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Diamond Certification

Diamond certificates, more accurately known as diamond grading reports, are commonly provided with the purchase of a significant piece of diamond jewelry such as a diamond Engagement Ring or a diamond Three Stone Ring. These reports are prepared by independent, certified gemologists from laboratories around the world and can help calculate the specific characteristics of your diamond (color, cut, clarity and carat weight, for example).

What's Included in a Diamond Grading Report?

A diamond grading report will commonly include a plotted diagram of your diamond and significant characteristics, including the 4Cs (cut, color, clarity and carat weight).

The report will also describe the diamond’s shape, exact measurements, proportions and depth percentages as well as grade the polish and symmetry. It should also comment on the characteristics like fluorescence, raining, and any imperfections in the diamond. Please note: a grading report does not include an appraisal or any kind of statement of monetary worth of the diamond. Grading reports simply state the scientific facts of your diamond that can be evaluated by highly standardized criteria.

The best way to understand your diamond grading report is to schedule an appointment with your jeweler. This way, he can explain to you each portion of the certificate while visually examining your diamond with you. Grading a diamond is only partially scientific; a brief meeting with your jeweler can help you understand what the certificate really means.

Benefits to Getting a Diamond Grading Report

Diamond grading reports assure you of the authenticity and quality of your diamond. As most consumers are not diamond experts, a certificate is an objective comparison. In addition, some insurance companies may require a grading report if you are planning to insure the diamond.

Does a Diamond Grading Report Increase the Value of My Diamond?

Certification of a diamond does not increase the value of your diamond. Certification is only a safeguard for the consumer as it is affirmation of your diamond’s authenticity and specific characteristics. Since each diamond is unique, a certificate will help you identify the special characteristics of your diamond.
How Much Does it Cost? How Long Will it Take?Depending on the laboratory used in the process for a diamond grading report can vary anywhere from 2 weeks or longer. The fee for a grading report varies depending on the carat weight if your diamond. Many labs charge approximately $75 for the first carat. If your diamond is larger than 1 carat, the price increases incrementally in relationship to carat weight. For exact prices, we suggest you contact specific labs to get price quotes.

Some well-known organizations that provide grading reports include the American Gemological Society (AGS), Diamond High Council (Hoge Raad Voor Diamant; HRD), European Gemological Laboratory (EGL), International Gemological Institute (IGI), and the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), to name a few. Your local jeweler can help aid you in acquiring a grading report through one of these labs either at the time of purchase of after.

Diamond Glossary A thru F

Blemish: A surface or inherent clarity characteristic of a diamond.
Brilliance: A phenomena unique and powerful in diamonds is the extent to which a diamond can reflect light. This "brilliance" is created when light enters through the diamonds table, reaches the pavilion facets, and is then refracted back out through the table to your eye.
Carat: A unit of weight by which a diamond is measured.
Clouds: A cluster of very tiny imperfections within a diamond. These imperfections will often take on a transparent cloudy look, and will require extremely high magnification in order to be seen.
Color grading: A grading method system by GIA used to determine the colorlessness of white diamonds.
Crown: The portion of the diamond above the girdle.
Crown angle: The angle where the diamond's bezel facets intersect with the girdle plane. The positioning of these facets is critical in determining the amount of light dispersion and fire in a diamond.
Culet: A flat facet diamond cutters add to the bottom of a diamond's pavilion. The purpose of the culet is to protect the integrity of the pavilion from chipping and fractures. Once a diamond is set in jewelry the purpose of the culet is generally negated as the setting will provide adequate protection for the stone. Most modern diamond shapes have either no culet, or very small pointed culet.
Cut: Refers to the proportions as well as the polish and finish of a faceted diamond. Cut is the most important of the "4 C's and is critically instrumental in determining a diamonds beauty and value.
Depth: The height of a diamond from the culet to the table. Depth is measured in millimeters.
Depth percentage: Refers to the relation between how deep and how wide the diamond is. Depth percentage plays a role in determining the brilliance and value of the diamond.Diamond: A crystallized carbon made up of 99.95% pure carbon atoms in an isometric or cubic arrangement.
Diamond cutting: The method whereby a rough diamond mined from way beneath the earth's surface is polished and faceted into a magnificent diamond. The diamond must go through a long and arduous process of many different steps until it is considered a completely finished gem.
Dispersion: The effect that properly angled and placed facets have on the diamond's ability to display fire.
Eye clean: A term used in the industry to describe a diamond with inclusions that cannot be seen with the naked eye.
Facet: The various smooth surface areas of a diamond set up and positioned at different angles, allowing light to enter the stone and reflect back to your eye. A round brilliant diamond has a total of 58 facets.
Feathers: are the small stress fractures in a diamond formed during its crystallization process. Feathers will pose no risk to the durability of the diamond once that stone has survived the rigors of its crystallization, mining, and cutting process.
Finish: This refers to the quality of how the diamond cutter executed the designing, fashioning, and faceting of the diamond.
Fire: (or Color Light)This refers to the percentage of the diamond returning bright colored light to the observer.
Fluorescence: This refers to an effect seen in diamond when exposed to long wave ultra violet light. Fluorescence is undetectable in most lighting conditions and can only be seen when placed under an intense and direct ultra violet lamp. Fluorescence has no deleterious effect on the integrity of the diamond. Some prefer Fluorescence in diamonds, others do not. It is a matter of personal taste. Fluorescence in lower color diamonds posses a unique desirability as they will make diamonds appear whiter than their actual color grade.

