Diamond & Jewelry News, Advice and Prices for Consumers
Diamond & Jewelry News, Advice and Prices for Consumers
January 16, 2011
I'm comparing two diamonds online and one has an AGS certificate while the other has a GIA certificate. I understand that the highest GIA rank is Excellent and the highest AGS rank is Ideal. Does that mean that two diamonds with these ranks have the same cut grade?
January 16, 2011
This is a delicate question and I believe there is no definite yes or no.
Still, I would have to lean towards yes.
The reason I believe an AGS Ideal is more or less equal to a GIA Excellent is because both these diamonds would be considered as top quality, deserving the highest existing rank in their grading scale.
If you take on diamond A, that has a flawless cut, and send it for certification to AGS, and then to GIA, the diamond will mostly come back as Ideal from the AGS and as Excellent from the GIA.
The trickier part, is that obviously, the more detailed a grading scheme is, the more precise the analysis.
Therefore, a GIA Excellent could be what we will call an Excellent + or an Excellent -.
An Excellent + will most likely be a Hearts & Arrows, that AGS would consider as Ideal.
The Excellent - are diamonds that would be on the border between Excellent and Very Good, but that would still fall into the Excellent category.
The AGS grading system would allow the differenciation between the + & - by grading Ideal and Excellent.
Still, all in all, having a diamond that recieves the highest cut grade from any of these two diamond grading authorities oughts to be a beautiful stone of great value, therefore I don't think too much emphasis should be put on such a difference in appelation.
I hope this helps!
