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Newsflash: Grading labs are not all the same.

Just what I have been waiting for! I wish they included AGS.
 
;( The link won't work for me! Server not found.
 
What caught my eye is that for the 10 stones that were sent out to be graded, IGI's composite score was less than 1% higher than GIA's, yet a similar package of IGI-graded stones would have sold at a 23% discount relative to GIA-graded stones. :shock: It looks like there might be some IGI bargains to be found.

I have to add though that the skeptic in me is wondering whether the diamonds were sent as a parcel, and if the labs might have known that this was a "test."
 
Very interesting. Particularly IGI. Thank you for posting.
 
That's a great start, but a lot more data points are needed before any valid conclusions can be drawn. It does support the widely held belief here (based on anecdotal evidence and gut feelings) that GIA is the "gold standard," EGL USA is perhaps not quite as strict, and the international EGLs are not at all strict.

With a lot more data points, greater differences among GIA, IGI, and (to some extent) EGL USA might emerge. If you performed any statistical analysis on these data points, there probably is no statistical difference in this set of numbers.

As another poster posted, I wish AGS had been included.

I know having the stones graded by several labs is expensive, but perhaps more of these tests can be done.

liz
 
This type of exercise has been done before and published by others such as IDEX.

It's always good to keep this "news" transparent... so thank you Neil.

Grading labs are not all the same. Really? NOT a newsflash to me.
 
Considering AGS and GIA seem to be the two main labs, its strange how AGS was left out. Maybe someone could email the author to enquire about this. Its also nice to see that IGI and GIA seem to be pretty close. But as Libby mentioned, the sample size for this experiment might be a little small although it does serve to support the existing hypothesis with regards to each labs strictness.
 
The trade has to have an education session on something it is totally aware of for years so it can act as if the differences were recently uncovered....The innocent dealers who are surprised about this number in the single digits. Everyone in the business knows not all labs are the same. Even GIA labs in different locations come to different results. Retailers on the panel of this presentation were a mixed bunch. One sells any lab paper with their diamonds, one firm sells only GIA certed diamonds. I was left thinking that the retailer who sells any cert uses the "all labs are the same" approach to make a sale. Or possibly, "We let the labs tell us the grade" because "we cannot grade it better ourselves and the entire grading structure is subjective". Pure BS, but that's business.

The best conclusion is to be certain you have return privileges within a reasonable period of time so that you do not get stuck with a diamond that is misrepresented or vastly overpriced.

A small set of 10 diamonds shows something, but the way the scores were calculated included grading for polish, symmetry and fluorescence which mitigated some of the dire impact of misleading color/clarity grading. IGI is a hugely large lab and very busy doing trade work. They are well run and know what they are doing and can do a great job. I think they prefer not to be the GIA, but to serve the industry as they have been doing for a number of years. It is their choice to go on their own path to success and they are successful. Not all that many diamonds in the USA available to independent sellers or individual dealers have IGI paperwork. Mass retailers use this paperwork primarily and the recent years of IGI grading is certainly due some credibility, In other parts of the world, IGI is highly respected. The foreign EGL labs appear to be the problem most often encountered. The US and Canadian EGL labs are not nearly as loose as the other EGL entities in other parts of the world.

Discounts based on which lab are a shortcut, but not the entire story. Diamonds which are weakly graded do sell for large discounts, but those with accurate grading from weak labs do tend to have higher asking prices than those with totally misleading reports. The largest bargains are found in diamonds graded by weak labs where the grading is close to spot on the same as GIA grading. This does happen sometimes, not often because dealers tend to set prices based on reality, not paperwork. Stones graded by weaker labs are just not quite as commoditized as those from GIA because their grading is not relied upon sight unseen to the extent GIA is relied upon over great distances. I think the lower reliance level over distance is the root cause for these generalized "discounts" between GIA and other labs.

It is a strange thing that many AGS graded diamonds sell for a bit more than GIA graded diamonds, but when one is trying to sell an AGS graded diamond back into the dealer market, there is a tendency to be offered a discount from a GIA diamond of equal grading. It isn't a way of saying AGSL is weak, but only a way of saying it isn't a GIA report with world-wide recognition and sight unseen capability equal to GIA.
 
Rapaport has been a significant player in creating this situation so although the general conclusion here is inherently obvious and decades late, it's a bit self righteous to point to the labs as the problem. Now Rap is getting into the lab business, presumably to 'fix' it.

