Worst Lab Certification?

[DreamingOfDiamonds]

Which is the worst lab certification & why? I know GIA is the gold standard/flagship...

 

[LilAlex]

There is no worst; there probably are hundreds, though, that are tied for last place.

GIA is not the gold standard for colored stones or for origin reports. There are many threads on this on the various forums here.

 

[DreamingOfDiamonds]

There is no worst; there probably are hundreds, though, that are tied for last place.

GIA is not the gold standard for colored stones or for origin reports. There are many threads on this on the various forums here.

I will do my due diligence and search for threads on this topic, thank you.

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

Of the popular labs people tend to use, this is my personal view (applicable to diamonds only):

- GIA: best, gold standard, especially in terms of colour/clarity. A bit soft on cut quality.

- HRD: my second choice, unknown/not well considered in US but top lab in Europe, from my experience/understanding (based on personal experience and what my jeweler has told me) fairly close to GIA (1 grade difference is possible).

- AGS: well known and considered in US, practically unknown elsewhere. Focus is on cut quality. Fairly close to GIA (1 grade difference is possible) from my understanding based on comments here.

I would take the top three as basically equivalent top-rate labs depending on where you’re located, though my personal preference is GIA. I am not US based.

- IGI: well known pretty much everywhere but a somewhat second-rate lab. They’ve cleaned up their act in recent years and are way more consistent than they used to be, but a 1-2 grade difference with GIA is somewhat common, from my understanding. IGI stones sell at a discount to equivalent GIA stones i believe.

- EGL: infamous but definitely avoidable, I’d say third rate lab. Grade inflation is to be expected, with colour and/or clarity off by 2+ grades very often. You can just about use them to differentiate “is this a diamond or not” imo.

 

[DreamingOfDiamonds]

Of the popular labs people tend to use, this is my personal view (applicable to diamonds only):

- GIA: best, gold standard, especially in terms of colour/clarity. A bit soft on cut quality.

- HRD: my second choice, unknown/not well considered in US but top lab in Europe, from my experience/understanding (based on personal experience and what my jeweler has told me) fairly close to GIA (1 grade difference is possible).

- AGS: well known and considered in US, practically unknown elsewhere. Focus is on cut quality. Fairly close to GIA (1 grade difference is possible) from my understanding based on comments here.

I would take the top three as basically equivalent top-rate labs depending on where you’re located, though my personal preference is GIA. I am not US based.

- IGI: well known pretty much everywhere but a somewhat second-rate lab. They’ve cleaned up their act in recent years and are way more consistent than they used to be, but a 1-2 grade difference with GIA is somewhat common, from my understanding. IGI stones sell at a discount to equivalent GIA stones i believe.

- EGL: infamous but definitely avoidable, I’d say third rate lab. Grade inflation is to be expected, with colour and/or clarity off by 2+ grades very often. You can just about use them to differentiate “is this a diamond or not” imo.

Thank you! I appreciate this breakdown!

 

[RunningwithScissors]

A lot of us prefer AGS for MRB diamonds and consider it the gold standard, especially for cut quality.

Don't let a jewelry salesperson tell you AGS is lesser than GIA, it is not, and when they say that it usually means they want to sell you their "Triple Ex" diamond (which in reality may not have a very good cut at all.)

 

[DreamingOfDiamonds]

A lot of us prefer AGS for MRB diamonds and consider it the gold standard, especially for cut quality.

Don't let a jewelry salesperson tell you AGS is lesser than GIA, it is not, and when they say that it usually means they want to sell you their "Triple Ex" diamond (which in reality may not have a very good cut at all.)

See, I wish I had known this and I just purchased a MRB diamond last night, but it was GIA...

 

[DejaWiz]

A lot of us prefer AGS for MRB diamonds and consider it the gold standard, especially for cut quality.

Don't let a jewelry salesperson tell you AGS is lesser than GIA, it is not, and when they say that it usually means they want to sell you their "Triple Ex" diamond (which in reality may not have a very good cut at all.)

To add to this wonderful post: AGS accreditation requires GIA accreditation as a prerequisite. This was told to me by an AGS employee when I was inquiring about accreditation not long ago.

 

[DejaWiz]

To add to this wonderful post: AGS accreditation requires GIA accreditation as a prerequisite. This was told to me by an AGS employee when I was inquiring about accreditation not long ago.

Quoting myself out of humility...
I checked the email correspondence that I had with AGS back in December when I was trying to set up a profile account so that I could check into gemology accreditation, but was told that I needed to be associated with a firm/business that was an AGS member. I was then referred to GIA by one of the AGS Community Ambassadors.
My apologies for the misinformation earlier.