Certification

What a report settles, and what it doesn’t

A good report settles the species beyond argument, and states the treatment to the limit of what instruments can detect. Those are the two things it is genuinely authoritative on, and they are the two that matter most.

Origin is different. A laboratory determines origin by comparing a stone’s inclusions and trace-element chemistry against reference collections, and reputable laboratories are explicit that this is an opinion rather than a measurement. Two good laboratories can disagree about the same stone. So an origin call from SSEF or Gübelin is the best evidence obtainable — and still an opinion, which is why our listings mark origin as either “stated on report” or “our assessment” rather than presenting both the same way.

Colour names are the least settled of all. Padparadscha, royal blue, cornflower and pigeon’s blood are proprietary to the laboratories that use them, and the same stone is routinely called padparadscha by one laboratory and fancy sapphire by another. A colour name on a report tells you which laboratory’s criteria the stone met, and nothing more universal than that.

Which laboratories we use

GIA — Gemological Institute of America

An independent laboratory. The exact service, scope, current fee, timing and verification route are confirmed in the written quote.

SSEF — Swiss Gemmological Institute

Switzerland. Any wording shown on a listing is attributed to the dated report rather than restated as our own conclusion.

Gübelin — Gübelin Gem Lab

Switzerland. Report findings, verification details and limitations are recorded against the individual stone.

GRS — GemResearch Swisslab

A report issuer used in the coloured-stone trade. Laboratory-specific trade terms are always presented as that laboratory’s wording.

AGL — American Gemological Laboratories

New York. A quoted job records the requested service and the findings actually returned; the laboratory name alone is not treated as a result.

Lotus — Lotus Gemology

Bangkok. As with every issuer, the page reports the particular document, date, number and verification route rather than a general endorsement.

How a laboratory is selected

There is no blanket rule based on where a laboratory is located. The selected laboratory and service must be suitable for the claim being tested and acceptable to the buyer. The written quote names the laboratory, scope, fee, carriage, expected timing and verification route before the stone moves.

Adding a report to any stone

A report is never an anonymous checkout add-on. Request a quote and approve the laboratory, expected timing, quoted cost, insured carriage and what should happen if the finding differs materially from the existing description. A parcel cannot be reported as one stone; any selected piece requires its own job.

When a report is essential

• Any untreated stone you intend to resell or insure. We state heat status from first-hand knowledge of stock we bought at source, and set out how we know it on every listing — see how we describe stones. But a report is what travels with the stone afterwards, and the next buyer or an insurer will want it.
• Taaffeite. It looks like a pale mauve spinel and is routinely mistaken for one — the species was originally recognised only because someone noticed a cut “spinel” was doubly refractive. Taaffeite is not listed here without a laboratory report naming the tests it ran.
• Alexandrite. Price turns almost entirely on the completeness of the colour change, and synthetic alexandrite and colour-change sapphire are both sold as alexandrite by the careless and the dishonest.
• Anything above four figures. Not because we doubt it, but because you should not have to take our word at that level, and because your insurer will want it.

Uncertified stones

Plenty of good material is sold uncertified — a report can cost several hundred dollars and take weeks, which makes no sense on a stone worth a few hundred. Where a stone has no report we say so plainly and price it as uncertified material. We do not present an uncertified stone as though it were certified, and we do not describe our own opinion in language borrowed from a report.

Choosing the laboratory

Every job uses an agreed independent laboratory. There is no flat published fee or default issuer. The quote records the live laboratory fee, handling and carriage and a turnaround confirmed in the written quote.

The commercial consequence of a materially different result is agreed in writing before authorisation. It is then recorded on the certification job and order audit trail rather than improvised after the result arrives.

Ask about certification