{"id":5870,"date":"2012-10-10T15:57:39","date_gmt":"2012-10-10T19:57:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/?p=5870"},"modified":"2015-06-04T16:08:03","modified_gmt":"2015-06-04T20:08:03","slug":"what-grading-system-is-si3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/what-grading-system-is-si3\/","title":{"rendered":"WHAT GRADING SYSTEM IS SI3?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"What-Grading-System-is-SI3\"<\/div>\n

A customer walks in the other day, and asked me to see an SI3 Clarity Diamond.<\/p>\n

\nI had to explain to her that we didn’t carry SI3 Clarity Diamonds, we only sell GIA and AGS Certified Stones<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\nShe gave me a puzzled look “So who carries SI3 then?<\/strong>“<\/p>\n

\nI respond “Only Jewelry Stores that sell EGL Certified Diamonds<\/strong>!”<\/p>\n

“Where are they?”<\/h2>\n

\n“I don’t know!<\/strong>” I say. And that is the truth!<\/p>\n

\nI don’t make it a point to go around to all the different Jewelry Stores just to see who sells what. It could be a store in the mall, it could be a little independent down the street… I’m sure that there are stores that sell them… even though I can’t imagine many would.<\/p>\n

\nMost Jewelers like to stick with more reputable grading companies (their own reputation is at stake after all<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

And here’s why…<\/h2>\n

\nThere’s only one single company that grades with an SI3 Clarity, and that company is EGL (The European Gemological Laboratory<\/a>). EGL is the only company that says there is one more Clarity Grade to the SI range (SI1 and SI2). Nobody else acknowledges it<\/strong>, and most would probably question it.<\/p>\n

\nYou see, GIA (The Gemological Institute of America<\/a>) wrote the current system for Diamond Grading as we know it. This is of course, called the 4 C’s<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\nJust about every Jeweler and every grading system, Gemologist, Diamontologist, Appraiser and Store uses GIA’s guidelines for grading stones. Most do a fairly decent job at this. But none is as technically advanced and as strict as GIA and AGS (The American Gem Society<\/a>). These 2 companies are the best and most accurate when it comes to grading Diamonds. I highly recommend them<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

EGL… Not so much!<\/h2>\n

\nSo let’s compare the EGL Clarity Grading Chart against GIA’s Grading System and AGS’s Grades, just to see where they all stand.<\/p>\n

\n\"Compare<\/p>\n

\nNow, I will say that this image may not be 100% accurate<\/strong>. As of yet I have never seen an official comparison of the EGL system side by side with GIA or AGS.<\/p>\n

It Doesn’t Exist!<\/h2>\n

\nIn fact, EGL’s actual grading system is pretty much non-existent. You can’t even find one on their own website.<\/p>\n

\nI ran across one on an old EGL Diamond Report and that’s what I went by.<\/p>\n

\nAnd even then, it was just about impossible to truly compare. Their grades were almost equal in size and not relative at all to what is found in nature<\/strong> (like GIA’s and AGS’s are).<\/p>\n

\nSo for the most part, I’m assuming this diagram is a fair representation based upon my own findings and my own experience (and a little Photoshop skills).<\/p>\n

What’s Good is Good<\/h2>\n

\nWhat’s interesting to note is that most companies agree on what is “Good<\/strong>” quality as we see. This is generally from SI1 Clarity or higher!<\/p>\n

\nSI2 and lower is where things really start to fall apart with EGL.<\/p>\n

\nThey squish in that extra grade called SI3.<\/p>\n

\nThey say this grade is for Diamonds that have “Easy to See Inclusions<\/strong>” under 10x magnification. But in every instance that I’ve encountered, these “Easy to See<\/strong>” flaws, are what GIA will grade as an I1 Clarity instead.<\/p>\n

\nSo while some SI3 believers may argue that SI3 takes up more of the SI2 Clarity Range, I find it really eats up more of the I1 Clarity instead.<\/p>\n

\nSeriously, if a stone is better than an I1, why don’t they just call it an SI2? It would make more money if they did. The truth is, they don’t and they can’t!<\/strong> It’s not good enough.<\/p>\n

\nSI3’s are really just nice looking I1 Clarity Diamonds. They face up well, but they’re still an I1 stone.<\/p>\n

\nThe main reason why some Jewelry Stores sell these stones is because SI3’s sound good and sell better than I1 does (plus it costs less to certify). <\/p>\n

\nPeople hear SI and think it’s good… it’s the 3 that gets you!<\/p>\n

My Advice?<\/h2>\n

\nStick to GIA’s Diamond Report<\/a> (or AGS at the least). They’ll tell you what the stone really is<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

\nPlus, it also allows you to truly compare apples to apples. Because you really can’t compare an SI3 stone against any stone… SI3 doesn’t exist!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\nEGL Reports have always been highly skeptical in the Jewelry Industry. Their gradings may not be so accurate. Take it with a grain of salt. I’ve seen some EGL Grades be off by as much as two whole grades!!!<\/strong> Ouch!<\/p>\n

\nSo the next time that someone comes in and asks me to see an SI3 Clarity Diamond, I’ll just pull out an I1 Clarity Stone<\/a> instead…<\/p>\n

\nThat’s what it really is! :)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A customer walks in the other day, and asked me to see an SI3 Clarity Diamond. I had to explain to her that we didn’t carry SI3 Clarity Diamonds, we only sell GIA and AGS [Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5873,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,29,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clarity","category-diamond-guide","category-diamonds"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5870"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5870\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewelry-secrets.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}