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CERTIFIED DIAMONDS ARE NOT CERTIFIED

WHY DO THEY CALL THEM CERTIFIED DIAMONDS?

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Certified Diamonds are NOT Certified

It may come as a surprise to most, but it’s true:

Certified Diamonds are NOT Certified!

Diamond Reports, or as most call them, Certificates, in no way Certify the Diamonds or the Quality!

Confused?

Don’t be…

I’ve been in the Jewelry Industry for over 23 years. And from day 1, Diamond Reports have always been referred to and called “Certificates“.

“Is this stone Certified?”

Certified Diamond NOT Certified

That’s what Jewelers call them. That’s what Insurance Companies call them. That’s what Customers call them…

And, as an example, here are some snippets of questions sent into my site (from my Q&A) from readers and customers like you regarding Certified Stones…

Karen: …Here is one diamond I’m looking at: 1) GIA Certified 1.02 ctw Round Brilliant Set…

Jessica: …Question : I purchased a certified, laser inscribed solitaire diamond from a national chain in 2005…

Diana: …Hi, My budget it $70,000 what is the largest round brilliant cut diamond i can get without compromising too much on colour ect, Diamond must be gia certified and triple excellent cut with no fluor thanks…

Ovsanna: …If we have a GIA certified diamond with an inscription on it, can we trust the jeweler to set the stone…

Christine: …I’m debating between 2 diamonds. Both are certified 1.00 crt princess cut solitaire SI-2 Canadian diamonds (Northwest Territories). They are the exact same price…

Teresa: …I just visited Tiffany & Co. this week and my diamond didn’t seem to sparkle as nice as their rings. I have a good quality diamond – GIA certified, excellent cut, 0.80 carat, colour G, VVS1…

Billy: …Is there anything that jumps out at you that should keep me from purchasing from the Ebay store. I do not know a whole lot about buying rings, I know both have been certified, and the ebay is certified by one of the top places. It just makes me nervous buying from an ebay store…

Erika: …Last week we put a deposit down on a diamond. Its GIA certified, very good, very good, SI1, D colour, 1.1 carat. With the 18Ct white gold solitare setting, 6 prong total price is 11,500AUD. Is this a good price?…

Zi: …Although the diamond is GIA certified, it does not have laser inscription…

You see, they all call them Certified Diamonds. But you know what?

It’s a pretty Misleading Term!

Diamonds are not really Certified! Those laminated reports are not truly certificates, and in fact, they’re not even a real guarantee of the diamond quality!

WHAT?

Yep, it’s true! Places like GIA will try to be as accurate as possible when it comes to grading a stone. They have multiple experts (triple redundancy) in grading and arriving at Cut, Color, Clarity and Carat Weight, as well as: Measurements, Profile Percentages, Fluorescence, Polish and Symmetry!

But in no way are they actually saying that this is 100% guaranteed.

GIA’s actual guarantee listed directly on their report reads as follows:

“This Report is not a guarantee, valuation or appraisal. This Report contains only the characteristics of the diamond described herein after it has been graded, tested, examined and analyzed, by the GIA Gem Trade Laboratory under 10x magnification using the techniques and equipment available to GIA Gem Trade Laboratory, including fully corrected triplet loupe and binocular microscope, master color comparison diamonds, electronic carat balance, non-contact optical measuring device, and ancillary instruments as necessary, at the time of the examination, and/or has been inscribed by GIA Gem Trade Laboratory.

The recipient of this Report may wish to consult a credentialed Jeweler or Gemologist about the importance and interrelationship of cut, color, clarity and carat weight.”

The truth is, people are human and humans make mistakes. No one wants to take full responsibility in case of a report that isn’t entirely perfect. I can’t blame them. Things happen. But I tell you what, GIA is the most strict when it comes to grading Diamonds. When they say a stone is a certain Clarity or Color, there’s a very good chance that they’re dead on.

In my opinion, and most of the country, GIA does give the best, most accurate grades of any grading system.

To this day, out of all the thousands of loose diamonds that I’ve seen reported by GIA, I tend to believe they are the best in the business. They should be, they wrote the 4C’s. Literally! They created the current system of grading stones, and that’s impressive!

Other certificate companies don’t hold up so well… I’ve seen some reports come back that are very questionable, and way off the mark! Some are even laughable!

That’s why…

I always Recommend GIA Diamond Reports!

If you’ve read any of my posts here, you’ll see that I usually refer to these documents as certificates, or “Certs“. It’s the easiest way for people to understand them.

