Certificates

We are long-established fans of the GIA and its certificates (every stone we sell over half a carat comes with one). These certificates, whether for diamonds bought online or in-store, have eliminated a large part of the uncertainty and doubt that have always been part of buying a diamond. The age-old question, How do I know what I'm getting? can now be answered much more clearly.

The numerous and welcomed upsides of GIA certificates in their role of assuring consumers a stone has been accurately described are clear to all. We at stuart moore advise everyone not to buy any diamond over .75 carat, from anyone, without a certificate from the GIA (and only the GIA), no ifs, ands or buts.

Well… allow us just one ‘but’…
Nothing’s perfect and we are concerned, not with the certificate, but the manner in which it is sometimes used.

We think the pendulum between ‘no cert’ and ‘cert’ has swung too far. We have noticed some buyers believe diamonds have become commodities and quality gradings shown on a certificate can be used as a substitute for viewing the stone itself. This is called ‘buying the cert’ and, in our opinion, this has potentially serious consequences to the buyer, both financially and aesthetically.

‘Buying the cert’ assumes that a three-dimensional piece of nature can be broken down and categorized on two-dimensional paper finely enough for its beauty to be properly visualized, so there’s no longer a need to use your eyes.

While possibly true for GIA certificated, round brilliant stones that earn an excellent or very good cut rating, in our opinion it is not true for any other stone.

It would be the visual equivalent of someone asking you to buy a piano by trying to write down the difference in tone to your unique ear between a particular steinway and bechstein, without you actually hearing it played.

Some of these differences are not describable in words so we won’t try to do so. We’ll just suggest you have a look at our video, ‘compare’, and repeat an expression from it which refines thousands of conversations we’ve had with customers and diamond cutters over the last forty years…

“You won’t know why you should compare until you’ve compared.”

However, there are differences easy to describe. Have a look at these two charts.

They are the industry standard for color and clarity grades. In order to reduce the infinite number of possible grades to a manageable and sensible level, the experts at the GIA chose the categories you see.

Follow our logic for a minute…

Start with a glass of water and call it colorless (that’s ‘d’ on a GIA certificate). very slowly, add an exactly steady stream of whisky, which will increasingly ‘darken’ the colour at an even rate. decide where the line should be defining ‘f’ from‘g’. Then decide the line between ‘g’ and ‘h’.

We already have a problem. Nature didn’t divide her coloring into such convenient, separate categories. Surely each one will range from less dark to more dark. So, once you draw those two lines you’ll find there are many ‘g’s which are very close to your ‘f’ line but there are other ‘g’s very close to the ‘h’ line. So ask yourself; is the ‘g’ that’s almost an ‘f’ the same color (or value) as the ‘g’ that’s almost an ‘h’?

Now let's have a look at Clarity. Go back to the glass of water. It has nothing in it (that’s internally flawless on a GIA certificate). Take grains of salt and pepper and, one at a time, drop them in and decide when you cross the line between VS1 and VS2. Then decide the line between VS2 and SI1.

You’ll run into exactly the same ‘range’ problem as with color. Some of your VS2S will be really, really close to the VS1S while other VS2S will be just about crashing the SI1 line. So, again, is the VS2 that’s almost a VS1 the same clarity (or value) as the VS2 that’s almost an SI1?

Let’s now take two identically certified round brilliant cut diamonds, both g color, VS2 clarity. One has both color and clarity really close to the next grade up while the other has both color and clarity almost dropping to the next grade down. While certified by the best gem labs in the world (so absolutely correct in gemological terms) if the stones are examined side by side there will be degrees of difference, so

they should not be the same in business terms.

Let’s be clear here. The differences we describe are tiny, many consumers wouldn’t see the difference, but, in diamond grading, ‘tiny’ can cost a lot of money.

So, until the GIA comes up with a grading system update which breaks down each grade into lots of sub-grades (and the market prices stones accordingly) we are stuck using our eyes to determine value.

We can assure you that we in the industry do use our eyes to compare before parting with our money and don’t pay the same price for these two stones, no matter what the certificate says. So we ask a question, “why would any consumer spend the difference in real value between the two?” the answer?... because they’re ‘buying the certificate’, not the diamond.

Our solution to this is to suggest you take one of two actions:
Take advantage of our 'free hotel offer' to show her you’re not just a smart buyer but also a lover. Visit us (by appointment), have a romantic interlude and enjoy a glass of champagne on us. Compare several stones, brought in especially for you, side by side,to make sure you’re getting the perfect stone.

Or, if a visit’s not possible, let our diamond specialists know what stones you like in our listings (or if you didn’t find what you wanted) and what else you’re looking for. They’ll find a group of stones at the top end of each grade, do the eye-balling for you and get back to you with the right recommendations.

Remember, as brokers of stones, not owners, we think long-term, and our incentive is to sell you a stone we would be happy to buy for our own partner. By doing exactly that, for forty years, we’ve built a list of faithful clients and we’ll do our very best to ensure you’ll become the next happy buyer on that list.