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GIA Is Changing Its Lab-Grown Diamond Grading Reports Again
Starting in Q4, the lab will use the same color and clarity terms as it does for natural diamonds.
Beginning in Q4, GIA will use standard color and clarity grades for lab-grown diamonds. GIA Executive Vice President and Chief Laboratory and Research Officer Tom Moses said the change will “provide more precision for the trade and will educate consumers.” (Photo credit: GIA)
Carlsbad, Calif.—The Gemological Institute of America will begin grading lab-grown diamonds using the same specific color and clarity grades it applies to natural diamonds.
The lab made the announcement Wednesday, citing the “growing acceptance in the trade and by consumers of laboratory-grown diamonds as a distinct category” as the reason for altering a practice it has used since it first began grading man-made diamonds in 2007.
The change will apply to grading reports for both colorless/near-colorless and colored lab-grown diamonds.
Reports for both will still have a statement that the graded stone may have been treated post-growth to change its color, and all lab-grown diamonds the GIA grades will be inscribed with the report number and the words “laboratory-grown.”
The reports will be digital only and replace the lab’s current Laboratory-Grown Diamond Report.
GIA updated the report just last year, dropping the word “synthetic” but still opting not to use the same terms as it does for natural diamonds.
“Natural and laboratory-grown diamonds co-exist today, accepted by both consumers and the trade. We believe the growth of laboratory-grown diamonds will expand the overall diamond market and bring in new customers,” President and CEO Susan Jacques said in a press release announcing the change.
“Ensuring consumers’ trust with GIA’s reliable, independent and authoritative grading reports for all diamonds benefits the public and the entire gem and jewelry industry.”
Related stories will be right here …
The lab made the announcement Wednesday, citing the “growing acceptance in the trade and by consumers of laboratory-grown diamonds as a distinct category” as the reason for altering a practice it has used since it first began grading man-made diamonds in 2007.
The change will apply to grading reports for both colorless/near-colorless and colored lab-grown diamonds.
Reports for both will still have a statement that the graded stone may have been treated post-growth to change its color, and all lab-grown diamonds the GIA grades will be inscribed with the report number and the words “laboratory-grown.”
The reports will be digital only and replace the lab’s current Laboratory-Grown Diamond Report.
GIA updated the report just last year, dropping the word “synthetic” but still opting not to use the same terms as it does for natural diamonds.
“Natural and laboratory-grown diamonds co-exist today, accepted by both consumers and the trade. We believe the growth of laboratory-grown diamonds will expand the overall diamond market and bring in new customers,” President and CEO Susan Jacques said in a press release announcing the change.
“Ensuring consumers’ trust with GIA’s reliable, independent and authoritative grading reports for all diamonds benefits the public and the entire gem and jewelry industry.”
The new laboratory-grown diamond grading service is set to launch in the fourth quarter.
It will include the GIA Laboratory-Grown Diamond Grading Report (4Cs assessment, a plotted clarity diagram and a proportions diagram) for stones that are 0.15 carats and up, and the lower-priced Laboratory-Grown Diamond Dossier (4Cs assessment and a proportions diagram only) for smaller diamonds, 0.15 to 1.99 carats.
The reports will cost the same as those GIA issues for natural diamonds but will have a unique design and format to differentiate them.
It will include the GIA Laboratory-Grown Diamond Grading Report (4Cs assessment, a plotted clarity diagram and a proportions diagram) for stones that are 0.15 carats and up, and the lower-priced Laboratory-Grown Diamond Dossier (4Cs assessment and a proportions diagram only) for smaller diamonds, 0.15 to 1.99 carats.
The reports will cost the same as those GIA issues for natural diamonds but will have a unique design and format to differentiate them.
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