Martin Rapaport, the chairman of the Rapaport Group, has released a comprehensive editorial titled “Honest Grading” that discloses the over-grading of over 100,000 diamonds, valued at more than a $1 billion. Rapaport calls upon the legitimate jewelry trade to reject those selling over-graded diamonds that fool consumers into believing they are getting better diamonds than they are receiving.
The article emailed today, to over 77,000 members of the diamond trade, declares that it is an unfair trade practice to grade diamonds using Gemological Institute of America (GIA) grading terminology, while applying alternative standards that over-grade the diamonds. It recognizes the GIA grading standard and insists that suppliers provide full refunds in the event that diamonds re-graded by the GIA are more than one color or one clarity grade below the grade indicated when sold. Furthermore, the article rejects the false statement by the EGL International diamond grading laboratory, a primary source of over-graded diamonds, that there is no international standard for diamond grading.
“The over-grading of diamonds is a legal and ethical issue challenging the legitimacy of the diamond and jewelry trade. Consumers must be warned not to trust misleading diamond grading reports and those that sell them. Suppliers must be held responsible for the quality of the diamonds they sell. The diamond trade must prioritize the protection of consumers above profits,” said Rapaport.
