For those of you who are new the process of selecting and purchasing a natural diamond, the idea of a diamond certificate may be a foreign one. In all fairness, if you don’t understand the information within the certificate or why it is important, whether or not a diamond purchase includes the grading certificate may hold little value.
Any purchase of a diamond of any significant size should carry with it an independent certificate outlining all of the points you can find below. Generally speaking, most – if not all – diamonds of 0.30pts and above are automatically sold with a certificate due to the costs involved and the likelihood of recovering these costs; diamonds smaller than 0.30pts generally are sold without a certificate.
As you become more educated in the process throughout this post, you will come to understand what information such a certificate contains and why it is an important inclusion in any natural diamond purchase.
Price
When you are making an investment in a natural diamond, you want to have a clear understanding of what you are buying and what it is worth. Natural diamonds are priced according to their actual quality grading as written on their certificates. If you walk away from a natural diamond purchase without a certificate in hand from a respected, independent laboratory, you are not getting the quality you wanted to buy.
The characteristics of the natural diamond can have a major influence on the price of the diamond. Many of these characteristics are unseen by the naked-eye, but will be identified by an independent laboratory. Without this deal of scrutiny applied in the purchase of the natural diamond, you could easily purchase a lower quality diamond than the price is likely to reflect.
Security
In all diamond certificates, there will be a map of your diamond’s unique inclusions, much like a fingerprint that you can check. This diamond map gives you the peace of mind that IF it is ever needed, you can refer to it in case of a dispute. Some labs will even permanently laser inscribe the certificate number right on the girdle of the stone where it can be seen with a 10x jewelers’ loupe for easy identification.
With the certificate number laser inscribed on the diamond, you will be able to maintain the peace of mind that the diamond is really yours. Ideally, what I would do as a jeweller working with a laser inscribed diamond is turn the inscription so that it is visible when viewed above the location where the band and the settings meet. In taking such an approach, this way there is no need to un-set and re-set the diamond to find the certificate number, ensuring there is NO risk of damaging the diamond or setting.
Protection
While not all people who make an investment in a natural diamond think about the prospect of selling it at a later date, the value of the diamond in such a situation is something to consider when making this an investment. An independent lab certificate verifies the characteristics of the diamond and makes it much more likely that a dealer or other party will be interested in making the investment in purchasing it from you.
Now that we have explored why you want your natural diamond to have a certificate, you need to know what information is provided in the certificate and why it is important. Below you will find a list of all information on a diamond certificate and why it is important.
- Laboratory Name – if you have not heard of the lab, research it to determine whether or not the name is of value in the industry.
- Certificate Number – this number uniquely identifies the diamond. This number is associated with the information kept by the lab so a certificate can easily be re-issued if it is lost. If any further information is needed, the laboratory should be able to help.
- Laser Inscription Registry – all diamonds receiving a GIA Diamond Certificate is micro-laser inscribed with its unique GIA Report number. Generally speaking, this number will read: GIA XXXXXXX.
- Style of the Shape and Cut – shape refers to the outline of the diamond while cut refers to the facet arrangement.
- Measurements – this information captures the diamond’s overall measurements – width, breadth, depth and diameter are calculated to the hundredth of a millimeter by a non-contact measuring device or a micrometer.
- Size – diamonds are weighed to the thousandth of a carat with a digital measuring device and rounded to the hundredth of a carat.
- Color – determined by examining the diamond next to a master set of color comparison stones, color ranges from the best grade of D, down to Z. The cleaner the colour – i.e.; between D and G – the more fire your diamond will have inherently. While it is possible to get very white looking H diamonds, a colour graded as G and above is where you should aim. Getting the best colour grading possible is the way to go when looking at diamonds; this is really the heart of the diamond.
- Clarity – ranges in clarity begin at the best grade of FL, down through IF, VVS1, VVS2, VS1, VS2, SI1, SI2, I1, I2 until I3. To measure clarity, it is the reflection of the number, size placement and nature of inclusions and/or surface irregularities on the diamond. What I recommend for the clarity is to go for an “eye clean” diamond – which will be the clarity range of VS1 – SI1. Once you go higher than VS1 clarity, there is no real visual impact or gain. At that point, you tend to spend money on bragging rights only. The best results are seen when you spend your money on the best COLOUR and CUT grade possible.
- Cut grade – measures how well or exact the cutting proportions and angles are in the diamond. The cutting formula to get the maximum “Fire and Brilliance” out of a diamond has been worked out mathematically, and as such the angles and proportions must be as close as possible to this formula. A diamond’s brilliance comes from how well it has been cut. The higher the quality here means that the more brilliance you will have inherently in your diamond. This ranges from excellent, very good, good and then fair or poor. With colour being the heart of a diamond, the cut grading is the soul of the diamond, combining the best possible grade for your budget.
- Finish, polish and symmetry – finish refers to the polish of the diamond and the symmetry of the facets; polish refers to the quality of the polish on the facets; and symmetry refers to how precisely the facets are align to one another. This is measured one of four ways – excellent, very good, good and fair or poor. The higher the grading here the more brilliance your diamond will have.
Fluorescence – the diamond’s reaction to long wave ultraviolet radiation. Too strong a fluorescence can make a diamond less desirable. Generally speaking, a grading up to a “faint” fluorescence is fine as it will not affect the beauty of the diamond and is ONLY visible under UV light.
Thank you for this post. Everbody likes to look good and do it up right!
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I really loved this post. You explain this topic very well. Natural gemstones are found in nature. Laboratory-created stones, as the name implies, are made in a laboratory. These stones, which also are referred to as laboratory-grown, manufacturer-created, or synthetic, have essentially the same chemical, physical, optical, and visual properties as natural gemstones. By contrast, imitation stones look like natural stones in appearance only, and may be a manmade or natural stones. The basic unit for weighing gemstones is the carat, which is equal to one-fifth (1/5th) of a gram. Carats are divided into 100 units, called points. For example, a half-carat gemstone would weigh .50 carats or 50 points. Gemstone treatments or enhancements refer to the way some gems are treated to improve their appearance or strength, or even change their color. Many gemstones are treated in some way. The effects of some treatments may lessen or change over time and some treated stones may require special care. Treatments and/or enhancements should always be disclosed by the seller.
I really enjoyed this post. You describe this topic very well. Owning a diamond is capturing a piece of history. The diamond is over three billion years in age, formed in the earth’s interior and shot to the surface by extraordinary volcanoes. It is carbon in concentrated form, composed solely of carbon — the chemical element fundamental to all life. A diamond is a natural element full of passion and brilliance. Clarity begins at Flawless and works its way down to I3 (Included 3). All clarity grades are graded under a microscope at 10x. Clarity is the amount of features or inclusions you can see in a diamond. Obviously if a diamond is Flawless, you won’t see any inclusions under a microscope. The further down you go on the clarity scale the more apparent the inclusions become under a microscope or to your eye. This does not mean that everyone should purchase a Flawless diamond; in fact I don’t recommend buying a diamond close to the flawless grade.