Diamond Certificates

Diamond Certificates

There can be little doubt that the GIA (Gemological Institute of America) is the world’s premier diamond grading laboratory. Although most people are more familiar with the term “Diamond Certificate”, the GIA has made it clear that it prefers the term Diamond Grading Report rather than Certificate. Their concern seems to be that the term “Certificate” might imply that the lab is endorsing the diamond, rather than objectively describing it. However people in the diamond trade still use the term “certificate”, even when referring to a GIA Report. The important thing is that the consumer is aware of this distinction, and that if a retailer refers to a GIA “certificate”, then that is one and the same thing as the actual GIA Diamond Report.

A Diamond Grading Report therefore is a statement issued by an independent Gemological Laboratory, to the effect that at the time of examination, the diamond in question has been examined by qualified and experienced diamond graders, using a variety of gemological instruments, and guarantees that the diamond’s characteristics are as stated in the Report. The importance of having a diamond examined and evaluated by an independent laboratory lies in the fact that its minute characteristics, invisible to the naked-eye can have a major influence on the intrinsic value, and hence the price, of your diamond.