Diamond Appraisals, Certificates and Lab Reports ?What, Why and Who?

When buying diamonds and diamond jewelry online, it is a good idea to make sure you are getting exactly what is described and to know what best suits your taste and budget (find out what carat size, color and clarity you prefer).

Before buying:
Independent certification from a reputable gemological laboratory can ensure you are getting a diamond that is exactly as described to you. This means that if there is independent certification, you will be getting exactly the carat weight, color and clarity that you expect, and not an over-evaluation by the seller. Beware of large diamonds (over 1/2ct.) without any certification or only with an “in-house?appraisal ?it is very unlikely you will be getting the diamond that is described. You may get a nice diamond, however you will have over-paid due to the over-grading of the diamond (sometimes as much as 3 grades difference in color and clarity). Look for independent gemological laboratories that give detailed reports, like GIA, EGL, IGI and IGC.

After buying:
For piece of mind taking your diamond to be checked by a professional can be a good idea, but even then one should be cautious. You can trust certification from renowned gemological institutes like the ones mentioned above, and so all that needs checking when buying over the net is whether the certificate indeed does match the stone. An experienced jeweler should be consulted in order to compare the diamond to the certificate.

Another thing one may want to do is compare the appraised price (if an appraisal came with the jewelry), and have the item appraised locally. Loose diamonds are valued according to the wholesale rapaport price list, and the retail value is considered to be approximately twice the wholesale.

Jewelry appraisals vary very widely and depend on a number of factors. An appraisal should reflect the cost of replacing the ring with an identical ring of the same quality in case of theft or loss (which is why an appraisal is used for insurance purposes). Therefore, when appraising jewelry, one considers the size and quality of the diamonds as well as the unique nature of the piece. A unique item or an exclusive design would mean that in order to replace it, a jeweler would need to re-design the ring from scratch which is an expensive process.

An important consideration when checking the appraised value is to understand that sellers will generally put the retail value on the higher side of the scale, whereas local jewelers or a appraisers will generally under-value jewelry that was not bought through them. After checking that your independent certification matches your diamonds, the best way to find out the retail value is to go to retail stores and compare prices. Also consider asking how much they would charge for custom making an identical piece and this would be a good indication of the real replacement value.