How to Read a GIA Diamond Certificate

Your fourth step in finding the right diamond is to go beyond the 4 Cs and learn the important details about certified diamonds and GIA diamond certificates (or Diamond Grading Reports as they are technically called) — so you can compare any two diamonds accurately. The price of a diamond is in the details, so this is more important than it seems.

Read the articles you need below and ask your jeweler any questions you have, or use the orange box in the upper right corner of this page to contact me.

Introduction to GIA Certified Diamonds

 Print sample certificates to follow along
(links to sample certificates by GIA and all other major labs)
 Why a certificate?
 Aren’t all labs the same?
(covers GIA, AGS, AGL, EGL, IGI, others)
 Every store has different prices

The 13 Quality Factors:
Going Beyond the 4 Cs

1  Cut (advanced): how shape affects the price
2  Measurements (advanced): how they affect beauty and price
3  Carat Weight (advanced): how it affects the price
4  Proportions
5  Depth percentage
6  Table percentage
7  Culet
8  Finish
9  Polish
10 Symmetry
11 Clarity grades
12 Color grades
13 Fluorescence

Additional Information on the Certificate:
 Date of the report — it’s important
 Plot — the map of inclusions