Terms of sale

1. Who you are dealing with

Stones are sold by Stones of Ceylon, Sydney, Australia. All prices are in Australian dollars.

2. Every stone is unique

Each listing is a single physical stone or a single parcel. There is no second one, no restock and no equivalent substitute. A stone is sold when payment completes, and until then it can be sold to someone else — including while it is sitting in your basket.

Very occasionally two people reach payment for the same stone within moments of each other. Where that happens the first completed payment takes it and the second is refunded in full, immediately.

3. Description

Every stone is described according to the standard set out in how we describe stones, which forms part of these terms. In particular: treatment is stated on every listing; origin is marked as either laboratory-stated or our own assessment; and where a stone is described as untreated, the listing also sets out how that is known — where it was bought and from whom — because a certificate from a laboratory the trade does not rely on proves less than a documented purchase at source. An independent report from a laboratory that does carry weight is available on any stone before it ships.

Photographs are taken without colour grading, but no screen renders a gemstone exactly and colour genuinely changes with the light. A stone looking somewhat different in person is expected, and is what the inspection period is for.

4. Price and payment

The price shown at checkout is the price charged. Card payments are handled by Stripe; neither this site nor we ever receive your card number.

Orders above $5,000 are not sold through the basket — see shipping and insurance for why — and are settled by bank transfer against an invoice.

We do not accept cash or cryptocurrency for any transaction, of any size.

5. Shipping, risk and title

Everything ships insured and signature-on-delivery. Below $5,000 that is an ordinary tracked carrier; above it, where no standard service will both carry a loose stone and insure it, we use a specialist insured service quoted for your destination. Either way the cover is real and the signature is required. Risk stays with us until the stone is delivered to the address you gave — a stone lost or damaged in transit is our problem, and you are refunded or replaced without waiting on a carrier claim. Title passes on delivery.

Import duty and tax at the destination are yours. Parcels are declared accurately at full value; we will not under-declare, and asking us to is the one request we always refuse.

6. Returns

Seven days from delivery to inspect any stone and return it for a full refund, on the terms set out in inspection and returns.

7. Your rights under Australian Consumer Law

Our goods come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. You are entitled to a replacement or refund for a major failure and to compensation for any other reasonably foreseeable loss or damage.

A stone materially not as described is a major failure, and the choice of remedy is yours. Nothing in these terms limits that, and no time limit stated anywhere on this site applies to it.

8. Sanctions and export

We do not ship Burmese-origin material to the United States or the United Kingdom, and stones subject to that restriction are marked as such and will be declined at checkout for those destinations. We do not deal in rough diamond.

You are responsible for the legality of importing a gemstone into your own country. Where you have doubts, ask before ordering.

9. Identification

We may need photo identification before completing a high-value sale or any purchase of stones from you. This is a legal obligation for dealing in these goods, not a discretionary check.

10. Governing law

These terms are governed by the law of New South Wales, Australia.