How did they contribute to the problem? Every stone listed on Rapnet lists an assortment of grading parameters that presumably came from the lab. One of the parameters is the name of the lab. The dealer selects from a drop down list of a dozen or two. This list is chosen by Rapaport and it's NOT easy to get on it. They include labs that they consider relevant and the exclude those that they do not. That's fair, anyone who wants to can call themselves a lab and can print up official looking reports. There are hundreds if not thousands of them out there but this very filter serves as an endorsement by Rapaport of the labs included. It's rather like the decision of PS to exclude IGI or GCAL listings but to include EGLI. They had to draw the line somewhere and they chose to accept some labs and not others.

I agree that the IGI findings are interesting. Also HRD. As with the PS study done on this topic years ago, the sample size is awfully small and, in the case of IGI there seems to be a wide range of grading depending on which service is being offered and which lab did the work (they have many locations and offer many different services) so I think the conclusion that bargains abound in IGI goods is a bit of a stretch but I agree that lumping them in with the same group as EGL Israel as shoppers here are inclined to do might be worth rethinking. The game of using this kind of data as a way of creating a conversion chart as a consumer to locate bargains is fundamentally flawed because of the presence of people upstream who can and will resubmit a stone to a different lab if they think it'll make more money with a different pedigree. There is no clue if a stone has been graded several times after all. 'Correctly' graded stones from EGLI never make it to market. They get sent somewhere else and get re-papered. This means that the margin for stones in the marketplace is actually MORE than what is seen with this sort of study.

I suspect the labs were chosen for the study based purely on volume. AGS, as lovely as they are, is significantly smaller than all of the ones chosen. Given that it costs money to do this and that they had to limit it somewhere, I don't see a great problem with the list. Inspections cost about $100 per. 10 stones each to 6 different labs, as light as that is, is actually a significant investment.
 
Still a skeptic. If the prices of IGI were in fact so low as compared to GIA, any jeweler worth his salt will have eyes to judge diamonds that came back from IGI. If the majority of diamonds graded by IGI is indeed true to GIA's standard, obviously anyone in the right mind will know that resending an IGI diamond to GIA will earn MORE profit. Why don't the majority of the jewelers do this?
 
denverappraiser|1371400568|3466918 said:
As with the PS study done on this topic years ago, the sample size is awfully small and, in the case of IGI there seems to be a wide range of grading depending on which service is being offered and which lab did the work (they have many locations and offer many different services) so I think the conclusion that bargains abound in IGI goods is a bit of a stretch but I agree that lumping them in with the same group as EGL Israel as shoppers here are inclined to do might be worth rethinking.
Click to expand...
One of the most common IGI reports a consumer will see in the US are the ones where the diamonds are graded mounted and has a fake value on the report.
In many ways these are worse than EGL Israel reports.
Garry had been saying for years the Europe/Asia IGI loose stone grading has been pretty good.
But their most common product in the US is worth less than the paper its printed on and is deceptive and should be illegal.
Therefor I feel it would be a disservice to consumers to do anything but say to reject them across the board.
 
What concerns me the most about "tests" such as these is that it gives consumers an idea, which sounds quite reasonable, that they can "game the system" by using percentages gleaned form these extremely limited samples.
It's a loosing battle for consumers..and unfortunately the sellers capitalizing in this loosing consumer gamble can use this information to trick more unsuspecting consumers- the ones who don't read PS:)
 
diamond-enthusiast|1371404620|3466943 said:
Still a skeptic. If the prices of IGI were in fact so low as compared to GIA, any jeweler worth his salt will have eyes to judge diamonds that came back from IGI. If the majority of diamonds graded by IGI is indeed true to GIA's standard, obviously anyone in the right mind will know that resending an IGI diamond to GIA will earn MORE profit. Why don't the majority of the jewelers do this?
Click to expand...
It's not the majority, it's a few. And they do just that. As Karl points out, IGI full grading reports are actually pretty unusual in the US and there are other markets where the 'premium' associated with GIA branding is significantly less. This particular issue isn't addressed in this project.

David, I couldn't agree more. This information WILL be misused as a retail selling tool and it will be used in direct opposition to the intent of the piece.
 
