Chapter 2: Diamond Education Made Easy (Part 2 - Diamond Grading System)
At this point, you should have a brief understanding about the 4Cs of diamonds. If not, you may want to read here to catch up to speed:
Got a brief understanding? Fantastic, now continue on to see how various diamond grading system and laboratories can affect your 4Cs selection, and how would it affect us as consumers.
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Chapter 2.2: Diamond Grading System
Currently in the market, there are many diamond certification labs. Diamond certification labs are some sort like SIRIM (Any Malaysians here yo?), they uphold the international standard of the quality of the diamond, and certify it based on this standard. And in each diamond certification labs, you'll get a diamond certification report. This is the report that you should be looking for at all times.
There are many diamond certification labs in the whole world, but the four major ones include:
AGS (American Gemological Society)
GIA (Gemological Institute of America)
EGL (European Gemological Society)
IGI (Institute Gemological Institute)
As I'd mentioned earlier, each of the four laboratory have their own standards in grading the diamonds. However as discussed by Beyond4Cs in his article here, and many other forums world wide, the most trusted laboratory services (and the most commonly found ones) are AGS and GIA. This is because these laboratories have proven track record in their standards and consistency of grading diamonds, and you could be assured that the diamond that you purchased graded from these labs are of top most quality.
In contrast with diamonds graded from EGL and IGI, it seems that these labs are inconsistent with their grading, and may even over-grade the diamonds, marketing them as a better diamond for a lower price. For example, lets take a look at the colour grading system between EGL and GIA lab. At the same colour grade of G colour, the diamond by EGL is definitely more yellow compared to a GIA certified diamond.
Image obtained from Diamond Ideals
In another study by Diamonds Pro, 5 different IGI certified diamonds were regraded using the GIA certification scheme. They found that the IGI laboratory had inflated the qualities of almost 80% of the grading. From the table, you can clearly see the significant difference in the specifications published by the two different laboratories.
Table obtained from Diamonds Pro
So how does this affect us as consumers?
We are often looking for the best value for money, the cheapest diamond with the best specs our budget can afford. The following scenario may happen:
Jeweler
|
Jeweler A
|
Jeweler B
|
Jeweler C
|
Carat
|
0.50
|
0.52
|
0.51
|
Colour
|
H
|
H
|
H
|
Clarity
|
VS1
|
VS2
|
VS1
|
Certification Lab
|
GIA
|
GIA
|
ISI
|
Price
|
RM5000
|
RM4000
|
RM4500
|
Prices are estimation and may not reflect the actual market rate
You may step into Jeweler A and be quoted a price for a 0.5 carat, H, VS1 GIA diamond is RM5000. And then suddenly if you were to step into Jeweler C, you may find that with a diamond of the same specs with an IGI certification could be RM500 cheaper compared to a GIA diamond, which is almost 10% savings there! However in reality, you may actually be overpaying for value of the diamond, as the published specifications by IGI may not be at par with the specifications of GIA diamond. In other words, you're getting a worse grade diamond than what you think it actually is.
So do not let the jewelers to fool you to accept IGI certifications. I have went into several well-known jewelers in Malaysia, only to find that the sales representative are declaring that IGI is one of the best certification laboratories in the world despite many publications on the internet that says otherwise. Perhaps this may be their tactic to push sales as this would convince any uneducated consumers to purchase their diamonds. But we know better now than to fall for their tricks.
However I am not trying to discourage you from purchasing IGI diamonds. If you really do wish to purchase an IGI diamond due to personal reasons, I would strongly recommend that you purchase 1-2 grades higher than what you wish to get. So if you're targeting a H colour, best to purchase an IGI diamond of F-G colour to compensate for the over-grading of the diamonds.
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In summary:
Various diamond grading laboratories may have various grading systems which may impact the 4Cs and the quality of the diamond. I would recommend the following:
- Purchase IGI diamonds that are 1-2 grades higher than what you require
- Otherwise, stick to AGS or GIA diamonds for a peace of mind when diamond hunting.
And now after reading through Part 1 & 2, your basic diamond education is complete! For layman consumers that is. Now that you have a brief understanding about the diamond certification laboratories, you may either brush up on your knowledge on the 4Cs of diamonds in Part 1 or proceed to Part 3 where I will touch on the technicality of diamonds, and how to analyze the results and data.
Chapter 2 - Diamond Education Made Easy (Part 3-Structural analysis)
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