What Is a GIA Certified Diamond?

Do you know how to tell the quality of a diamond? Whether it is for the love of your life or just something to make you pop, diamond purchases are important. You have likely come across the term “GIA certified” when diamond shopping. But most of us don’t have any idea what that actually means.

Don’t worry, we are here to help. Read on for our guide for everything you need to know about a GIA certified diamond.

Who Are the GIA?

The GIA is the Gemological Institute of America. Set up in 1931, the GIA is a non-profit that works to protect the consumer through education and research.

Over the years they have developed new technologies like the gemological microscope, trained generations of gem surveyors, and established gem grading systems. It is thanks to the GIA that we have a standard to grade diamonds on, in the form of standardized diamond grading

What is a GIA Certified Diamond?

The most important thing you need to know about diamonds is that the GIA doesn’t certify them. The term “GIA Certified” is used by jewelry stores to show that a diamond has been graded by the GIA.

The GIA assesses each diamond on the 4Cs and describes it in a report. Remember, this GIA report is factual. They don’t make any comments on the value of a diamond.

What are the 4Cs?

GIA uses the 4Cs to assess quality. These are the 4 characteristics most important to the look of a diamond and ranking results are included in the GIAs report for each diamond. Sometimes the results are laser engraved onto the diamond itself.

Color

For a typical diamond, the perfect color is actually colorless. The GIA’s color score ranks diamonds on their colorless, from D to Z. Most diamonds are colorless to the untrained eye, but towards the end of the scale, they can start to look yellow or brown.

Carat

The Carat weight of a diamond is a measure of its weight. 1 carat is 200 milligrams. The greater the weight, the bigger the diamond.

Clarity

This scale goes from Flawless to Inclusions (which means it has imperfections that can affect the visible quality). The closer the flawless, the higher price a diamond will be.

Cut

To get the perfect sparkle a raw diamond is shaped to maximize the light passing through it. This highly skilled process is what the cut measures. This is by far the most difficult check to perform and results in a grade from Excellent to Poor.

Understanding a GIA Certified Diamond

As you can see, when you buy a GIA certified diamond you know exactly what you are getting. Every important characteristic has been checked and ranked so there can be no nasty surprises. You can use the GIA assessment results to work out whether you are getting a great deal or a bad one.

If you found this article useful, be sure to check out our other blog posts.