Diamond help! EGL diamond

[tatumsw]

I have read not to trust EGL diamonds from a lot of forums but i have only seen one study comparing the different labs and it concluded that EGL was more lenient on color by one color about 70% of the time. Yet, EGL was stricter on clarity by one about 30% of the time. So, for example, when looking at price i will compare a F VS1 EGL diamond with a G VS1 GIA diamond and the EGL diamond is almost always cheaper, holding everything else constant. I see on forums people actually go down 2 color grades when looking at a EGL but the only real study saw zero diamonds grade 2 colors or clarity off. So my question is why do people completely rule out EGL when often you can get the same diamond as a GIA for cheaper by going a color up? Is there something i am not seeing?

 

[tatumsw]

any opinions? agree/disagree?

 

[Dreamer_D]

What study are you referencing? The one that PS ran a while back? It was a sample of only 12 stones... informative but not definitive.

The problem with EGL in my mind is you cannot know for certain what the equivalent GIA/AGS grade would be. You could be lucky and it is one color grade, but it could be two, and then you are looking at poor value. In general, to me it is hard to correctly ascertain the fair market value of the EGL diamonds.

 

[DiceKTak]

I don''t/wouldn''t trust EGL with other aspects. They lack the strict consistency you''ll find with GIA/AGS. There are other components beyond color and clarity. I just don''t trust EGL with these to save two hundred bucks. Not worth the headache to me.

 

[DiceKTak]

And 12 diamonds is only a small fraction of what would be needed for statistical significance at a 95% confidence interval.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 2/19/2010 12:38:45 AM
Author: DiceKTak
And 12 diamonds is only a small fraction of what would be needed for statistical significance at a 95% confidence interval.

Not if the effect size was HUGE and the error variance tiny.

 

[DiceKTak]

Effect size = one color grade. So not relevant here. low D and high E could have the slightest of differences. I''d venture to guess that you''d need a sample size of about 50 for this study.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 2/18/2010 9:30:48 PM
Author:tatumsw
I have read not to trust EGL diamonds from a lot of forums but i have only seen one study comparing the different labs and it concluded that EGL was more lenient on color by one color about 70% of the time. Yet, EGL was stricter on clarity by one about 30% of the time. So, for example, when looking at price i will compare a F VS1 EGL diamond with a G VS1 GIA diamond and the EGL diamond is almost always cheaper, holding everything else constant. I see on forums people actually go down 2 color grades when looking at a EGL but the only real study saw zero diamonds grade 2 colors or clarity off. So my question is why do people completely rule out EGL when often you can get the same diamond as a GIA for cheaper by going a color up? Is there something i am not seeing?

Maybe this is what you were looking for?

 

[elle_chris]

EGL USA was the the lab used in the study. It''s often said on this board, that they''re more consistent than the other EGL''s but usually still off. EGL Israel is frowned upon here because according to the experts, the only consistent thing about them is they''re never right.

If you''re comparing similiar stones, graded by different labs and see a large price difference, there''s a reason.

 

[serenitydiamonds]

Date: 2/18/2010 9:30:48 PM
Author:tatumsw
I have read not to trust EGL diamonds from a lot of forums but i have only seen one study comparing the different labs and it concluded that EGL was more lenient on color by one color about 70% of the time. Yet, EGL was stricter on clarity by one about 30% of the time. So, for example, when looking at price i will compare a F VS1 EGL diamond with a G VS1 GIA diamond and the EGL diamond is almost always cheaper, holding everything else constant. I see on forums people actually go down 2 color grades when looking at a EGL but the only real study saw zero diamonds grade 2 colors or clarity off. So my question is why do people completely rule out EGL when often you can get the same diamond as a GIA for cheaper by going a color up? Is there something i am not seeing?

EGL graded diamonds (excluding EGL USA) are notoriously inconsistent, which is why there is typically a price difference, although recently the have been much better. IF you have a vendor that you trust and can give you an honest opinion it''s possible to find a good bargain. Why? Because if they can look at the EGL F/VS1 and give you honest feedback on what it really would grade with at GIA. I''m seen EGL F/VS1''s that would grade very similar with GIA, and I''ve seen F/VS1 that I would''ve graded F/SI2.

GIA graded diamonds are consistent enough to buy based on the grading report alone most of the time. However, most of the time an EGL diamond will need an inspection to verify how consistent that particular report is. If you have an honest vendor that you can work with, and EGL graded diamond will be a very nice bargain.

--Joshua