Gemological Institute of America Reviews 

Updated 7/26.

I'm part-way though the GIA GG (Graduate Gemologist) diploma. Superb. I took one class in Mumbai, India (I could have done it in NYC or Carlsbad, CA.). The in-person class was superb. The at-home-by-mail classes (they send you stones, you ID and return them) is excellent.

Warning for you if you intend to obtain the GIA Graduate Gemologist Certification. I finished my colored stones ID course, home-study. It was great. It was frustrating, much more difficult than I expected, and it was SLOOOOOOW. Do I reccomend the courses, yes! The warning: If you take colored stones, you can take the final 20-stone exam up to 10 times. The problem: GIA is in institution. Read "College/University." Allow at least two weeks, ideally 3-weeks between final exam retakes. Also allow 3 weeks to set up your proctor. I suggest that you allow yourself time enough for 4 tries. Therefore you should finish all the work 4x3 + 3 weeks = 15 weeks BEFORE your course ends.

I thought it would be a few days past finishing, nope, write them on a Friday, get an answer the next Thursday. Request an exam, allow 5-days processing. Allow 3 weeks to set up your proctor. Seriously. Gem ID is 24 months, plan to finish all work 3 months before the end date. No complaints other than I was seriously ill which set me back, but no exceptions and frankly I can't blame them 24 months is enough but know that I'm coughig up another $3900 for "my bad."

As far as sending items to their lab:

They never, ever "lose" an item sent to them, the review who says so is very odd. As GIA always uses Fed-x 2-day. I would not hesitate to send them a $50,000 gem or piece of jewelry.

The person who complains about "his diplomas not being good," well, GIA wants proof of high school diploma or GED, that's all.

Their classes are tough, they are not cheap, but the GIA GG is the most respected gemology cert in the entire world.

Highly recommended.

I am a mature student in my 40s, when I multiple qualifications I have gained over my years in many high profile positions. However after I applied to do a number of the 3 month courses, I was not accepted as they stated my diplomas did not meet the standard for acceptance.

GIA offers zero opportunity to mature students like all other colleges do.

I then made a complaint and after I received a call from a person more senior than the application team and this lady told me my diplomas did meet standard and I would be given a place on the course.

I was told I would receive an email off acceptance which to this present day I have not received anything.

This started over two years ago and they still fail to make contact, which is a failure from a college of their status.

It asks below to state a date, but it is actually going on nearly 2 years now

A. Keating

Sent 2 Rings for authentication, they lost one after being in their possession for 4 days! I was told to seek insurance but usps will not pay for theft after delivery. There is no evidence of any tampered package per usps. Postal inspector mentioned this is becoming common with this location. I searched on Google and found on reddit an ebay community forums lots of similar issues. They will steal from you and there is no recourse! Tampered packages are labeled so on tracking with a red label also on the box. Per the inspectors there were no issues with my package and it was marked delivered to individual at this GIA location. Police, FBI, ic3, and usps Postal criminal investigation unit were notified. Case is ongoing. Will be pursuing this with all my being. Hopefully this is a warning to others.

BEWARE this is NOT the official GIA website.

This website IS UNOFFICIAL and is in no way genuine.

Do NOT buy any gem stones if the seller has pointed you to this website.

All genuine gemstones must have a genuine versification and certificate number.

The people who own this site are not qualified to do this.

AVOID.

We've the loyal customer of GIA with 3 years of experience. A few days ago we sent a parcel of 15 stones to GIA to get those stones certified. One day later we receive a call from GIA representative, who was stating that they received only 12 stones, not 15 and the Fedex package was received unopened, with no visible damage as we were told. We requested to investigate the matter and to check the video recordings to confirm that the package was intact, and to confirm the number of stones received, in order to file a claim with Fedex and to report the incident to Police. Today is the fifth day from the moment of accident and we have not received any response from GIA ever after. We are very concerned with GIA failing to provide assistance in resolving this matter, and the loss of the stones. It is very alerting that GIA did not make any effort to investigate and resolve this matter. Besides the monetary loss of $1730, this situation affected the trusting relationships between our company and GIA.