Certified Diamonds

Safety In Diamonds: Buying Certified Diamond Jewelry

Diamond certification offers a safety net of sorts when buying diamonds and diamond jewelry. Diamond certified jewelry makes it far safer to buy diamonds and diamond jewelry sight-unseen.

Certified diamonds are diamonds that have been graded according to the ‘4C’s’ of diamond ratings. Typically, certified diamond purchases refer to loose diamonds. Certified loose diamonds are those that are not yet set into a jewelry setting. In most instances when a customer goes to buy certified diamonds, the customer studies comparable stones and chooses that which best suits their budget best, then has the chosen loose diamond set into the ring or jewelry setting of their choosing. This allows for greater flexibility in price and preference of characteristics of the diamond.

However, now that diamond certifications have become a norm in diamond buying and diamond jewelry, certified diamonds are sometimes sold pre-set after grading. You might see certified diamond rings for sale that provide all of the needed information in regards to characteristic and quality, without having to also choose between settings and precious metals.

A diamond is certified by experts at a diamond grading laboratory. Laboratories are staffed with highly trained diamond experts. Almost any grading laboratory can claim the ability to certify diamonds and provide diamond certificates. However, the most consistent and reliable standards in diamond certification come from those with long-standing reputations for stringent diamond grading. Diamonds that are sure to live up to the quality indicated on a diamond certificate are EGL certified diamonds, AGS certified diamonds, and GIA certified diamonds. The letters in the names are abbreviations indicating the laboratory that graded the diamonds. For example, a GIA certified diamond is one that was graded by the Gemological Institute of America.
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One might wonder, if there is only a handful of truly reliable diamond certifying organizations in the world, how is it possible to buy a diamond that is certified? The answer is simple, really. Certifying labs serve only the certification purpose. When a diamond is certified, it simply means it has passed through the lab for grading. Wholesale certified diamonds are then sold by the diamond owners (often through certified diamonds auctions) to certified diamonds dealers all over the country and the world. So it is as possible to buy GIA certified diamonds in Philadelphia, PA as it is in small town Ohio.

Diamond certification was developed in the early part of the 1900’s, but is proving even more valuable a tool for diamond buyers with the explosion of buying jewelry and diamonds online. When a buyer is familiar with what the different grades of each characteristic means, they have a reasonable idea of the beauty and quality of diamond they are buying online from the information provided on the diamond certificate. The diamond certificate, with a good name lab behind it, is proof of a good thing without having to hold the diamond in hand. This is good news for diamond consumers, because online diamond shopping is an excellent way to get the most value for every diamond dollar. With enough effort put into shopping around for deals on discount certified diamonds, a buyer is able to purchase a much higher quality of diamond from a greater diamond selection than if they were to be shopping only one diamond dealer’s inventory.

When buying diamonds, a certificate is an excellent tool to have. Highly skilled and experienced diamond experts or jewelers may have the talent and confidence to buy diamonds and make their own determinations as to worth, but for the masses, the intricacies of diamond characteristics, values, and subtleties are far beyond our scope. It is a comfort and a safety to have the benefit of a diamond certificate on your side.