GIA offers 4C’s iPad app for consumers, retailers

The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has created a free iPad application to help educate and engage consumers on the 4C’s of diamond quality.

“Our goal is to provide the public with the knowledge they need to make informed buying decisions,” Kathryn Kimmel, GIA vice president and chief marketing officer, said. “iPad and tablet technologies allow GIA to be the on-the-go resource for any diamond shopper, delivering accurate, unbiased diamond information in a way that is both engaging and fun.”

The new GIA 4C’s iPad app for consumers is available on iTunes, and a retailer version of the app, designed to be used at point of sale, is also downloadable for free from GIA’s retailer support site.

Both versions of the app feature video and interactive tools that teach consumers how the GIA grades diamonds using the 4C’s. The app explains the GIA’s grading scales for color, clarity and cut, and how diamond grades can affect value. The app also explains the origins of the carat system, and provides information about fluorescence, diamond treatments and synthetics.

The app allows consumers to explore:
- How diamond color changes across the GIA D-to-Z color scale
- Typical inclusions and blemishes at various points in the GIA clarity scale
- A diamond’s anatomy and how various parameters influence a diamond’s cut grade
- How a diamond’s size changes by carat weight and compare the sizes of different diamonds
- A GIA grading report anatomy to understand the different elements of a GIA report

A special feature of the app’s consumer version, “My Diamond Wish List,” enables a consumer to keep a record of the diamonds they’ve seen and considered. Consumers can enter and store a diamond’s relevant information, including its report number, 4C’s information, price, image and the retailer’s address and contact information. If the diamond comes with a GIA report, the grading information will populate automatically from the GIA report check.

The app also features direct access to GIA report check, a secure online database of GIA grading reports. Consumers can verify the contents of a report and view a PDF version of it directly from their iPads, simply by entering a report number and carat weight. This feature also provides retailers the benefit of using reports as selling tools in a quick and convenient method.

The iPhone format and a simplified Chinese version of this app will be coming soon to iTunes

-National Jeweler