EGL Certified Diamonds
Not A Good Value For Consumers
Washington Diamond does not recommend EGL certified loose diamonds and we also won’t sell them to our customers. We believe GIA certified diamonds or AGS certified diamonds are higher quality and graded with stricter standards and greater accuracy. GIA certified diamonds and AGS certified diamonds tend to offer a better total value to consumers whereas they get a higher quality diamond at a better price.
What is the difference between EGL and GIA or AGS certified diamonds?
EGL stands for the European Gemological Laboratory. EGL is based in Europe and has four laboratories in the United States that are called the EGL USA Group. They use the same grading system for color and clarity that was originally developed by GIA, the Gemological Institute of America. GIA is the world’s foremost authority and diamond and gemstone grading. AGS operates the American Gem Society Laboratories and has similar strict standards with GIA and uses much of the GIA developed grading system and nomenclature. AGS Laboratories is also well known for very strict grading of cut for round brilliant cut diamonds, called Triple Ideals or Triple Zeros (equivalent to GIA Triple Excellent Cuts).
What do these laboratories do?
Gem laboratories are independent authorities that produce grading reports for individual diamonds or gemstones. Their report helps dealers and consumers assess quality differences within a framework that is standardized, recognized, and respected. Gem laboratories try to produce a grading report that is scientific in nature (describing weights and measurements), but some aspects of their work involve subjective assessments. Their subjective assessment of color, clarity, and cut is where EGL certified diamonds vary the most from GIA certified diamonds and AGS certified diamonds.
How do they differ?
There is a general impression in our industry that EGL certified diamonds do not compare favorably with GIA certified diamonds and AGS certified diamonds in head to head comparisons of supposedly equal quality characteristics. GIA certified diamonds and AGS certified diamonds on average look better in quality. Our independent testing has demonstrated to our satisfaction that this general impression is valid. We will not offer our customers EGL certified diamonds for this reason. Sometimes, EGL certified diamonds with the same color and clarity grades as GIA certified diamonds or AGS certified diamonds are sold at a slightly lower price, giving consumers the impression that they are a superior value. There is a reason those diamonds are cheaper…they are not as high in quality. See the results of one of our experiments:
We purchased an EGL certified diamond and sent it to be certified by GIA. GIA had no knowledge whatsoever as to the fact that this diamond had already been graded by EGL or the color and clarity score it received. GIA graded the diamond similarly in every category except color. Instead of G color, the grade came back as I color. This means the EGL grade was two color grades different from GIA. The GIA I color diamond was being presented to consumers as an EGL G color under the pretense that EGL G color is the same as GIA G color, but it was not in this case. Customers could have bought a GIA I color for even less money than the EGL G color and therefore the EGL G color was not a superior value to the GIA G color.
See and compare EGL Certificate Report and GIA Certificate Report on the same diamond.
Learn more about GIA certified and AGS Certified loose diamonds.