On Sat, 21 Jun 2008 17:30:59 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry Abrasha
<abrasha@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>
>>In all seriousness. If you would buy a diamond from me, I would only
>>want to sell you a diamond with a GIA certificate. That way you have
>>some assurances, that the diamond you get is worth what you paid for it,
>>plus you can compare the specs and price to other identical or similar
>>stones.
Good recommendation. I'd add that the AGS certificates also seem to be
trustworthy. There are a couple other labs issuing certs that are widely
used,
notably EGL. They're often not quite as reliable and accurate in their
grading
as GIA and AGS. GIA devised the grading scale usually used, and AGS also
defines the ****tions of it's scale that differ, so each is using it's own
"ruler". This differs from other labs that usually use the GIA scale, but
often
don't do it quite as stringently as the originators of the scales intend.
EGL
is notorious for being a bit loose in their grading, so stones with EGL
certs
often seem to cost a bit less than same sounding stones with AGS or GIA
certs.
They're not better deals automatically. Often, they are stones that would
come
back from AGS or GIA with the color or clarity listed one grade below what
the
EGL cert claims, thus explaining the apparent differences in cost. Stay
away
from stones with certificates issued by the seller, small local labs, or
any lab
that's not nationally recognized and used by a wide range of dealers.
They may
be fine, and might be quite good enough when you own a stone and need to
have
some do***entation on it in order to get insurance or something. But to
really
verify grades, qualites, and value, you're best off with GIA or AGS as the
lab
that does the cert. The AGS scales are different looking from the GIA
scales,
but the actual standards for each grade are similar, so comparing from one
lab
to the other is easy and valid.
cheers
Peter
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