what is a GCAL report and what does it tell you?

[slg47]

Recently some posters have inquired about stones that come with a GCAL report in addition to a GIA report. What is GCAL and what exactly does this report tell you? What are the "optical brilliance analysis" and "optical symmetry analysis"-how are these determined?

 

[yssie]

No idea, but I'm very interested to hear more about this as well!

I'm also curious about what niche GCAL has in the market?

 

[oldminer]

GCAL is a superb boutique laboratory right in the heart of New York's Jewelry District operated by Donald, Pamela and Angelo Palmieri.
They are great people and do a spectacular job. They are in the same building as the GIA. They enjoy a fine reputation and they guarantee their grading accuracy. I think they are very straight players. Part of the repertoire is a form of diamond light behavior measurement that has not been proved or disproved, but has had some limited success with GCAL's clientèle over a good number of years. It may not be a perfect solution, but it seems as if it has the ability to denote better performing diamonds in a manner that is understandable to users. Color and clarity grades should be pretty much the same as AGSL or GIA. GCAL deserves more business from dealers, but suffers from doing the job less liberally than the "weak" labs that we often discuss. I believe consumers would be well served to trust GCAL graded diamonds. PS: I don't work for GCAL and have no vested interest in the lab. However, labs which grade strictly do deserve better than to struggle against weak grading labs who create such a huge volume of problematic reports and consumer doubts.

 

[yssie]

The optical brilliance analysis looks like an IS representation - same patterns of light return/escape, and the optical symmetry analysis looks like a more detailed arrows view through a H&A viewer - are these fair comparisons in your opinion OldMiner?

 

[coati]

Here is some information on GCAL's new Express Office.

GCAL Express Opens in World Diamond Tower at 580 Fifth Avenue
https://www.pricescope.com/blog/gcal-express-opens-world-diamond-tower