


IGI brands itself as the “largest international” labs, as they are located in many countries. Although they have started with one office in Antwerp, they now have multiple offices in Antwerp, New York, Hong Kong, Kolkata, Tel Aviv, Mumbai, Bangkok, Tokyo, Dubai, Toronto, Los Angeles, Surat, Chennai, Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Thrissur, Jaipur, and Hyderabad, and has more than 650 gemologists in their offices. The exponential growth in IGI presence is undeniable. While this might sound obvious, many don’t operate like IGI! For instance, you will probably be able to find some differences in grading levels for diamonds certified by different EGL offices, given that EGL has many offices around the globe. And just like “McDonald’s franchise”, these standards are applied across all their offices internationally.Īnd although each lab is owned by a different entity, it’s less likely that a diamond will be graded differently from an IGI lab to another, they all follow the same grading and certification procedures. They offer grading services for almost all types of diamonds & jewelry, including natural diamonds, lab-grown, Hearts & Arrows, colored…etc.Īs for IGI reputation and if their certification process is reputable, it’s well-known that IGI operates on pre-set and documented standards and methodologies in the process of assessing and grading diamonds. IGI (which stands for International Gemological Institute) was established back in 1975 in Antwerp (Belgium), the labs were first founded as diamonds, colored gems, and jewelry certification institute.Īntwerp is historically known as the “home of diamonds” and IGI is considered to be the oldest certification lab there. In this blog post, we’ll be going over IGI with it being a kind of controversial lab, it’s for sure has a good reputation these days, but why the giant Blue Nile (and others as well) didn’t take any steps toward listing diamonds graded by IGI? It’s simply because if a lower quality lab (Yes, like EGL) grades a diamond with a G-color, while it’s an I or J for GIA, then you’ve purchased the wrong diamond, regardless of anything you’ve been recommended to get! You’ll notice that we are focusing a bit too much on the “diamond certificate” and advising that you do too even more than ANY other factor, such as the Cut (being the most important factor among the 4Cs )! One of the most essential points to consider when you’re about to buy a gem is what type of certificate comes with that diamond, or to be precise: which certification lab has assessed the diamond and graded it accordingly? While not many other online stores showcase and sell diamonds certified by IGI, we truly believe that since James Allen (being the largest online diamond store with +300,000 diamonds) is trusting IGI to list their diamonds, it’s worth a review, and then a fair and thorough comparison to the reputable GIA. If you’re getting your diamond from the Blue Nile, most probably, you’ll not be seeing any mention of IGI, but if you’re shopping at James Allen, you will notice that they are introducing more collections of IGI diamonds that you can check here (Currently, James Allen has more than 7,000 IGI certified diamonds). EGL), however, some actually are decent and follow protocols and scientific methods in assessing/grading diamonds, and IGI lab (International Gemological Institute) being one of the We surely know lots of these labs are probably amateurs (Hi Mr. Yes they are the most reputable & known labs, but there are tons of certification labs out there that are less popular. The same goes for the Diamond certification industry, it is not exclusive to GIA or AGS. GIA is probably connected to “diamond certification” in your head! And just like people are using the words “I’m going to Uber” every time they’re referring to a transportation app, it does not mean that “Uber” is the only application out there! Whiteflash: The premium diamonds store! House of A CUT ABOVE®

James Allen: Best diamonds imaging technology, largest diamonds inventory store, along on this with:īlue Nile: Head-to-head in inventory with JA, with more options to smaller diamonds. Note: Prices mentioned in this article are based on prices we see on these 3 main stores we usually deal with:
#Igi vs gia how to#
How to Check GIA Number on Diamond Report?.

