Loose Diamonds Gia
Q.I am in the market for an engagement ring. I've noticed two kinds of certificates bye the GIA and the EGL when I look for loose diamonds. I was told by the jewelers that the GIA takes a lot longer to certify the diamonds and costs a lot more while the EGL is more efficient and cheaper. The EGL claims to have similar rating as the GIA. Can anyone verify this? I also heard that the GIA would not certify filled diamonds. Does the EGL have the same rule? One jeweler has jokingly told me that the EGL tend to give higher ratings in clarity than the GIA. He also told me that GIA is more accepted internationally. Will it be worthwhile to pay the fee to have a diamond certified by the GIA before I make any purchase? Basically, I'd like to know whether I should be as confident about diamonds certified by EGL and other labs as diamonds certified by the GIA. Any info from any experts or people with experience shopping for diamonds is greatly appreciated.
A.we have been in business for over 30 years and have found that the only certs we can fully trust are GIA certs. not that we haven,t found errors in GIA grading,but they are minor and a matter of semantics in general. however we do not trust EGL or IGI certs to just blindly trade on. IGI is a little better than EGL,but off the record both companies are influenced by outside forces. bottom line we treat IGI and EGL as uncertified stones and sell them at prices that reflect this mistrust. we also regrade IGI and EGL certs if we find them off even by one grade on any of the 4 c's. I had my diamond graded by EGL. The store graded as a G, but EGL graded it as a F. Now I wonder if EGL is accurate enough. I am so tired of looking for diamonds now. Everywhere that I looked, I feel like that I am being had. It's really hard to find a well cut stone downtown. Most of them will just bullsh*t you about the cutting. I found this one mall store that's pretty good about telling you how well the cut is, but they charge quite a bit for it. (like +30% of the Rap sheet) I even found this store that only sells Lazare Kaplan, but they charge like +50% to +100% of the Rap. Take into account that the Rap sheet indictates high (+30%) wholesale prices for well cut stones. They sure are making quite a bit. Maybe I am just being cheap... I like diamonds, and I am thinking about learning more about them. But I sure don't want to go look for one again. In fact, I told my girlfriend jokingly that I won't buy her one again for 30 years. When dealing with a diamond salesperson, I would feel much better if I am on the other side of the counter.
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