Gregory Diamond
08-02-2005, 06:04 PM
GIA announces official cut grade to launch Jan 2006.
The GIA announced this at a press conference Monday evening. The grading system for round brilliant cut diamonds is scheduled to launch Jan. 1, 2006.
"We're ready to go today," said GIA president William E. Boyajian at a press conference in New York Monday afternoon announcing the timetable. Boyajian told attendees that GIA wanted to be sure the industry was ready.
"We don't want to launch something the trade isn't prepared for," he said. "It's obviously a big deal."
The new reports will impact all round brilliant cuts. Cut grade will accompany the three other Cs: color, clarity, and carat weight on the new reports. The new grade will also be included on GIA's Diamond Dossiers. The grade will take into account brightness, fire, scintillation, design, and craftsmanship. The system is based on a predictive modeling of more than 38.5 million proportion sets, which has been validated through human observation.
Since January of this year, the labs have been collecting proportion information on most of the round brilliant diamonds graded, Boyajian said. A free reissue service will be offered on diamonds graded from now until the end of the year, while there will be a nominal fee to reissue reports on diamonds graded between Jan. 1-July 31 of this year.
During the implementation period, the industry will be given access to software and support tools. They will be able to estimate GIA cut grade using a free online version of the trademarked GIA Facetware Cut Estimator, accessible via DiamondCutGIA.edu. Additionally, Sarin and OGI have introduced new software in their optical measuring devices that has embedded the new GIA system, enabling users to estimate cut grades and gain advice on polishing from rough and recutting.
To further support the implementation, GIA has also released: a standardized viewing environment, the trademarked GIA DiamondDock, which provides optimal lighting for both assessing and displaying the cut quality of round brilliant cut diamonds; the GIA Multi-Purpose Gemological Reticle, which provides a way to measure the proportions of a diamond manually with a microscope; and a new brochure for the industry that explains the new system and how it will be presented on GIA lab reports.
The GIA cut grade will not be proprietary, Boyajian added.
"We hope the industry as a whole will adopt the system," he said. While there is no timetable yet, he said cut grades for round modified diamonds and fancy shapes will be developed.
"If I have any influence, it will be on stones that are the more popular fancy shapes," he said.
The GIA announced this at a press conference Monday evening. The grading system for round brilliant cut diamonds is scheduled to launch Jan. 1, 2006.
"We're ready to go today," said GIA president William E. Boyajian at a press conference in New York Monday afternoon announcing the timetable. Boyajian told attendees that GIA wanted to be sure the industry was ready.
"We don't want to launch something the trade isn't prepared for," he said. "It's obviously a big deal."
The new reports will impact all round brilliant cuts. Cut grade will accompany the three other Cs: color, clarity, and carat weight on the new reports. The new grade will also be included on GIA's Diamond Dossiers. The grade will take into account brightness, fire, scintillation, design, and craftsmanship. The system is based on a predictive modeling of more than 38.5 million proportion sets, which has been validated through human observation.
Since January of this year, the labs have been collecting proportion information on most of the round brilliant diamonds graded, Boyajian said. A free reissue service will be offered on diamonds graded from now until the end of the year, while there will be a nominal fee to reissue reports on diamonds graded between Jan. 1-July 31 of this year.
During the implementation period, the industry will be given access to software and support tools. They will be able to estimate GIA cut grade using a free online version of the trademarked GIA Facetware Cut Estimator, accessible via DiamondCutGIA.edu. Additionally, Sarin and OGI have introduced new software in their optical measuring devices that has embedded the new GIA system, enabling users to estimate cut grades and gain advice on polishing from rough and recutting.
To further support the implementation, GIA has also released: a standardized viewing environment, the trademarked GIA DiamondDock, which provides optimal lighting for both assessing and displaying the cut quality of round brilliant cut diamonds; the GIA Multi-Purpose Gemological Reticle, which provides a way to measure the proportions of a diamond manually with a microscope; and a new brochure for the industry that explains the new system and how it will be presented on GIA lab reports.
The GIA cut grade will not be proprietary, Boyajian added.
"We hope the industry as a whole will adopt the system," he said. While there is no timetable yet, he said cut grades for round modified diamonds and fancy shapes will be developed.
"If I have any influence, it will be on stones that are the more popular fancy shapes," he said.