GIA’s revision of its evaluation services for lab-grown diamonds, announced in early June, will go into effect Oct. 1, the Carlsbad, Calif.–based organization said this week.
“Using descriptive terms for the quality of laboratory-grown diamonds is appropriate as most fall into a very narrow range of color and clarity,” Pritesh Patel, GIA president and CEO, said in an Aug. 26 statement. “Because of that, GIA will no longer use the nomenclature created for natural diamonds to describe what is a manufactured product.”
The new grading system applies to D–Z lab-grown diamonds. They will be described as “premium” or “standard,” based on GIA’s assessment of their clarity, color, and cut. Any diamond that does not meet the minimum criteria for standard will not receive a GIA grading. Current GIA services for D-to-Z lab-grown stones will be available until Sept. 30.
GIA sample
A sample report for a lab-grown diamond, per GIA’s new assessment and language it will use starting Oct. 1
In its statement yesterday, GIA provided specifics on the criteria for premium and standard classification. To be graded as premium, a lab-grown diamond must meet all of the following criteria:
• Clarity – very, very slightly included and higher
• Color – D
• Polish – excellent
• Symmetry – excellent
• Cut (round brilliant-cut diamonds only) – excellent
Lab diamonds that meet a combination of the criteria for premium and the criteria for standard will be classified as standard. The criteria for standard are as follows:
• Clarity – very slightly included
• Color – E to J
• Polish – very good
• Symmetry – very good (or good for fancy shapes)
• Cut (round brilliant-cut diamonds only) – very good
GIA said its fee for the new lab-grown diamond assessment will be $15 per carat, with a minimum fee of $15. Submissions that do not meet the minimum criteria for assessment will be charged a $5 evaluation fee.
Minimum size for submission is 0.15 ct., GIA noted. Each submitted stone’s girdle will be laser inscribed with the term laboratory-grown and the GIA quality assessment number. A printed document of the evaluation results will be provided for each diamond.
(Photos courtesy of GIA)
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