Judging Gemstones Correctly
Knowledge and experience are invaluable when buying a gemstone.
A fine gemstone fascinates with its colour, clarity, cut and individual beauty. Yet judging these qualities reliably from a photograph is difficult, even for experienced specialists.
Why pictures can be deceptive
The internet offers an almost unlimited choice of gemstones. Not every offer, however, lives up to what the pictures promise.
How a gemstone appears depends largely on the lighting, the camera and the settings of the screen. Subsequent image editing can also distort its true colour and clarity.
I found out for myself, in a small experiment, how great the difference between image and reality can be.
I ordered a gemstone from an online dealer. On examining it, I found a clearly visible inclusion, or rather a fracture, that had not been discernible in the sales pictures.
When I enquired, the dealer even confirmed explicitly that the stone was flawless and clean.
I gave the same dealer a second chance. But the next gemstone also showed a defect that had not been pointed out beforehand.
The amounts involved were not exceptionally high. The experiment nevertheless showed how difficult it can be to judge the true quality of a gemstone from an online offer.
The importance of the cut
Alongside colour and clarity, the cut plays a decisive role.
Are the proportions harmonious? Are the angles of the facets correct? How well are symmetry and polish executed?
A carefully cut gemstone brings out the incoming light in a fascinating way. An unfavourable cut, by contrast, can make even a gemstone of outstanding colour and clarity appear unattractive.
These qualities can only be judged to a limited extent from photographs.
What a gemmological certificate tells you
A certificate from an internationally recognised gemmological laboratory is a valuable document.
It confirms the identity of a gemstone and can provide important information about its origin, its properties and any treatments. A geographical origin, however, cannot be determined for every gemstone.
The question of whether a gemstone is untreated or has undergone a treatment that alters its colour or clarity can be of great importance for its value.
At comparable quality, an untreated gemstone is often more valuable than a treated one. A customary heat treatment, however, by no means implies that a gemstone must be of low quality. Rather, it can make it possible to acquire a beautiful gemstone at a considerably lower price.
A certificate confirms gemmological properties, not necessarily the beauty of a gemstone.
Even an internationally recognised laboratory cannot replace the personal perception and aesthetic sense of the beholder.
In the end, one simple question remains:
What use is the best certificate if the gemstone does not delight us?
Our experience, your advantage
Anyone wishing to acquire a valuable gemstone should not rely on pictures, certificates or statements of origin alone.
What matters is the interplay of gemmological knowledge, many years of experience and a trained eye for the beauty of a gemstone.
At Stähli Goldschmied we combine these skills with personal and independent advice.
So that you acquire not just a valuable gemstone, but one that still delights you many years from now.
