G.I.A Certified

[moana]

Hello all,
please can anyone tell me how G.I.A certify's pearls from a pearl farm ,and how much they charge for doing this service.
thanks all

[jshepherd]

Are you referring to the new GIA pearl certification? This has just launched. Its goal is to mimic the diamond grading reports. But because of cost I think only high-priced retail goods will be certed.
A farm would have no reason to obtain this certification unless they sold direct to the consumer as well (like Paspaley).

[moana]

not sure about which g.i.a certificate,only that a friend has asked me to find out how much it would be to certify his pearls from a farm and the cost .
thanks

[jshepherd]

The GIA just announced its new pearl grading report and Paspaley backed it in Basel and in Jewelry News Asia. I checked the GIA Site, however, and do not see a link to the test yet. You can probably contact someone there in the lab anyway to find out.

http://www.gia.edu/

[ebwootten]

Not to change the subject too much, but is there a difference in being a graduate in pearl grading from GIA or IGI as far as credibility, quality of education, etc?

[jshepherd]

If you are solely referring to the pearl grading course, I would assume IGI would be better. The GIA course is a single day, but the IGI course is a full three. I do not believe the IGI has a Pearls course, though.