And yes, I’ve taken some heat for this over the years. People have pointed out that GIA does NOT Certify Diamonds… And that they are NOT called Certificates…

It’s ruffled quite a few feathers as seen in a comment below from Patrick:

…you rant about never buying a loose diamond without a certificate. You specifically mention GIA Certificate. Funny, there is no such thing as a certificate, only loosely referred to as such in our industry as a “cert”. The proper term is Diamond Grading Report or similar verbiage depending on the lab. No respectable lab will “certify” any diamond and as a matter of fact if you read the back of any “cert” there is a full disclaimer as to the opinion of quality, hardly a certification.

-Patrick

And someone else wrote in just last week… (which made me create this post)

…Well I have read most of your site and I went to several jewelry stores to look at “certified by GIA” but could not find the work CERTIFIED on their REPORTS. SO I called GIA in California and they told me they do not certify diamonds, they do GRADING REPORTS. Why do you call them “cert’s” when they are not?

-Rick

To which I responded:

Hi Rick.

You are very correct. GIA does make Diamond Reports, versus actual Certificates. In my eyes, and with what I was taught over 23 years ago, these are just laminated documents, or paperwork showing the qualities of the stone. In the Jewelry Industry and with consumers, most people still refer to them as actual Certificates, or Certificate Reports. This is evident when people come into the store, they want to see “Certified” stones. I have never, ever heard anyone come into the store and ask for a “Diamond Report”.

I do refer to them as both Diamond Reports and Certificates on here, and sometimes as Jewelers loosely say “Certs”. It is what it is. :)

P.S. Do a search for “Certified Diamonds” on Google and you’ll see all the top Jewelry Websites call them Certified Diamonds as well.

Hope this helps!
-Richard

I’m not the only one who thinks this!

Blue Nile’s website says: “What is a Certificate? – A diamond certificate, also called a diamond grading report, diamond dossier®, or diamond quality document, is a report created by a team of gemologists…”

James Allen’s website reads: “GIA Certified Diamonds – GIA is the number one, most respected laboratory in the world. Any diamond submitted to GIA is ensured to have reliable and consistent grading…”

Ross Simon’s website says that they have Thousands of Certified Diamonds for sale…

Kay Jeweler’s website states: “Certified Diamonds – A certificate is a blueprint of a loose diamond. Known as either a diamond grading report or diamond dossier, this certificate gives a diamond’s exact measurements, weight, cut and overall quality…”

And I could go on and on…

Here’s a screenshot of a recent Google Search for “Certified Diamonds

Certified Diamond Google Search

See, everyone calls them that!

So while “Certified” Diamonds are not really certified, and Jewelers may just perpetuate the cycle of misleading terms, that’s what customers call them. That’s what they’re known as like it or not.

As of yet, I have never once had a customer walk into a Jewelry Store and say “I’d like to see a Diamond Report please!

No Sir!

But I have heard this endlessly “I’d like to see some Certified Diamonds!

It may officially be a Diamond Report that lists the quality of the stone, but it’s the certificate that people ask for.

It’s just a name after all!

It’s like calling Tissues “Kleenex“! It’s paperwork by an outside company that lists the grade of the stone. It’s just the way it is!

A lot of companies evaluate Diamonds and give reports, GIA, AGS, EGL, IGI… and they are all big names. But I only recommend GIA or AGS. They are strict, accurate and highly respected in the field. They are the cream of the crop.

They do one thing and one thing really, really well… They grade Diamonds. Period! They don’t put a price tag on the stone. They only grade it for what it is and nothing else.

They may not “Certify” them in a sense, but I guarantee that they are certainly the best that money can buy.

So sure, GIA does NOT Certify. They don’t! I admit that and understand that. Certified stones are not really certified.

But the next customer that walks in the door and wants to see a “Certified Diamond“…

Well by all means, who am I to stop them?

I’ll grab a GIA Diamond Report… Smile… And say “Right this way!” :)




Recommended Jewelry Supplies:

Ultrasonic Jewelry Cleaner Jewelry Steam Cleaner Complete Jewelry Cleaner Kit Diamond Dazzle Stick
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Recommended Jewelry Supplies:

Ultrasonic Jewelry Cleaner Jewelry Steam Cleaner
Complete Jewelry Cleaner Kit Diamond Dazzle Stick
Gold Silver Jewelry Polishing Cloths Jewelry Making Supplies Kit
Gold Acid Test Kit Watch Tool Repair Kit
Ring Adjusters EMT Emergency Ring Cutter
10x Jewelers Loupe Jewelers Microscope

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