Many diamond shoppers will have already done their homework and will know to evaluate their stone based on the 4Cs. The importance of the diamond certification Take a look at this princess cut diamond from James Allen here. They have the best quality images and videos to help you make the best evaluation.

If you are buying your diamonds online, do so from James Allen, Blue Nile or Whiteflash.

It has proved itself over the years for using a clear and consistent methodology for grading diamonds.

The Gemological Institute of America is the largest and most popular diamond grading lab in the world and is considered the standard-bearer in the diamond industry.

It is advisable to never buy a diamond based only on the report. They also offer the best in 360-degree videos which you can use to judge the appearance and quality of a diamond.

Another advantage of buying a GIA graded diamond is that some of the best online sellers stock GIA diamonds.

The smaller report doesnвЂ™t have cut information. Always ensure that you ask for a full-size report as this contains the most information on the diamond.

The IGI diamonds come with a full-size report and a smaller report.

Note that both the IGI and the GIA use very different methodologies especially in grading the clarity and the color of the diamonds.

Take a look at this round brilliant here. It is much better to buy a diamond with a more recognized certificate.

However, it is still not as popular worldwide as the GIA.

The IGI is one of the most popular diamond labs in Europe and Asia.Neither GIA nor AGS grade Hearts & Arrows. Infact HRD is one of the very few labs who actually grade Hearts & Arrows diamonds accurately. IGI is very popular in India and Middle East. There are many jewellers who are also apprehensive of selling diamonds with IGI certificates - especially in the developed countries - because they know there will be someone there who will shoot this down - out of jealousy that they didn't get to make the sale. Everyone thinks IGI is another EGL - but on the contrary. Like they say - You never get a second chance to make a first impression. That and with the history of IGI - they started off as a lab who would be slightly lenient with their grading - but not so much any more. There are a lot of people sitting on internet advising on diamonds with a great authority without actually having seen enough diamonds to advise what they are advising about. I think IGI tend to cop a bit of unfair criticism in the diamond forum world by well meaning.but not necessarily well informed.armchair experts - and unfortunately, more often than not it's the end consumer that can miss out on some really nice stones because they've read online somewhere to stay away from anything other than GIA or AGS (in the USA). Hey mate - IGI are pretty spot on with GIA for colour and SI1+ clarity goods.SI2s?.hmmm.ok maybe you'd want to take a close look to be sure (in my personal experience) - but overall, like Barry said, they're pretty solid. Not that that's a particularly good reason to pick it and it could easily be offset by the things in the paragraph above. In pure replacement type valuation, the GIA one is going to cost a little more to replace because it's over 1.50cts and there's a premium for that. ThatГўв‚¬в„ўs from the same dealers, the same lab, and on the same day. A 1.5-1.6/J/SI2/GIA/round search in the database produces 267 offers with a range of more than a factor of 2 in price. IГўв‚¬в„ўm more inclined to ask about details you didnГўв‚¬в„ўt bother to mention. Other services, like the little Гўв‚¬Лњcredit cardГўв‚¬в„ў appraisals, vary a lot. The stones graded in their India operations seem to vary a lot.

The IGI labs in New York and Hong Kong seem to do a pretty good job when examining unmounted stones. That leads to one of those answers with a ton of qualifiers. They also have several different labs and, like EGL, I donГўв‚¬в„ўt count them as equal. This is vastly more complicated than just lab differences.ДЇor starters, IGI offers a number of different documents.

Igi vs.gia