need advice about EGL certs

violinman · Oct 20, 2006

I do not live in the US, most of the diamonds I am looking at do not have GIA certificates. They do have EGL certs.
I have never heard of them and I was wondering how a diamond with a certificate from EGL would stand up to scrutiny by GIA.

Any one with any information would be very useful.
I am looking for a diamond for my wife around one carat, round.
Just wondering of the accuracy of the cert.

Thanks

Jack

belle · Oct 20, 2006

egl has different ''branches'' and it has been noted that those outside of egl-usa are not as strict. we have seen examples here of at least 2color/clarity grades different.

here is an article about lab grading http://grading.pricescope.com/

oldminer · Oct 20, 2006

A diamond can be correctly graded by an independent gemologist in nearly every part of the world. Pick one you like and can afford, then get it evaluated and graded. You could do just fine.

One thing we did find when we made a limited comparison of the labs was that diamonds with EGL reports had the potential to occasionally be exceptionally good values for consumers. This is because of the general discount given them and sometimes a stone is simply graded just as GIA or AGS might have graded it. That stone becomes a super value.

With GIA and AGS paperwork diamonds are not discounted. There are fewer hidden, super priced stones under those circumstances. You might say you can rely more on their paperwork, but the possibility of a super value diamond is just about nil.

So, do you like a little gamble? Or, do you prefer to pay for added security? Do you have the time to shop properly and are you willing to look for independent advice? Are you impulsive or short of time?

These things will dictate how you proceed.