The new cut “classification system” that the Gemological Institute of America was planning to add to its reports this spring will be introduced next year instead. (See “GIA To Assess Cut on Reports,” JCK, Feb. 2002, p. 50.)

GIA president William E. Boyajian says the change was made so GIA could further take the trade’s opinion into account. “We want to make sure that what we do is not only scientifically accurate but that the translation and implementation on our reports is seamless,” he says. “The key is that we don’t want to be disruptive, and that the system be accurate, reliable, and practical.”

The new system will likely show a stone’s brilliance and fire, based on GIA’s newly calculated metrics for these characteristics. There also will be a way to flag poorly cut stones, Boyajian says.