How to Verify an IGI Diamond Report and Laser Inscription

Whenever a wholesale parcel or loose certified diamond arrives at a jewelry manufacturer, retail store, or grading facility, it must undergo immediate receiving verification. Relying solely on a paper certificate without physically inspecting the stone exposes businesses to inventory errors and fraud.

At Lavish, our quality control technicians execute a standardized 4-Point Cross-Verification Protocol on every loose diamond before it enters active inventory:

Never rely solely on a printed paper certificate. Advanced high-resolution scanners and printers can produce convincing counterfeit paper documents. Always verify the certificate online:

1. Navigate directly to the official laboratory portal: igi.org/verify.
2. Enter the 10-digit IGI report number (e.g. 618392104).
3. Alternatively, scan the QR code located in the lower corner of the physical document using your smartphone camera.
4. Compare every field on the laboratory’s hosted digital PDF against your physical certificate: Carat weight, Color, Clarity, Cut, measurements, and date of issue must match 100%.

Certified lab-grown diamonds feature a microscopic laser inscription on the girdle edge. The inscription is typically etched using a cold ultraviolet laser that vaporizes a microscopic layer of carbon without causing thermal strain or cracking.

To inspect the inscription:

• Secure the stone in diamond tweezers holding it table-to-culet.
• Use a 10x or 20x achromatic triplet loupe or a stereo gemological microscope.
• Rotate the stone along the girdle perimeter under diffused daylight or fiber-optic task lighting.
• Read the inscription: It must display the laboratory logo or acronym followed by "LG" and the unique report number (e.g., LAB GROWN IGI LG618392104).

Once the certificate and laser inscription are verified, the physical stone must be audited against the certificate’s recorded physical constants:

• Digital Caliper Check: Measure the minimum and maximum diameter, as well as the total depth from table to culet. Measurements must match the certificate to within +/- 0.02 mm.
• Carat Scale Audit: Place the stone on a calibrated gemological balance. The reading must match the certificate’s carat weight to within 0.005 carats.

Because it is virtually impossible for two diamonds to share identical millimeter measurements to within 0.02 mm and identical weight down to a hundredth of a carat, this physical verification eliminates any possibility of stone switching.

Be alert to potential red flags when receiving diamond parcels: