GIA laboratory graded diamonds

Ask anyone who knows about diamonds & they will tell you that it is crucial you source an honestly graded stone. The best way to do this is to find a diamond that has been independently graded by a laboratory. The most well renowned laboratory in the world is the GIA (Gemological Institute of America). 

RING jewellers are proud to announce that after years of stocking GIA laboratory graded diamonds, they are now recognised by the GIA as an official stockist on their ‘retailer look-up’ scheme. This means that any diamond engagement ring RING jewellers sells, over 0.25ct comes with a laboratory certificate & our lab of choice is the GIA.  

An example of a GIA laboratory grading certificate

As well as cut, colour & clarity GIA certificates also cover how well the diamond has been cut & polished. They also test the stone for ‘fluorescence’ (a characteristic that makes a diamonds look lifeless & milky regardless of the colour & clarity). These elements of diamond grading are not mentioned by many jewellers & are often intentionally left out of conversations with their customers as an excuse to sell a low-grade diamond at an elevated price. Another trick by less honest jewellery stores is to make a heavily discounted diamond look like a bargain when the original price was nonsense due to the inaccurate grading given by the shop instead of an independent laboratory. 

A guide to fluorescence from a GIA certificate 

A GIA certificate takes the guess work out of diamond grading. If a jeweller tells you a diamond’s grade is a G/H colour or SI/VS clarity it should set alarm bells ringing. A diamond that has been properly graded should come with an exact colour & clarity grade & NOT a rough estimate. The difference between two colours can be the difference of hundreds, or even thousands of pounds so how can it be roughly a ‘G’ or an ‘H’? Wherever you get your diamond engagement ring we would recommend buying a GIA laboratory certificated diamond.