What Are Diamond Certificates?
A diamond certificate is also known as a Diamond Grading Report.
This report comes from the Gemological Institute of America
(GIA), and you should require this report when you are
purchasing a diamond.
With a diamond certificate, you can verify the color, cut,
carat, weight, and clarity of the diamond. You don't have to
worry about a diamond dealer telling you anything less than the
truth, because the certificate comes from the GIA - not the
dealer. 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 keep you from
purchasing a lower quality diamond altogether.
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. Use 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, and it can prevent a seller from under-charging
as well.
A copy of the Diamond Grading Report should be given to your
insurance company as well, when you insure the diamond. This
provides absolute, unquestionable proof of the value of the
diamond should it be stolen in the future. Insurance companies
cannot argue with the report.
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 dealer doesn't
want to provide a certificate, then you don't want to do
business with that dealer.
Don't accept certificates from Gemological Laboratories other
than GIA. There are many fly-by-night Gemological labs these
days, but in the end, GIA has been established as the most
respectable and trustworthy - not to mention oldest - of the
lot. So avoid dealers who don't want to use GIA for
certification purposes as well.
Don't buy an expensive diamond without paying the extra cost of
the certificate. 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, you can be sure that the dealer has
probably greatly inflated the price of the diamond - they have
something that they are hiding from you.