Description

GIA Certified Platinum 1.00ct Round Brilliant Diamond Engagement Ring

What is a GIA certified diamond?

If you’ve done some engagement ring shopping or browsed a jewelry store online, you might have come across a term known as “GIA certified diamond”. In this page, we will explain what exactly this certification is and why it is important.

First of all, you must know that diamonds are priced according to the 4 c’s. These include carat, color, clarity, and cut.

1. Carat – a unit of mass used to measure both diamonds and pearls. One carat equals 200 milligrams. Bigger stones will have higher carats. However, be aware that a larger carat size does not necessarily mean that the stone is of higher quality. There many large carat stones with inclusions. Yuck. On the flip side, there are some diamonds with a high carat weight and very good color / quality, which can fetch thousands upon thousands of dollars.
2. Color – A chemically pure diamond is perfectly transparent with no hue (color). However, no diamond is absolutely pure, this is why a scale is used. Diamonds that are closer to this perfect standard are worth way more. The color ranged from D to Z. Many charts can be found online to indicate what each letter grade means.
3. Clarity – Clarity is a quality that relates to the existence of internal characteristics of a diamond known as inclusions, and surface defects known as blemishes. A diamond with less inclusions and blemishes will fetch more value. Like diamond color, there is a scale used to label a diamond’s clarity. The grading scale includes flawless (FL), internally flawless (IF), very very slightly included (VVS1 and VVs2), very slightly included (VS1, VS2), slightly included (SI1, SI2), and included (I1, I2, and I3). Diamonds that are flawless or internally flawless are much rarer.
4. Cut – Cut refers to the symmetry, proportioning, and polish of a diamond. It does NOT refer to a diamond’s shape like pearl, round, heart, etc. A number of diamond cuts have been developed to modify the appearance of a diamond. This exposes more facets of the diamond and allows it to absorb light different ways.

Now, given that information, when you enter a jewelry store, some sales people will throw terms at you like “this diamond is G color VS1”. However, how do you know that this is true? Well, GIA (Gemological Institute of America) is a lab that certifies diamonds to ensure that what sales people tell you is actually true. GIA certified diamonds are much pricier because their authenticity is guaranteed.