Diamond appraisal quick guide

The diamond appraisal should represent a judgment on carat, cut, clarity and color (4 C's) of a certain diamond. The diamond appraisals are usually done by independent labs and certain gemological organizations. What people don't know is the fact that different labs and organizations often give different grades to 4 C's and that there is in fact in a significant degree of subjectivity in judging the diamond's value and quality.

The certificates are not 100 percent reliable because gemstone grading result may vary from one lab to other. There's still no scientific standard that would allow the 100% same results in all labs and even diamond industry talks about so called „tolerance“- a margin of error when it comes to diamond grading. Since diamonds are the most expensive of all gemstones even the small margin of error can significantly affect the diamond's final price, and it primarily depends on size of the diamond and the quality level.

Diamond appraisals are often used as plain marketing tools to attract buyers, especially because in most cases diamond jewelry stores will sell you stone for price that is significantly smaller than the actual appraisal value.

What this basically means is that you can often get a high appraisal, thinking you just got the great deal, and in the end you can even discover that other lab will come with a much lower appraisal value.

Many people will tell you about diamond appraisals being hugely inflated and this really isn't far from the truth. The most important thing you need to know about diamond appraisal is not to think it has the ultimate value, but more as an opinion of the certain lab that doesn't have to necessarily be the same as the opinion of some other lab.

But what about insuring your diamond jewelry? Should you rely on the diamond appraisal when you insure jewelry? Most people insure their diamonds based on appraisal because this is the simplest way, though not the most accurate one.

If diamond appraisal isn't the 100% accurate way to learn about the actual value of your diamond jewelry, then what are the alternatives? There aren't that many other alternatives, and the best way is probably to look for other diamonds that have similar 4 C's and then compare their appraisals and certificates.

Remember that if a certain piece of diamond jewelry costs less than it says in its appraisal value this doesn't mean that you got a real bargain because no store would sold you the jewelry below its actual price.