The importance of diamond certificates from a reputable lab

A diamond certificate, also known as a diamond grading report, is issued by a well-known lab, such as the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) if you are in the United States. You should ask for this certificate whenever you purchase a diamond.

You may be required to pay for the certificate, but the cost is usually low and, in many cases, it will help you negotiate a better price on the diamond – or even keep you from purchasing a lower quality diamond.

The most important advantages of having a diamond certificate are these:

• With a diamond certificate, you can verify the color, cut, carat weight, and clarity of the diamond you want to buy. You don’t have to worry about a diamond jeweler telling you anything less than the truth, because the certificate comes from the GIA – not the dealer.
• If you buy a high quality diamond, and then later decide to sell the diamond, you will need to have the certificate, or you will have a hard time selling it to someone else.
• Furthermore, you can use the diamond grading report to look up the wholesale value of the diamond in question. Refer to the guide that is used by the diamond cutting industry.
• With the certificate or diamond grading report, there won’t be any doubts when you are trying to purchase a diamond. You can easily find out what the diamond is worth. This will prevent you from overpaying; it can also deter a seller from under-charging customers (to save on sales tax or for even more sinister reasons, such as money laundering).

• When you insure the diamond, you should provide a copy of the diamond certificate to your insurance company. This provides absolute, unquestionable proof of the value of the diamond, should it be stolen in the future. Insurance companies cannot argue with the certificate.
• Avoid diamond dealers who seem reluctant to provide a certificate. Also avoid sellers who tell you that a certificate diamond will cost you more – the only additional cost should be the cost of the certificate, which is low.
• If the jeweler is reluctant to provide a certificate, then you don’t want to do business with that dealer.
• Avoid diamond dealers who don’t want to use GIA for certification purposes and you should not accept certificates from gemological laboratories other than GIA. There are many fly-by-night gemological labs these days, but GIA has been established as the most respectable and trustworthy – not to mention the oldest – of the lot.
• Don’t avoid paying the extra cost for the certificate when you buy an expensive diamond. If a dealer tries to convince you to make the purchase without the certificate, or if they want to use a company other than GIA (in the USA), you can be sure that the dealer has probably greatly inflated the price of the diamond – or there’s something that they are hiding from you.

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