Diamond Repair
If your diamond chips contact Lenny Fuchs.

Quality Diamond Repairs
The Diamond Doctor Leonard Fuchs

Lenny@QualityDiamondRepair.com

10 West 47th Street, New York, N.Y. 10036

Lenny has over 31 years of experience in diamond repair.

Diamond Carat Weight Chart

Diamond Repair
If your diamond chips contact Lenny Fuchs.

Quality Diamond Repairs

The Diamond Doctor Leonard Fuchs
Lenny@QualityDiamondRepair.com
10 West 47th Street, New York, N.Y. 10036

Lenny has over 31 years of experience in diamond repair.

Diamond Glossary G thru T

GIA (Gemological Institute of America): Was founded in 1931 as a non profit organization and is considered to be the standard bearer of the diamond grading industry with the strictest, most stringent diamond grading criterion. The grading system developed by the GIA has become the standard system used today by grading labs across the world.
Girdle: The outer ring of the diamond is called the girdle. The girdle is described by its thinnest and thickest points.
Inclusion: An intrinsic clarity characteristic found within diamonds.
Naturals: Small particles of the original rough diamond's surface which remain on the polished diamond.
Pavillion: This refers to the lower portion of the diamond underneath the girdle.
Point: Refers to a measurement describing the weight of a diamond. One point equals one hundredth of a carat.
Polish: This refers to a diamond's surface blemishes which do not affect its clarity grade such as polishing lines or scratches. Polish is graded on laboratory reports as either ideal (AGS) excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor (GIA).
Scintillation: This is the term for changing colours, the radiance and sparkle of the rays when the stone is moved or when the light source changes. The GemEx Brilliancescope ™ analyzer that we use for all of our diamonds measures the number of light points and determines how they change from position to position.
Symmetry: Variations in a diamond's symmetry such as misshapen or misaligned facets are graded in the laboratory report. Although such variations are often undetectable to the naked eye, it is certainly indicative of a diamonds cut quality.
Table: percentage Represents the diameter of the table facet in relation to the diameter of the entire diamond.

Diamond Repair
If your diamond chips contact Lenny Fuchs.

Quality Diamond Repairs

The Diamond Doctor Leonard Fuchs
Lenny@QualityDiamondRepair.com
10 West 47th Street, New York, N.Y. 10036

Lenny has over 31 years of experience in diamond repair.

Carat Weight

A carat is a unit of measurement, it's the unit used to weigh a diamond. One carat is equal to 200 milligrams, or 0.2 grams.

The word "carat" is taken from the carob seeds that people once used in ancient times to balance scales. So uniform in shape and weight are these little seeds that even today's sophisticated instruments cannot detect more than three one-thousandths of a difference between them.

The process that forms a diamond happens only in very rare circumstances, and typically the natural materials required are found only in small amounts. That means that larger diamonds are uncovered less often than smaller ones. Thus, large diamonds are rare and have a greater value per carat. For that reason, the price of a diamond rises exponentionaly to its size.

