The GIA, or the Gemological Institute of America, is an internationally recognized association for the grading and appraisal of diamonds. Although you may buy a GIA diamond ring, the ring itself does not come from the institute.

What this means is that the diamond ring has been appraised, just like EGL loose diamonds and IGI diamond appraisals. When a jeweler advertises rings as GIA diamond rings, you will receive the certification of the stone with your purchase of the ring.

GIA diamond rings have been appraised for the four C’s of diamonds – color, cut, clarity and carat. In grading the color of the diamond, the GIA assigns a letter value to the stone ranging from D, which is the highest to Z, which is the poorest. D rated diamonds are almost colorless, while Z rated stones contain a great amount of yellow in the color.

The color grading scheme developed by GIA is now the recognized grading system throughout the world. There are also GIA diamond rings that have rating beyond the letter Z and these are known as fancy diamonds. Contrary to what you may believe, all diamonds are not white. They come in a wide range of colors and those that contain hints of other colors are very valuable, such as those that are red, pink or blue.

When diamonds are graded for color, this is done on a white card or tray. It is impossible to grade a diamond face up even with the aid of specialized equipment because of the way the stone reflects the light. The light can give a false sense of color, which is why this process is used in determining the color of GIA diamond rings. Color corrected fluorescent light is used in the process because it does not contain any ultraviolet light, which distorts the color of the diamond.

The carat of GIA diamond rings refer to the weight of the diamonds. Since the GIA grades only loose stones, if you do have diamonds you want to have appraised that are already set in pieces of jewelry, the stones will have to be removed first. At present, IGI appraisals are the only ones that will appraise diamonds that have been set in jewelry.

The carat of a diamond does not refer to its size and the weight has a direct bearing on the cost of the stone. The heavier the stone, the more valuable it is and therefore the cost is much more than that of a smaller diamond. The diamonds used in GIA diamond rings have different proportions depending on the type of cut used in fashioning the stone. A diamond that has been cut properly will reflect the light from all facets of the stone and exhibit a sense of fire and brilliance.

In an ideal cut, the light will bounce from one facet to another both within and around the diamond so that it sparkles in the ring every time you move your hand. All diamonds have imperfections, even those in GIA diamond rings. These are natural occurrences that take place as the diamond was formed over millions of years in the earth. The fewer flaws or inclusions there are in a diamond, the more valuable it will be.

This aspect of grading diamonds refers to the clarity of the diamond. When you buy a GIA diamond ring, you have confidence and peace of mind in knowing that you have an authentic stone that has been appraised by a team of specialists in the field of gemology. The standards of the GIA in grading diamonds are the highest of any such laboratories in the world.