In the past, before GIA made a standard guidelines on how to grade diamonds, people used an approximation in terms of diamond grading. They used various grading system such as Arabic Number (1, 2 or 3) or even Roman numeral (I, II, III). Some even used grading such as A, AA or AAA.
However those type of grading systems were not accurate at all, as one diamond can look like a grade A to one and AA to the others.
As more people get more interested in the pursuit of diamonds, the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) being one of the oldest and most established Diamond Laboratory, adhered to a more strict and more precise diamond grading systems.
When trying to grade diamonds' color, they use the letters from D to Z, D being the highest most colorless diamond color, and Z being the lowest and most yellow tinted diamond color. D color diamonds are considered to be the rarest and most expensive diamonds. E, F, G color follows and as the letters decrease, the less colorless the diamonds are.
Diamonds with colors beyond I color are considered to be 'Fancy' diamonds, they are more tinted and less colorless, most of the time these diamonds are tinted with a yellow hue.
Most people do not know much about diamonds; they cannot tell the difference between a D color diamonds from a G color diamonds.
As for Clarity grading system GIA used the scale from IF (Internally Flawless) to I (Inclusions; I 1, I 2 and I3).
Diamonds with an IF clarity have the highest and best qualities.
That's why the demand for Diamond Certification increased dramatically as people want to be assured what they are buying are endorsed on that piece of diamonds' certificate.
GIA adheres to a very high standard and strict policy when grading diamonds, making diamonds which are accompanied with GIA certificates to be the most sought after.
They are also generally more expensive than those diamonds that have certificates from other diamond laboratories.
However, please remember that even though diamonds that have non-GIA certificate do not mean that they are less in qualities.
|