A detail that is oft forgotten in the lab business is that, for practical purposes, all of the stones submitted to all of these labs are done so by dealers, usually the cutting house. That is to say, the person submitting the stone is themselves an expert and the lab is chosen strategically. This has been going on for decades and t's getting worse, not better. Consumers demand 'certificates'. Miners produce whatever they can but cutters and dealers are different. Their job is about maximizing money, and they compete in a wickedly competitive market. Lab selection is one of the most critical steps for how they can make more than the guy across the street. A particular lab is chosen for a particular stone because the person submitting it thought that would bring the most money because of it. They may be wrong, it happens, but not only was this decision being made by an expert grader who had the stone in hand at the time, if they decide after it comes back that it was an error, redos are possible for a nominal cost. No harm, no foul, and there is no clue for the consumer that this has happened ahead of them.
 
To illustrate Neils point: recently we purchased a stone, conditionally based on the grading from GIA. I was quite sure that GIA would grade the diamond I1 clarity. Sure enough, after we got the results from GIA,the stone was graded I1.
Part of our agreement with the dealer that we bought the stone from was that the price would be based on the grade. He was hoping it would get SI2 clarity.
I made my case that he should sell it to us at the price based on the grade. He was very happy to take the stone back however knowing that he could get an SI2 clarity from another lab.
This dealer is honest as the day is long. But I cannot argue with the fact that another dealer will pay him more for the diamond graded SI2 clarity from another lab besides GIA
In essence, we know that the diamond is the grade that it is, but he can find someone who's willing to pay more based on a different "certificate"
The case could be made that the only person doing something wrong, is the dealer who sells to the consumer, knowing that the diamond is graded incorrectly.
Of course I wish that this was not the case, and I could've bought the stone at a lower price
I also wish it was not the case that many dealers are willing to sell to consumers knowing that the diamonds are not correctly graded.
Stick with GIA reports and avoid the whole issue
 
Hi,

Interesting study. However I come at it with a different perspective which I will share. We constantly hear from the trade , denver appraiser and the like, that its so competitive out there so dealers have to do what they can to make a profit. If they don't get a certain grade they will go to another lab. I do understand the importance of lab grading and that people are now requiring certificates to go with their purchase. While it would nice to have a system whereby all labs would grade consistently, I do not see that as the major problem. You see i believe that there is still a monoply that is causing high and unfair prices on diamonds. There are base prices for diamonds with persons like Rappaport helping to fix prices among dealers. The lab report is what gives their diamond added value.

Mr. Rappaport made that clear in his talk at the show. Its not the price of diamonds that should be concern, but adding value so you can charge the base price plus more. Lab certs do this.

As a consumer, I want less base price fixing, for to me thats all it is. Even the deBeers settlement checks haven't stopped this practice. The price of diamonds are way too high. We have very little inflation, so these increases in prices are manufactered.

I am not singling out Denver Appraiser for his comment, because I want him to know, I have learned much from him. You are a man of integrity, but when you use the word competion, I swallow hard.

Just a comment


Annette
 
Here’s a random tidbit.

A search in the PS database for 1.-1.05/F-H/I2 results in 9 offers for sale.
The same search for clarity SI3-I1 clarity and with the lab changed to ‘other’ results in 357 offers.
Are ALL of those stones I2’s. No, probably not, but I’d guess a fair fraction of them are, and 97% of them are being sold with non-GIA grading. I think this is not a coincidence.
 
smitcompton|1371486706|3467405 said:
Hi,

Interesting study. However I come at it with a different perspective which I will share. We constantly hear from the trade , denver appraiser and the like, that its so competitive out there so dealers have to do what they can to make a profit. If they don't get a certain grade they will go to another lab. I do understand the importance of lab grading and that people are now requiring certificates to go with their purchase. While it would nice to have a system whereby all labs would grade consistently, I do not see that as the major problem. You see i believe that there is still a monoply that is causing high and unfair prices on diamonds. There are base prices for diamonds with persons like Rappaport helping to fix prices among dealers. The lab report is what gives their diamond added value.

Mr. Rappaport made that clear in his talk at the show. Its not the price of diamonds that should be concern, but adding value so you can charge the base price plus more. Lab certs do this.

As a consumer, I want less base price fixing, for to me thats all it is. Even the deBeers settlement checks haven't stopped this practice. The price of diamonds are way too high. We have very little inflation, so these increases in prices are manufactered.

I am not singling out Denver Appraiser for his comment, because I want him to know, I have learned much from him. You are a man of integrity, but when you use the word competion, I swallow hard.

