Diamonds are sent to different grading labs to serve a purpose. Diamond cutters and sellers want to maximize their profits, so they choose their labs strategically. In the mainstream that decision is not necessarily being made with the objective of providing buyers with the most accurate shopping information.
Strictness, consistency and information vary between diamond grading labs. The lab’s client was the manufacturer or seller and the reason they bought that lab’s report was to help them sell the diamond better. Click here to read more about grading labs.
The American Gem Society (AGS) the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and the International Gemological Institute (IGI) grade diamonds strictly. This does not make diamonds graded by the AGS or GIA ‘better,’ but it does warrant research, discretion and further professional input when considering a diamond that was sent to a second or third tier lab. The smart diamond shopper will ask 'Why was this diamond sent to that particular lab?' Buyers in the mainstream seem to be more tolerant of variations with the second tier labs than those on the internet. A ‘certificate’ that is off by a grade or 2 may not bother many shoppers when they are seeing the diamond under bright lights. This can be useful to sellers. Many will describe this as a positive feature, because you get a report with a higher grade on it for the same or less money. Of course a better looking document doesn’t mean a better looking diamond but it sounds good at the time, and emotion is a large part of the sales process.
Remember, the path of a stone from the mine to you was not chosen randomly and it wasn’t chosen by you. Cutters and sellers have access to many different markets and they are not all the same. Some diamonds are best suited for a swanky retail store in Japan while others will sell best in a Midwestern pawn shop. Cutters are well aware of this and will distribute accordingly. The choices are made by clever people who are working on razor thin profit margins that can vary considerably depending on the results. If they think they can make more money with a diamond by sending it to a different lab there’s a pretty good chance that this is what they’ll do.
So/diamonds_info. Staying with AGS, GIA, IGI or EGL exclusively will guarantee you end up with what you want, right? Wrong. The AGS and GIA are considered the ‘elite’ labs, but the presence of an elite report doesn’t end the shopping process. Even they make mistakes and not everyone is looking for the same things in a diamond. It’s not all on the lab report.
So what’s a sensible shopper to do?
"Buy the diamond, not the paper." Use the lab documentation to support or refute the expert advice you are receiving from your seller, not as a substitute for it. In short, choose your seller first, then the diamond, not the other way around.
Appreciation to Neil Beaty of American Gem Registry for contributing to this article.
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