Don't confuse "carat weight" with "karat," the method of determining the purity of gold.

Diamond Repair

If your diamond chips contact Lenny Fuchs.

Quality Diamond Repairs
The Diamond Doctor Leonard Fuchs

Lenny@QualityDiamondRepair.com

10 West 47th Street, New York, N.Y. 10036
Lenny has over 31 years of experience in diamond repair.

Diamond Color

When jewelers speak of a diamond's color, they are usually referring to the presence or absence of color in white diamonds. Color is a result of the composition of the diamond, and it never changes over time.



Because a colorless diamond, like a clear window, allows more light to pass through it than a colored diamond, colorless diamonds emit more sparkle and fire.


The formation process of a diamond ensures that only a few, rare diamonds are truly colorless. Thus the whiter a diamond's color, the greater its value.

Diamonds graded D through F are naturally the most valuable and desirable because of their rarity. Such diamonds are a treat for the eyes of anyone. But you can still obtain very attractive diamonds that are graded slightly less than colorless. And diamonds graded G through I show virtually no color that is visible to the untrained eye.


Very, very faint hint of yellow will be apparent in diamonds graded J through M, this color can often be minimized by carefully selecting the right jewelry in which to mount your diamond. Keep in mind that, while most people strive to buy the most colorless diamond they can afford, there are many people who actually prefer the warmer glow of lower-color diamonds.

Diamond Repair
If your diamond chips contact Lenny Fuchs.

Quality Diamond Repairs

The Diamond Doctor Leonard Fuchs
Lenny@QualityDiamondRepair.com
10 West 47th Street, New York, N.Y. 10036

Lenny has over 31 years of experience in diamond repair.

Diamond Clarity

When we speak of a diamond's clarity, we are referring to the presence of identifying characteristics on (blemishes) and within (inclusions) the stone.


If you think about the incredible amount of pressure it takes to create a diamond and the fact that natural diamonds are not grown in a sterile laboratory, it's no surprise that most diamonds have flaws.

Basically there are two types of flaws: inclusions and blemishes. Inclusions refer to internal flaws and blemishes refer to surface flaws. However, in the diamond grades listed below, you'll note that none of the grades include the term "blemish" -- for the purposes of grading diamonds, all flaws are called "inclusions."

Inclusions include flaws such as air bubbles, cracks, and non-diamond minerals found in the diamond. Blemishes include scratches, pits, and chips. Some blemishes occur during the cutting processes (most often at the girdle). Diamonds with no or few inclusions and blemishes are more highly valued than those with less clarity because they are rarer.

How are diamonds graded for clarity?
Diamonds are graded for clarity under 10x loupe magnification. Grades range from Flawless (diamonds which are completely free of blemishes and inclusions), to Included 3 (diamonds which possess large, heavy blemishes and inclusions that are visible to the naked eye).

F
Flawless - No internal or external flaws. Extremely rare.
IF
Internally Flawless - no internal flaws, but some surface flaws. Very rare.
VVS1-VVS2
Very Very Slightly Included (two grades). Minute inclusions very difficult to detect under 10x magnification by a trained gemologist.
VS1-VS2
Very Slightly Included (two grades). Minute inclusions seen only with difficulty under 10x magnification. SI1-SI2 Slightly Included (two grades). Minute inclusions more easily detected under 10x magnification.
SI1-SI2
Slightly Included (two grades). Minute inclusions more easily detected under 10x magnification.
I1-I2-I3
Included (three grades). Inclusions visible under 10x magnification AS WELL AS to the human eye.

While the presence of these clarity characteristics (inclusions and blemishes) do lower the clarity grade of a diamond, they can also be viewed as proof of a diamond's identity. GIA certificates include what is known as a "plot" of a diamond's inclusions -- think of it as a "diamond fingerprint." Since no two diamonds are exactly the same, comparing the uniqueness of your diamond's clarity characteristics with the plot provided on the diamond certificate offers assurance that the diamond you pay for is the same diamond you receive.


Diamond Repair
If your diamond chips contact Lenny Fuchs.

