GIA Updates Diamond Grading Report

Effective July 1, the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has updated the wording and the placement of “brillianteering” comments on its Diamond Grading Report and Diamond Dossier® for standard round brilliant diamonds.

From July 1, GIA is also providing a free re-issue service that will be available for a three-month period. This service will apply only to reports that have the “original” brillianteering comment.

Tom Moses, senior vice president, GIA Laboratory and Research, said, “We’re changing the language and location of the brillianteering comment on these reports so that all of the important information is included, while making sure that it is presented in a clear and understandable format to the consumer.”

GIA’s new Diamond Grading Report and Diamond Dossier, introduced nearly seven months ago in January, indicated when a diamond’s cut grade was affected by “painting” or “digging out” by putting a notation within the report’s comments section that read: “Cut grade is based on brillianteering of the half-facets.”

Starting July 1, a similar diamond will have a statement located under the proportion diagram – not in the comments section – that reads: “Cut grade affected by brillianteering.”

Brillianteering refers to the last steps of the polishing process when the star facets along with the upper and lower half facets (also known as upper and lower girdle facets) are polished on the diamond. When a diamond is “painted” or “dug out,” these facets are polished in a manner that can affect the face-up appearance of the diamond and therefore may affect the final cut grade.