Just a comment


Annette
Click to expand...
Cutters are competing with each other. Who Martin was picking on was mining companies and who he was speaking to were cutters and dealers. These are very different industries. Competition is the reason that the cutting business has largely shuttered in places like US, Belgium and Israel and moved into India. Small time cutters are dying off, even in India. There’s just not enough money in it anymore and it’s being consolidated into gigantic companies that can use economies of scale.

Although I understand that the mining business is dominated by 6 large companies, I think there's less price fixing than you're imagining. Sure, they want to sell for as much as they can and they have very little incentive to sell for less than the other 5 but the majority of newly mined goods are being sold to cutters in what amounts to auctions, precisely so they can maximize prices . Diamond mining certainly has a history that includes price fixing, but it's not really a very accurate description of what's going on now or even in the recent past.
 
denverappraiser|1371487492|3467415 said:
smitcompton|1371486706|3467405 said:
Hi,

Interesting study. However I come at it with a different perspective which I will share. We constantly hear from the trade , denver appraiser and the like, that its so competitive out there so dealers have to do what they can to make a profit. If they don't get a certain grade they will go to another lab. I do understand the importance of lab grading and that people are now requiring certificates to go with their purchase. While it would nice to have a system whereby all labs would grade consistently, I do not see that as the major problem. You see i believe that there is still a monoply that is causing high and unfair prices on diamonds. There are base prices for diamonds with persons like Rappaport helping to fix prices among dealers. The lab report is what gives their diamond added value.

Mr. Rappaport made that clear in his talk at the show. Its not the price of diamonds that should be concern, but adding value so you can charge the base price plus more. Lab certs do this.

As a consumer, I want less base price fixing, for to me thats all it is. Even the deBeers settlement checks haven't stopped this practice. The price of diamonds are way too high. We have very little inflation, so these increases in prices are manufactered.

I am not singling out Denver Appraiser for his comment, because I want him to know, I have learned much from him. You are a man of integrity, but when you use the word competion, I swallow hard.

Just a comment


Annette
Click to expand...
Cutters are competing with each other. Who Martin was picking on was mining companies and who he was speaking to were cutters and dealers. These are very different industries. Competition is the reason that the cutting business has largely shuttered in places like US, Belgium and Israel and moved into India. Small time cutters are dying off, even in India. There’s just not enough money in it anymore and it’s being consolidated into gigantic companies that can use economies of scale.

Although I understand that the mining business is dominated by 6 large companies, I think there's less price fixing than you're imagining. Sure, they want to sell for as much as they can and they have very little incentive to sell for less than the other 5 but the majority of newly mined goods are being sold to cutters in what amounts to auctions, precisely so they can maximize prices . Diamond mining certainly has a history that includes price fixing, but it's not really a very accurate description of what's going on now or even in the recent past.
Click to expand...

RE: We have very little inflation, so these increases in prices are manufactered.

What you are leaving out is the fact the the Chinese and the Indians have both become huge buyers of diamonds as they have created their own traditions of diamond engagement rings. Where the US once consumed well over 50% of the worlds diamonds they now consume in the 30 some % range and it is predicted that over the next ten to fifteen years we will fall into the 20 some % range.

Our economy no longer sets the price of diamonds, it is set by world wide demand of which we are no longer the 600 pound gorilla, having been on a severe diet these past recent years.

As consumers you now pay the lowest (as a percentage over the jeweler's cost) that you have ever paid. Whereas margins at the retail level were at the 100% to 200% add on level depending on where you shopped only fifteen to twenty years ago, those margins are now only realized by the big name brands such as Tiffany's. Internet vendor's margins are minuscule by comparison and their costs are increasing as the world wide demand increases at the same time the world wide supply is shrinking.

There is only one major mine slated to open in the next few years, (in Canada) and even if a new supply were located today it would take ten to twenty years and billions of dollars to bring it into production. Prices will not be going down any time in the near future unless there is a world wide economic crisis that is MUCH worse than the recent one as we had price increases during it, in spite of how many people were severely suffering.

By the way, as for the monopoly, I do not remember what the current share of the market is for DeBeers, but I believe it is now only in the mid to high twenties, whereas in the past it was in the eighties. DeBeers no longer has the monopoly it once had and no longer controls the pricing of diamonds as it once did.

