Diamond Certification: What You Need to Know

Everyone in the market for a diamond should be familiar with the Four Cs: Color, Clarity, Cut, and Carat. However, there’s a fifth C that is every bit as important and ensures that the diamond you’re purchasing is really as beautiful as it appears: Certification.

Diamond certification is a process completed by third-party professionals to objectively measure the characteristics of a diamond. Once their research is complete, these professionals compile their findings into a document that accompanies the diamond to a store or individual buyer. These professionals are thorough, evaluating every part of a stone using precision tools and their own expertise.

In short, their findings are what determine the legitimacy of a diamond’s color, clarity, cut, and carat.

This document is crucial when purchasing an item as special as a diamond because it shows you exactly what you’re getting. A few jewelry stores like to promise you a gorgeous-looking diamond for what appears to be an absolute steal, but if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

A diamond can look incredible when mounted on a ring, and it can be very tempting to purchase one on the spot if the price is right and the sales associate is already placing it in a box for you. You just want to make sure that, years down the line, the precious stone you purchased for such a steal is worth the price you paid (or, at the very least, doesn’t chip like glass).

The diamond certification tells you the specifics of your new diamond – how clean the clarity is, the exact carat weight, the proportions of the cut, etc. – as well as its overall value. This is one of the main reasons why certification is so important to so many customers, and why it should be important to you, as well. You want to make sure that the price of any precious stone you buy reflects not only the microscopic intricacies of the diamond, but also how it appears to the naked eye.

There are a variety of different diamond certification labs out there, each of which has their own style of grading. The most well-known and respected lab in the United States is the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), which acts as the standard for unbiased and educational-based diamond grading. A diamond that comes with a certification and grade from the GIA is practically guaranteed to be exactly what the certification document says it is. There are other labs out there that are still very trustworthy (the American Gem Society, or AGS, comes to mind), but the legitimacy of others should be taken with a grain of salt. A quick Internet search of the lab your diamond’s certification is from will help you determine its validity.

If your house has a deed and your car has registration, wouldn’t you want the same sort of documentation detailing the specifics and value of something as precious as a diamond? This is an investment that should last you a lifetime, so make sure you take the time to focus on that fifth C next time you’re browsing for your diamond!

We here at Gold Thumb Jewelry have GIA certifications for all of our diamonds and precious stones, and we’re ready to go through any of them with you on your next visit. Ready to start the adventure of picking out the perfect stone? Contact the professionals today!