Quality Diamond Repairs
The Diamond Doctor Leonard Fuchs
Lenny@QualityDiamondRepair.com

10 West 47th Street, New York, N.Y. 10036
Lenny has over 31 years of experience in diamond repair.

Selecting the Grade of Cut

Don't confuse diamond "cut" with "shape."

Shape refers to the general outward appearance of the diamond, (such as round, emerald, or pear). When a diamond jeweler (or a diamond certificate) says "cut," that's a reference to the diamond's reflective qualities, not the shape.

As shown in the images below, when a diamond is well-cut, light enters through the table and travels to the pavilion where it reflects from one side to the other before reflecting back out of the diamond through the table and to the observer's eye. This light is the brilliance we mentioned, and it's this flashing, fiery effect that makes diamonds so mesmerizing.



In a poorly cut diamond, the light that enters through the table reaches the facets and then 'leaks' out from the sides or bottom of the diamond rather than reflecting back to the eye. Less light reflected back to the eye means less brilliance.


Selecting the grade
Selecting the grade of cut is really a matter of preference. To make the best selection, you need to understand the various grades. Please note that the descriptions below are general guidelines.

Ideal Cut
This cut is intended to maximize brilliance, and the typically smaller table sizes of these diamonds have the added benefit of creating a great deal of dispersion or 'fire' as well. Ideal quality diamonds are truly for the person who enjoys knowing that he has one of the finest things that money can buy. This category applies only to round diamonds.

Premium
In the case of round diamonds, many Premium Cut diamonds have cuts that are the equal of any Ideal Cut diamond, though they often can be purchased at slightly lower prices than AGS Ideal Cuts. They are intended to provide maximum brilliance and fire. Like the Ideal Cut, these are also for the person who enjoys knowing that he has one of the finest things that money can buy.

Very Good
These diamonds reflect most of the light that enters them, creating a good deal of brilliance. With these diamonds, the cutters have chosen to stray slightly from the preferred diamond proportions in order to create a larger diamond. The result is that these diamonds fall slightly outside of some customers' preferences in terms of, for example, table size or girdle width, though, in many cases many of the parameters of diamonds in this range will overlap with certain parameters of diamonds in the Ideal or Premium ranges. Generally, the price of these diamonds in slightly below that of Premium cuts.

Good
Diamonds that reflect much of the light that enters them. Their proportions fall outside of the preferred range because the cutter has chosen to create the largest possible diamond from the original rough crystal, rather than cutting extra weight off to create a smaller Premium quality diamond. Diamonds in this range offer an excellent cost-savings to customers who want to stay in a budget without sacrificing quality or beauty.

Fair & Poor
A diamond graded as fair or poor reflects only a small proportion of the light that enters it. Typically these diamonds have been cut to maximize the carat weight over most other considerations.


Diamond Repair

If your diamond chips contact Lenny Fuchs.

Quality Diamond Repairs
The Diamond Doctor Leonard Fuchs
Lenny@QualityDiamondRepair.com

10 West 47th Street, New York, N.Y. 10036
Lenny has over 31 years of experience in diamond repair.

Art Deco Style Engagement Ring

Art Deco

Art Deco Style Engagement Ring Mounting for a Princess, Asscher, Radiant or Emerald-cut Diamond.

Conflict Free Diamonds

Only buy conflict free diamonds. Conflict free diamonds are purchased from legitimate
sources not involved in funding conflict.

Diamond Repair

If your diamond chips contact Lenny Fuchs.

Quality Diamond Repairs
The Diamond Doctor Leonard Fuchs
Lenny@QualityDiamondRepair.com

10 West 47th Street, New York, N.Y. 10036
Lenny has over 31 years of experience in diamond repair.

Art Deco Style Diamond Engagement Ring

Art Deco
Art Deco style diamond engagement ring setting with stepped diamond shoulders. The centre diamond is set between two stylized hearts.

Conflict Free Diamonds

Only buy conflict free diamonds. Conflict free diamonds are purchased from legitimate sources not involved in funding conflict.

Diamond Repair

If your diamond chips contact Lenny Fuchs.

Quality Diamond Repairs

The Diamond Doctor Leonard Fuchs

Lenny@QualityDiamondRepair.com

10 West 47th Street, New York, N.Y. 10036

Lenny has over 31 years of experience in diamond repair.

He is called the diamond doctor by many of his satisfied customers.