Wink
 
As consumers you now pay the lowest (as a percentage over the jeweler's cost) that you have ever paid. Whereas margins at the retail level were at the 100% to 200% add on level depending on where you shopped only fifteen to twenty years ago, those margins are now only realized by the big name brands such as Tiffany's. Internet vendor's margins are minuscule by comparison and their costs are increasing as the world wide demand increases at the same time the world wide supply is shrinking.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Very true Wink. I am old enough to remember when I first started working in my family's retail jewelry store in 1979,
that triple mark ups were used on just about everything. Discounts were rare. I got scolded if I tried to discount.
Strange but true!
 
Your Grand Father would be spinning in his grave if he knew what your margins are today!

Wink
 
It's true that, unfortunately, people get ripped off every day.
I walk down 47th street every day and cringe.
but I also know that a tiny street level store on the block pays almost $30,000 a month in rent.
Which explains why they do anything possible not to let a potential buyer walk.
I have zero sympathy for sellers who use these techniques, though I understand why they do.
BUT- I used to travel on the road- North and South Carolina was my territory for many years. North Carolina in particular had so many good honest jewelry stores- it was a great "jewelry state" Same for Ohio. And many other places.
Many of the stores that served the community well for generations are now struggling - and even more are simply gone- this due to the incredibly shrinking margin on what used to be their bread and butter.
The business models of the largest sellers on the web leave little room for a lot of employees, and ZERO room for local presence.

Kudos to the few remaining local jewelers who want to serve their communities and honestly represent diamonds- it cost a lot of money to run a store today. Even without a $30k rent.

/rant- and off the my soapbox.
I buy on Amazon- and costco as well- I understand why people want the lowest price.
But sometimes something important is lost......
 
You may draw what ever conclusions that you like. Yes, B&M margins are higher than Internet margins in many cases but many retailers are competing with BN and JA and doing just fine with some value added services.

I do not believe that retail clients were ever sheep, and unlike you, I expect the retail prices and expenses to be higher. A retail jewelry store is one of the most expensive retail stores to run properly. The inventory carrying costs alone are huge, as is the cost of insurance, the cost of training good employees, (Sure, you can always go with last weeks shoe salesman, but not if you want to give a proper education to your clientele) as well as the high security system costs and the electricity to run the lighting.

If you want to talk about high margins, then I guess you do not enjoy eating out and giving tips to hard working wait staff either. I am told by those who know that if you have more than a 25% serving cost you are not going to be a successful restaurant. I have no personal experience in the costs of furniture and clothing, but I seriously doubt that they are anywhere near the low margins of the Internet vendors.

Most of us who are in business are hoping to make at least a small profit at the end of the year. And offering service to go with the higher costs associated with running a retail store does not make their clients sheep, it makes the experience better for those who wish to take advantage of it and still allows those who wish to use the Internet to do so.

After all, if price were the only deciding factor, we would all be driving a Yugo.

Wink

P.S. If I could correctly offer a prophesy of lower prices I would gladly do it. It would be a LOT easier to sell a really nice 1ct for $3,000 like we used to than the prices that we sell the same stone for today, but it is just not going to happen in my lifetime, or probably yours either.
 
Some very interesting discussion going back and forth.

The topic of margins is a tricky one with a lot going on behind the scenes. I'm happy to pay a fair margin to a jeweler but too much is kept obscured from the consumer and far too much effort in terms of education and shopping around is required to make sure your getting a reasonable deal. It's far simpler to go out and buy a new car than it is to buy a diamond.

That said, we should not single out jewellers because I can think of a few examples were margins are high (e.g. cell phone and landline costs and usage fees, homes/condos are very profitable for developers and even cars if you consider the margin made on the up front sale plus the back end parts/service).

But to help make things a little more transparent to the consumer, could a jeweler not just charge cost plus a fixed X percent for materials like gold/diamonds plus hourly rates for ring designing/casting/polishing/setting. I think with this information in hand it the becomes a discussion as to why one place charges more (e.g. better workmanship) vs. another.

I visited one jeweler that didn't want to break up the price he quite between ring and stone...because of this he lost out on a potential sale.
 
(A detail that is oft forgotten in the lab business is that, for practical purposes, all of the stones submitted to all of these labs are done so by dealers, usually the cutting house. That is to say, the person submitting the stone is themselves an expert and the lab is chosen strategically. This has been going on for decades and t's getting worse, not better. Consumers demand 'certificates'. Miners produce whatever they can but cutters and dealers are different. Their job is about maximizing money, and they compete in a wickedly competitive market. Lab selection is one of the most critical steps for how they can make more than the guy across the street. A particular lab is chosen for a particular stone because the person submitting it thought that would bring the most money because of it. They may be wrong, it happens, but not only was this decision being made by an expert grader who had the stone in hand at the time, if they decide after it comes back that it was an error, redos are possible for a nominal cost. No harm, no foul, and there is no clue for the consumer that this has happened ahead of them.)

