Buying a diamond requires a substantial monetary investment. Therefore it is important to have it insured, which is possible with certificates from IGI appraisals. You do need to know that the diamond you have purchased is actually worth the money you paid for it. If you buy money back guarantee diamonds, it is of utmost importance that you have such an appraisal carried out so that if you have overpaid, you have an opportunity to get all or some of your money back.

There are four main aspects of a diamond used in conducting an appraisal, whether you choose IGI appraisals or another internationally recognized institute. Jewelers rely on this method of authenticating a diamond and estimating its value because of the presence of forgeries on the market. By determining the value of the cut, an appraisal will give you an idea of the skill of the craftsman in cutting a rough diamond and polishing the stone.

In order to prepare a diamond certification report, IGI appraisals conducts a gemological analysis of the stone. The certificate will provide details on the four C’s – cut, clarity, color and carat. The diamonds appraised by IGI can be loose or set in a piece of jewelry, whereas if you use another institute, such as EGL loose diamonds, you can only have an appraisal done on loose stones. This is one of the benefits of using IGI for your appraisal needs.

In addition to assessing the four C’s of the diamond, IGI appraisals measure the size of the diamond and provide comments on the fluorescent quality as well as any imperfections found in the stone. Even if you have had a diamond for a decade or more, you can still benefit from having it appraised. Recent class action suits against DeBeers claim that this company overpriced its diamonds and while the company is not admitting to any wrongdoing, it is paying out millions in claims.

There are over 25 gemologists who prepare IGI appraisals of diamonds. In any one year, they prepare more than 400,000 reports, which show the popularity and importance of having your best value diamonds appraised. There are three different reports you can have for an appraisal – Diamond Report, Identification Report and the Information Appraisal Report.

The diamond report resulting from IGI appraisals will tell you whether or not the stone is a real diamond or one of the fake ones on the market. As a jeweler, you can request that the diamond be sealed in a package that contains the report so that customers can see that the report has not been tampered with.

If you want information about the diamond through IGI appraisals, you may prefer to have an Identification report. This report provides you with all the details of the diamond - the carat weight, a color grade, whether or not it has any imperfections, its proportions and the grade of the finish. An enlarged photo of the diamond accompanies this report with all the areas of the report shown in the photo.

For insurance purposes, you should have an information appraisal report for your diamond. This report provides an estimated value and insurance companies do need this report in order to cover you with a policy. The value is represented in the currency of your choice and gives the retail value. Such a report is also important if you suspect that the retail outlet has charged you far too much for the diamond you purchased.

The dealer from whom you buy a diamond often does not have any information on where it was mined and what craftsman performed the finish work. You should ask pertinent questions about the supplier in order to ascertain that you are buying a non conflict diamond, which means that the money realized from the sale is not being used for wars or terrorism. The jeweler may not want to reveal any details of the sale but gaining the name of the supplier and researching it will help you immensely in this regard.