Papers first: they make everything quicker
Sell a GIA certified diamond in Ireland
A certified diamond is the easiest kind to sell, because the certificate answers the questions testing would otherwise have to. Send a photo of the certificate first, with photos of the piece, and keep the paper with the stone. The stone is still tested before any offer, the setting is bought on its gold or platinum weight, and we buy natural diamonds only.
What the certificate tells us
A GIA or IGI certificate is an independent lab’s written record of the stone: its carat weight, colour grade, clarity grade, cut, measurements, and whether it is natural or lab-grown. For a seller that paper does two jobs. It lets us talk sensibly about the stone before it travels, from the photo of the certificate alone. And it removes the grading step for stones that would otherwise need one: a stone of roughly one carat or more without papers may be quoted subject to grading by an independent lab, while a certified stone usually arrives with that question already answered.
Send the paper, not just the stone
The order that works best: photograph the certificate, the piece, and the stamps inside the band, and send the three together on WhatsApp or through the form on the diamonds page. When the piece travels, the certificate travels with it, in the same pack or in your hand at the counter. It is named in the offer and returned with the piece if you decline. Certificates also carry a number that can be checked against the lab’s own register, and on many stones the same number is laser inscribed on the girdle, which is one of the things testing confirms.
Testing still happens
A certificate speeds the conversation up; it does not replace the test. Every stone is tested before any offer, certified or not, because papers can be mismatched to stones and because we check what we buy. If the certificate says lab-grown, read it carefully before sending anything: we buy natural diamonds only and do not buy lab-grown stones. The setting is bought on its metal weight either way, at the published per-gram rates.
No certificate? Start anyway
Plenty of good stones were sold without papers, especially older ones. Send photos and what you know of the piece’s history, and we take it from there with testing and, for larger stones, independent grading agreed with you first. An older stone may also be an old cut, which is its own subject: see selling an old cut or antique diamond. And if you are weighing up whether to sell at all, what is my diamond worth sets out the honest picture.
Questions people ask
Why does a GIA certificate matter when selling?
Because it answers, in writing and from an independent lab, the questions every diamond buyer has to ask: the stone's carat weight, colour, clarity and cut. With a certificate the conversation starts from facts. Without one, everything waits for testing, and a larger stone may need lab grading before it can be quoted at all.
Is an IGI certificate as useful as a GIA one?
For selling to us, yes, it does the same job: an independent statement of what the stone is. GIA and IGI are the two names we see most. Whichever lab graded your stone, send a photo of the certificate first and keep the paper with the piece.
I have lost the certificate. Does that end the matter?
No. The stone is still what it is, and testing still tells us. A larger stone can be graded again by an independent lab, which we agree with you before anything travels. If you know the stone was certified, it is worth a proper search first: the paper usually turns up with the receipt.
My certificate says the diamond is lab-grown. Will you buy it?
No. We buy natural diamonds only and do not buy lab-grown stones at any size. GIA and IGI both certify lab-grown stones, and the certificate says clearly which kind it is, so check yours before you send anything. The setting is still bought on its gold or platinum weight, and the stone is returned to you.
Does the certificate travel with the stone?
Yes. Bring it in person or put it in the pack with the piece. It stays with the stone through testing, is named in the offer, and comes back with everything else if you decline. Never post a certificate separately from the piece it describes.
Does a certificate guarantee a high offer?
No, and be wary of anyone who says it does. A certificate removes uncertainty, which helps, but the offer still depends on what the stone is: a certified half carat of middling colour is still a half carat. Resale is a fraction of retail for every diamond, certified or not.
Ready when you are
Send four things: a photo of the piece, a photo of the stamps inside the band, a photo of any certificate or valuation, and a line on where the piece came from. Every stone is tested before any offer. We buy natural diamonds only and do not buy lab-grown stones.