Diamond grading reports can be a sales tool if used properly, retailers Clayton Bromberg and Mark Moeller said in a seminar Thursday.

Bromberg, head of Underwood Jewelers in Jacksonville, Fla., said he sends all his diamonds in for AGS reports. By carrying only stones with a “3” or “4” cut grade or better, he is able to differentiate himself from his competitors. “We established a benchmark that no one else in our market was doing,” Bromberg said.

He noted that when he sent his competitor’s stones to AGS, they got a “7” or an “8” cut grade. “Once consumers see the stones side by side, they will never buy a stone with an “8” cut grade,” Bromberg said.

The duo offered the following facts about grading reports:

• Diamond grading reports are subjective opinions, not fact, and are not a guarantee of the cut, color, and clarity of the diamond. “It takes a trained gemologist to understand all aspects of a grading report,” said Moeller, of R.F. Moeller Jewelers in Minneapolis. “This is something that you can tell your client, why they just can’t buy by a piece of paper.”

• A diamond-grading laboratory should have no financial interest in the grade. “In my opinion, that’s unethical,” Moeller said.

• Beware of labs that sweet grade.

• Beware of counterfeit grading reports.

JCK