CERTIFICATION
What is diamond certification?
A diamond certificate (also known as a grading report) proves that your diamond has been graded by a professional gemmologist in an independent lab where they will use specialised equipment to examine the diamond.
The certificate lists a number of characteristics about the diamond. This includes dimensions of the diamond, Carat Weight, Clarity, Colour etc.
Why is a diamond certificate important?
The difference between diamond grades can be so slight that you can’t see them to the naked eye but those differences can have a great impact on the value of the diamond.
With this in mind, it is important that your diamond has been graded by a professional in an independent lab to ensure the diamond you receive matches the specification which you have purchased.
We would expect all diamonds with a Carat Weight of 0.50ct and over to come with an independent certificate.
When should a diamond certificate be expected?
We offer the choice of two certificate options. We offer an SDC (Standard Diamond Certificate) option and this is available for diamonds with a Carat Weight of 0.50ct and over. We also have the GIA option for natural diamonds and IGI for Lab Grown Diamonds which are available for diamonds with a carat weight of 0.30ct and over.
Diamonds under 0.30ct will not come with an independent diamond certificate. We will provide our own certificate which lists the diamond specification as chosen on your order. This is standard practice.
Which grading labs do we use?
The SDC option we offer stands for Standard Diamond Certificate and this is our own terminology.
A number of different labs are used for our SDC certified diamonds. Those labs include but are not limited to WGI (World Gemological Institute), IGL (International Gemological Laboratories) and IGR (International Gemological Reports).
For Natural Diamonds we also have the option for GIA (Gemological Institute of America) certified diamonds and for Lab Grown Diamonds we offer IGI (International Gemological Institute) certified diamonds.
GIA and IGI grading labs are recognised widely as the most prestigious independent labs in the world.
Not all grading labs are as strict as GIA and IGI and it is generally accepted in the jewellery industry that these labs set the standard in diamond grading. For this reason, GIA and IGI certified diamonds are often sold at a higher price than diamonds certified elsewhere.
We have some examples below of different independent certificates
