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choosing a ring

My fiance and I are choosing a diamond for my ring and the only difference is one is EGL graded and one is GIA graded. Does it matter??

Thanks! Hope to be planning my wedding on here soon...

Re: choosing a ring

  • It matters what you love and what you are willing to spend.  No one can tell things like that from looking at the ring.
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  • EGL=GIA.

    They are just 2 different organizations that grade rings, there really is no difference.
  • Doesn't matter.  If it's certified by either of those companies, you're still getting a certified diamond. 
  • There is a difference.  GIA is more strict and has higher standards for the diamonds. 
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  • In Response to choosing a ring:
    [QUOTE]My fiance and I are choosing a diamond for my ring and the only difference is one is EGL graded and one is GIA graded. Does it matter?? Thanks! Hope to be planning my wedding on here soon...
    Posted by Szos82[/QUOTE]

    It definitely matters.  Diamonds are priced by their size, cut, color, clarity, and there are going rates for diamonds based on those parameters.  If you're going to spend the money on a certain combination of those parameters, you deserve to get what you paid for, not less than what you paid for.

    GIA is very consistent in their grading of diamonds, EGL is very inconsistent in their gradings.  If you look at an EGL diamond, yes it's certified, but if you're comparing a GIA diamond to an EGL diamond, then you really have no idea what you're comparing unless you do the grading yourself since EGL G-color might be a GIA G, or maybe it's all the way down to I or J, you just don't know unless you put both next to a reference color stone.  Same with the cut and clarity/polish; their consistency is very spotty, sometimes they get it right, sometimes they dont. 

    I spent several months shopping for my fiancee's ring, knew exactly what I wanted, shopped it around to about eight local stores, ended up buying from jamesallen.com.  Every local store I went to wanted to persuade me to buy what they had in stock or could get because it was 'just as good' or I 'wouldn't be able to tell the difference' between what they had and what I wanted, it felt like buying a used car.  After I got fed up I did an extensive amount of researched and ended up at James Allen.  You can view the actual stone in most cases, the GIA certificate and they delivered exactly what I expected.  I had it independently appraised after it got here and everything was in order.

    With all that being said, it really comes down to what you like; if you see a ring you fall in love with and it's got an EGL diamond, well, if he's comfortable paying what it's selling for, then consider going for it since all that really matters in a ring is what you want and what makes you happy, guys typically like to feel like they got a good deal or what they paid for though and that's why I'd avoid EGL.


    In Response to Re: choosing a ring:
    [QUOTE]It matters what you love and what you are willing to spend.  No one can tell things like that from looking at the ring.
    Posted by AmandalovesAl[/QUOTE]

    Not always true.  If you buy an EGL and it's rated as G color, you might be in for an unwanted surprise when you girlfriend puts her GIA G color ring next to it and yours looks a bit yellow because your EGL G is really a J.

    Married in Vegas - June 2011



  • GIA is stricter. If you need help picking out a diamond, I would suggest Pricescope.com. It has forums with very knowledgeable people.

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  • Thanks for the responses. I'd read on the GIA website that it was the original grading source and they invented the 4Cs, etc, but I wanted to confirm with real people!!
    :)
  • I think they were just the first to start marketing it, diamonds have always been priced based on the same criteria but they gave it a catchy name. :)  They are the most consistent though so you can have more confidence buying a GIA-certified diamond and knowing that if you paid for a g-color ex/ex/ex then that's what you got.

    Now for some unsolicited advice based on my experience shopping around local jewelers...  if you find an EGL diamond that you like, make them sell it to you for less; tell them you've talked to some diamond appraisers and the've warned you of the risks with an EGL certification not being completely accurate, so you'd like the store to either reduce the price to compensate for that or have your stone sent off for a GIA certification.  If they want to make the sale, they'll do one of the two.  The GIA certification pricing is located at:  http://www.gia.edu/lab-reports-services/fees_payment/lab_fees/LAB_feeschedule_Diamond_US_0710.pdf So don't let them tell you oh it will cost thousands to get a GIA certification done.

    Next tip; if you're going with a yellow gold setting, the color of the diamond can go way lower to save you money or to get a larger stone because in a gold setting its going to look yellow anyway.  If white gold or platinum, and you do not want color in your diamond, look for a G color; it will be noticeably cheaper than D through F and will only be visibly different if put side by side with D or E unmounted.  If you don't mind it being a bit yellow, the further down the scale you go the more you save or the more you have to spend on size or clarity.

    If your primary interest is the 'sparkle', stay with 'very good' or better on the cut and polish.

    If you want to ensure someone can't look at your diamond and find a visible flaw, stay with a vs2 or better on clarity.  In reality though, you can usually go with an si1 or si2 and ask the jeweler to mount the diamond in a way that the inclusions are hidden by the mounting if their located in a spot in the diamond that makes that possible; for example, if there's a small pin point near an edge, they can put a prong right over where it is so it's very hard to see even though it's there.


    Married in Vegas - June 2011


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