IGI and Charles & Colvard add grading reports for moissanite

Charles & Colvard has teamed with the International Gemological Institute to issue grading reports for moissanite, a move that gives the stone the kind of third-party documentation diamond buyers already expect. The reports cover loose gemstones first, then finished jewelry mounted with IGI-certified stones later in 2024, and they add cut, clarity, carat and color assessment to Charles & Colvard-specific grading measures.

The structure matters because moissanite has spent years fighting a reputation problem as much as a pricing one. IGI will apply its usual cut and clarity standards, along with light-performance measures it introduced for round brilliant diamonds, to Charles & Colvard moissanite. Color grading will be selective: D and E stones will receive individual color grades, F will be labeled colorless, and G-H near colorless. Every stone in the program will be laser-inscribed by IGI, giving retailers and consumers a way to match the gem to its report rather than relying on branding alone.

Charles & Colvard said the collaboration was designed to reinforce brand integrity in a market it described as crowded with false information and counterfeit products. The company also raised the minimum clarity for its Forever One moissanite to VVS from VS, a notable tightening for a premium line that Charles & Colvard launched in 2015. For shoppers comparing bridal stones, that shift creates a cleaner ladder of quality and a more legible basis for pricing, especially when the same stone can now be evaluated with tools closer to those used in diamond trade. IGI said it would issue these reports only for Charles & Colvard moissanite, while continuing to offer identification reports or certificates of authenticity for moissanite from other manufacturers.

The timing was strategic. Charles & Colvard announced the alliance on May 23, 2024, said the first loose-gem reports would reach the trade the following week in limited quantity, and expected consumer-purchased finished jewelry later in 2024. Both companies were set to exhibit at the JCK Show in Las Vegas from May 31 to June 3, a fitting stage for a category trying to move from alternative status toward formal recognition.

That ambition comes with pressure behind it. Charles & Colvard, founded in 1995 in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, says it was the first to introduce lab-grown moissanite to the world, building on a gem first identified in 1893 by Henri Moissan from material found in an Arizona meteorite crater. But the business has been under strain, with fiscal 2024 net sales of $21.96 million, down from $29.95 million in fiscal 2023, and a later filing showing about 15% of revenue from Moissanite by Charles & Colvard and Forever Bright gemstones and finished jewelry. In that context, IGI grading is more than a branding flourish: it is a bid to make moissanite easier to trust, easier to compare, and harder to dismiss as a generic diamond substitute.