So as an informed consumer do we then have the right to request discounts on those stones that have been graded by the loser labs....
 
Heididdl,

You can ask for whatever you want. Non-GIA graded stones usually trade at considerable discounts to otherwise similarly named GIA stones. This is the subject of the article that started this discussion and you need look no further than the database of advertisements here to see it for yourself. There's something like 50,000 stones advertised here so there's plenty of data to play with. Whether or not the discount is sufficient to get you to go for it is the 'game' that David is referring to above. As a general rule, you will not get a better stone for a cheaper price by shopping for off-brand grading. Indeed my contention is that the opposite is the REASON that it was sent to that lab in the first place but that's the objective of many many shoppers when they buy these these goods. Apparently it's working. EGLI is a gigantic company that outsells me by a factor of a thousand. Who am I to be making fun of them? I'm just some one man operation in out here in fly-over country.
 
I again reiterate the warning that attempting to game this as a way of arriving at a bargain is almost certain to fail. The problem is that there are more players than just you and your opponents are playing at a significant advantage. The stone is whatever it is but their objective is precisely the opposite of yours (they want high prices, you want low ones). They are making the lab decision based on their own expert grader who has the stone in hand, they do this on a daily basis if not dozens of times a day, they have the opportunity for do-overs, and a significant portion of their income comes directly from choosing wisely more than they screw it up. That doesn’t make them right but if I were a betting man I’d put my money on them, not you.

As a consumer the solution is fairly straightforward. Don't play. Choose your dealer FIRST based on your own research and what you count as important in the dealer. Using their advice, choose a particular stone based on the specs. Use your own expert to confirm or refute what the dealer told you or omitted and if you find their advice to be incorrect, misleading, or deceptive, don't just pass on the stone, pass on the dealer.
 
Hi,

You(the trade) all want to justify high diamond prices. We hear China and India are causing the demand to swell. That means the tiffanys of this world are the ones profitting from the new demand. Only, sorry guys, this expectation has not occurred. Of course there is some increase in demand but not what was projected. In fact Tiffany last quarter(not the recent quarter) did not meet expectations. The Gov't itself is cracking down on the luxury market and wants to downplay conspicuous consumption., Diamond prices have fallen according to CNBC, but we never hear about it on Pricescope, and so far not reflected in prices here.

India has its own traditon of buying gold.n The drop in gold prices caused an upsurge in sales of gold--not diamonds. Are dealers lowering their settings?

You cannot compare margins of one industry to another to be able to extrapoate profit. Cisco Systems has a high margin 60%^, or thereabouts. That is what is required for that industry to be able to say their operations are running efficently. Restaurants and jewelry stores to do not work the same or have the same margins.

I will point out that when DeBeers had a monoply, no diamond dealer objected and i have no doubt you all would have responded the same way. The industry has never had guidelines that were enforced. You are an unregulated industry that needs watching.


After all is said and done, I of course believe in profit. And i do not wish to control that profit. I ve had my say. I believe colored diamonds are indeed scarce and beautiful. I do not believe that with most white diamonds. I do believe for the best value, buy a GIA diamond. And that is value added.

Thank You

Annette
 
denverappraiser|1371400568|3466918 said:
I suspect the labs were chosen for the study based purely on volume. AGS, as lovely as they are, is significantly smaller than all of the ones chosen. Given that it costs money to do this and that they had to limit it somewhere, I don't see a great problem with the list. Inspections cost about $100 per. 10 stones each to 6 different labs, as light as that is, is actually a significant investment.
Click to expand...

Most IGI and AGS stones are pre sold from manufacturers or dealers directly to retail chains and the grading is often part of the pricing agreement. So very few of those stones end up being listed on RaPnet - and consequently, very few end up on Pricescope.

When we did the pricescope survey in 2004 with 16 diamonds to 3 labs, we did receive similar results to Rap's survey however.
https://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamond-grading and we did not include IGI because the number of diamond listed then was so small as to not be statistically valid for the pricing component of the survey.
I should point out that one of the IGI directors (who has posted here before) was very put out they were not included and has often asked us to do the same again but include them.
 
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