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.

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The difference between certified and non-certified diamonds

The word certified in this meaning means that the certain diamond has a certificate that guarantees qualities of purchased diamond. It means that measures of certain diamond have been measured and quantified in form of certificate. This means that when you buy certified diamond you're basically getting this extra safety in form of certificate so you can be sure that your diamond really has all the qualities you thought it possesses in time of your purchase.

Non-certified diamonds do not have certificate meaning that they could happen to have lower quality than it was stated in the time of your purchase. Basically the difference between certified and non- certified diamonds is in simple piece of paper that gives you guarantee about the quality of diamond(s) you purchased.

The lack of certification doesn't necessarily mean that you should give up on buying such diamond. If the offer is good you can always ask for certificate to be made from trusted organizations such as Gemological Institute of America (GIA), so it is really not that difficult to transform non-certified diamond into a certified one.

The certificate in most cases states the 4 C's of purchased diamond (cut, color, clarity, and carat). Certified diamonds will also in most cases have a number engraved on the rim that is basically an extra safety measure in case your diamond is stolen as it can be easily traced.

The diamonds of high quality will almost always come with certificate, and non-certified diamonds are in most cases diamonds of lower quality where there is really no point in getting certificate since this certificate would in some cases cost even more than the diamond itself.

In most cases there is really nothing wrong with non-certified diamonds, just the fact that they are of less quality than certified diamonds.

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Diamond certificate facts

Diamond certificate ensures the quality of purchased diamond, and it is always wise to obtain it because this has some rather important advantages compared to buying diamonds without diamond certficate. of course, the most important advantage is safety but I will try to tell you about the other advantages of diamond certificate too.

First of all the diamond certificate gives you exact details about diamonds you plan to purchase so it is really easy to compare these qualities in several jewelry stores, and easy find the best deals in place before you buy your diamonds.

Diamond certificate also gives you that feeling that your money was actually spent on something that is really worthy as much as you spend for it. Just imagine how disappointed would you feel if you were to discover that you actually paid lot more for some diamond than it is actually worth, or the worst possible scenario that your diamond is in fact nothing more than fake. Diamond certificate can definitely ease your mind, and make your purchase safe.

Another advantage of having diamond certificate is if you later decide to sell your purchased diamond. You can't tell what is going to happen in your life, and who knows, at some point in the future you may decide to sell your diamonds, and if you do so then the diamond certificate will ensure you achieve the better price because you have the proof that this is really an authentic diamond.

If you bought some really expensive piece of jewelry then there is one more thing you should think of, namely to insure your purchase diamond. Most insuring companies would ask you the copy of diamond certificate before ensuring them so here's another reason for you to ask jeweler for a diamond certificate.

Basically if you're buying some more expensive diamond, Diamond certificate is really the small price to pay in order to ensure the quality of diamond you are purchasing. Diamond certificates are also making your buying job much easier, since each Diamond certificate has all elements of diamond quality (four Cs) verified by independent company which should really remove your suspicion about the quality of your purchased diamond.

It also helps you verify your diamond value if you need to resolve some issues with your insurance company in case you lose your diamonds and it is also much easier to sell this diamond later since there is no doubt about its value and quality.

Yes the Diamond Certificate costs more, but it gives you necessary security that you are making the real deal and since we are not all experts it is very wise to invest some extra money in something that gives you confidence that your purchased diamond is really a quality diamond and a worthy acquisition. The main purpose of diamond certificate is really to ensure customer that there's no doubt whatsoever about value and quality of purchased diamond.

The only negative side with diamond certificate is that this is really an additional cost to an already expensive purchase, and if you're on a tight budget every buck counts a lot. So what to do? Go for diamond certificate or not? Well I would suggest that you definitely go for it in case you're purchasing some really expensive diamond engagement ring because in this case it's always good to know that you didn't spend all that money for some stone of suspicious quality. After all if you could give away a fortune for diamond ring then you can add a few dollars more for insurance.

If you're going for some rather cheap diamond engagement ring then diamond certificate is really not something I would recommend. After all you can't buy something of highest quality for small amount, so there's really no need to have diamond certificate. But for any diamond purchase above $5000 I would recommend diamond certificate because $100 to $200 that G.I.A. charges is really a small price to pay, and it will ensure safety of your purchase, so you'll know you've bought the "right stuff".

G.I.A. has also recently added a so called "Dossier certification", which is really a miniature version of the standard full G.I.A. diamond quality report. It has all the necessary info except the inclusion and blemishes. The Dossier certification report is primarily used on smaller diamonds because it is lower in cost.

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