The Journal
What an IGI report shows
A gem report is a stranger's opinion of your stone, written by people with no stake in the sale. That is the whole point of it. Here is what one actually says, and how to check that the one in your box is real.
In short
An IGI report is an independent grading of one stone: shape, measurements, carat, colour, clarity, cut, polish, symmetry, fluorescence, and whether it was grown by CVD or HPHT. Check any report on igi.org with its number. At VIBHINI, laboratory-grown main stones above 1 carat come with one; moissanite and small stones don’t. Every laboratory-grown diamond we set is E–F colour and VVS–VS clarity.
Who IGI are
The International Gemmological Institute grades stones in laboratories around the world, including in Surat. They grade laboratory-grown diamonds on the same scales they use for mined ones, and the report states plainly that the stone was grown in a laboratory. How a laboratory tells the two apart is explained in laboratory-grown or mined diamond.
What the report states
Every report carries a number, and against that number:
- Shape and cutting style — oval brilliant, round brilliant, emerald cut, and so on.
- Measurements — the stone's dimensions in millimetres.
- Carat weight — to two decimal places.
- Colour grade — on the D to Z scale, D being colourless.
- Clarity grade — from FL, flawless, down through VVS, VS, SI and I.
- Cut, polish and symmetry — how well the stone was cut and finished. This is what makes a stone lively, and it is the grade most people overlook.
- Fluorescence — whether the stone glows under ultraviolet light.
- How it was grown — CVD or HPHT, the two methods used to grow diamonds.
- Often a laser inscription of the report number on the stone's girdle, readable under magnification.
A real example
The centre stone of one of our pieces carries report LG813625650: an 8.07 carat oval brilliant, colour E, clarity VVS2, polish and symmetry both Excellent, no fluorescence, grown by CVD, and identified as Type IIa — a structure with no measurable nitrogen.
Read as a sentence: a large, near-colourless stone whose inclusions you would struggle to find under ten times magnification, finished to a high standard, with nothing in it to dull its light.
How to check one
Go to igi.org, open the report check, and type the number. The laboratory's own record of that report appears. If the stone is laser-inscribed, the number on the girdle should match. It takes under a minute, and it is worth doing with any certificated stone from any jeweller, including us.
Which VIBHINI pieces come with one
Laboratory-grown main stones above 1 carat are sent for an IGI report, and it travels in the box with your piece.
Small stones don't carry individual reports: grading costs more than many small stones are worth, and no laboratory issues a separate report for each of the thirty stones in a pavé band.
Moissanite does not come with a gem report of this kind. It is a different stone and is not graded on these scales.
We never claim that every stone in every piece is graded. Where a report exists, you get it.
What we can tell you without a report is the grade we buy to: every laboratory-grown diamond we set is E to F colour and VVS to VS clarity, from the centre stone to the smallest stone in a pavé band. A report proves it for the large ones; the same stones go into the small settings.
Does the report change the price?
Yes, a little. The laboratory charges by the carat, and that cost sits in the price of the piece along with the stone, the metal and the making. It is one of the four parts described in what decides the price of a ring.
Quick answers
- Is IGI the same as GIA?
- They are different laboratories. IGI grades the large majority of laboratory-grown diamonds and has laboratories in India.
- Does an IGI report say the stone is laboratory-grown?
- Yes, explicitly, and it names the growth method.
- Do all your pieces come with a certificate?
- No. Laboratory-grown main stones above 1 carat do.
- Can I check the report myself?
- Yes, on igi.org with the report number. Please do.
- Is a certificated stone a better stone?
- The report doesn't improve the stone. It tells you, independently, what the stone is.