IGI New York
IGI New York
The American flagship of the International Gemological Institute
IGI New York is the United States flagship branch of the International Gemological Institute (IGI), headquartered in the Diamond District of Midtown Manhattan. As one of the most active gemological laboratories serving the North American market, it issues grading reports for natural diamonds, laboratory-grown diamonds, and coloured gemstones, and provides ancillary services including laser inscription, advanced spectroscopic testing, and gemological education. Within the broader IGI network — which spans laboratories in Antwerp, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Dubai, and elsewhere — the New York office functions as the primary point of contact for American retailers, wholesalers, appraisers, and insurance underwriters.
Background and the IGI Network
IGI was founded in Antwerp in 1975, making it one of the older continuously operating independent gemological laboratories in the world. The New York branch was established to serve the substantial American jewellery trade, which had long relied on domestic and internationally recognised grading reports as a basis for commercial transactions. The Diamond District on West 47th Street, where the New York office operates, remains one of the world's most concentrated centres of diamond trading and retail jewellery, and proximity to that ecosystem has shaped the laboratory's client base and service offerings.
IGI operates as a single organisation with standardised grading criteria applied across its global network, meaning that a report issued in New York is intended to reflect the same methodology as one issued in Antwerp or Mumbai. The laboratory uses a combination of trained gemological graders and, increasingly, automated grading instrumentation for certain parameters, a practice that has become more widespread across the industry as volumes — particularly of laboratory-grown diamonds — have grown substantially.
Services Offered
The New York laboratory offers a range of grading and identification services:
- Diamond grading reports: For both natural and laboratory-grown diamonds, covering the standard 4Cs — carat weight, colour grade, clarity grade, and cut grade — along with fluorescence, proportions, and finish assessments.
- Coloured gemstone reports: Identification and quality assessment for sapphire, ruby, emerald, and other species, including, in relevant cases, an opinion on geographic origin and disclosure of detectable treatments.
- Laser inscription: Report number or custom text inscribed on the girdle of a diamond, providing a permanent link between the stone and its grading documentation.
- Jewellery reports: Grading documentation for mounted pieces, commonly used in retail and estate contexts.
- Gemological education: IGI New York offers courses and programmes aligned with IGI's international curriculum, covering diamond grading, coloured gemstone identification, and jewellery manufacturing arts.
Role in the Laboratory-Grown Diamond Market
IGI New York has become particularly prominent in the certification of laboratory-grown diamonds, a segment that has grown at a remarkable pace since the mid-2010s. Laboratory-grown diamonds — produced by either the High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) or Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) method — are chemically, physically, and optically identical to their natural counterparts, and their accurate identification and grading requires the same instrumentation and expertise applied to natural stones. IGI was among the earlier major laboratories to develop a dedicated grading report format for laboratory-grown diamonds, and the New York office has processed a significant volume of such stones destined for the American retail market.
The laboratory's reports for laboratory-grown diamonds disclose the growth method where determinable and are formatted to be clearly distinguishable from reports issued for natural diamonds, in line with requirements set by the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the standards of the jewellery trade organisations. This distinction is considered essential for consumer transparency and trade integrity.
Report Recognition and Market Standing
IGI reports are accepted by a broad cross-section of the American jewellery trade, including independent retailers, chain jewellers, online platforms, and estate dealers. They are also recognised by appraisers credentialed through bodies such as the American Society of Jewelry Appraisers (ASJA) and the American Gem Society (AGS), and are used as supporting documentation in insurance valuations.
In the context of the broader laboratory landscape, IGI occupies a distinct market position. The Gemological Institute of America (GIA), also headquartered in the United States, is widely regarded as the benchmark for natural diamond grading in the American market, and its reports command a premium in many trade contexts. IGI's reports, while respected and widely used, have historically been associated with a somewhat different segment of the market — particularly higher-volume retail and, more recently, the laboratory-grown diamond sector, where IGI has established a strong commercial presence. It should be noted that grading consistency and stringency can vary across laboratories and over time, and sophisticated buyers routinely consider the issuing laboratory when evaluating a stone's documentation.
Location and Trade Context
The New York office's location within or adjacent to the 47th Street Diamond District places it at the centre of one of the world's most active diamond trading environments. The district houses hundreds of dealers, cutters, setters, and retailers operating within a relatively compact urban geography, and the convenience of a laboratory within that ecosystem supports the rapid turnaround that commercial transactions often require. The laboratory also serves clients across the broader metropolitan area and, through shipping, clients throughout North America.