1. What type of certifications are provided?

Our gems are certifed by GII(Gemological Institute of India), On request we can also provide gems certified through GIA(Gemological Institute of America), AIGS(Asian Institute of Gemological Science). Testing through these labs may take more time because stones need to be sent abroad and have to be passed through Indian customs and received back from the respective country and then exported to customer. *Separate certificate charges are levied for special requests please email for more information.

2. How do gemstones get their color?

There are several different reasons why the various gemstone varieties absorb light differently. Some gemstones are said to be idiochromatic or "self-colored", meaning that they absorb certain wavelengths of light due to characteristics of their chemical structure. Peridot, which contains iron, is an example of an idiochromatic gemstone. However, idiochromatic gemstones are rare. Most gemstones are allochromatic, meaning that they are colored by impurities or trace elements in their crystal structure. For example, pure corundum is colorless. But corundum is typically red when traces of chromium are present; and blue when there are traces of titanium. We call the former ruby, and the latter sapphire.

3. What is the scale used to measure the hardness of gemstones?

Mohs' scale of mineral hardness was created by the German mineralogist Friedrich Mohs in 1822 to measure the relative hardness or scratch resistance of various minerals. He based it on ten readily available minerals. The hardness of a material is measured against the scale by finding the hardest material that that the given material can scratch, or the softest material that can scratch the given material. For hardness ratings on all the different gemstone varieties see our Gem Hardness Chart.

4. Are all your gems natural?

We only sell natural gemstones, mined from the earth. We do not deal in any synthetic or lab-created gems. We guarantee all our gems to be natural and as described, and we fully DISCLOSE any gem treatments for all our gems.

5. Are there any kinds of gemstones which are always untreated?

Yes, many varieties of gemstones are rarely or never treated. They include yellow sapphire, emeralds, hasonite garnets, cats-eye, coral, pearls and also all the different garnet varieties (spessartite, rhodolite, tsavorite, almandine, pyrope, hessonite), tourmaline, peridot, orange and brown zircon, prehnite, fluorite, kyanite and a number of other varieties. About 75% of all the gems in our inventory are completely untreated.

6. How do I determine that a sapphire has not been heated?

Determining conclusively that a sapphire has not been heat-treated is something that only a very experienced gemologist can do. Gemologists examine internal structures under high magnification and look for the presence of crystal structures that would be altered by heat treatment, since many charactertistic inclusions such as rutile and zircon crystals have a lower melting point than corundum. Some laboratories also use high tech tools such as Raman spectroscopy and laser tomography.

7. Why do some gems show a color change?

Color change gems have two approximately equal sized transmission windows. A blue gemstone appears blue because it absorbs all frequencies of light except for blue. A gemstone that absorbs both blue and red light will appear blue when the light is rich in blue wavelengths (e.g.,sunlight or fluorescent light) and red or purple when the light is rich in red wavelengths (e.g., incandescent light).

8. Is there a difference between brilliance and luster in gemstones?

Brilliance and luster have loose meanings in everyday language, but they are technical terms in gemology. Brilliance refers to the light reflected from the interior of a gem. Thus only a transparent gemstone can be said to have brilliance. Luster, on the other hand, refers to the light reflected from a gem's surface. Brilliance is graded from low to high, but luster is usually described in terms such as vitreous (like glass), adamantine (like diamond), silky, resinuous and greasy.

9. Can you certify country of origin for your gemstones?

We currently offer identification reports from independent gemological labs that do not certify country of origin. However, there is growing interest in certifying gemstone origin and a number of labs have done (or are doing) research to enable them to do that. Just be aware that the results are not always conclusive, and most labs offer their identification as a "considered opinion" only. For more information on the issue please see our article on Country of Origin.

10. Where can I find a list of the standard calibrated sizes for gems?

See our LOT IN CATOGARIES page for a list of all the different calibrated/graduated and mix sizes for oval, round, pear, octagon, marquise, heart, trillion and square/princess cuts.

11. What does cabochon mean and Why are many cabochons unfinished on the bottom?

In the gemstone world, a cabochon is a stone that is cut with a highly polished rounded or convex top with no faceting, with a flat or slightly domed base. A cabochon may be cut in any shape, though oval is by far the most common. The term comes from the French caboche, meaning knob or small dome. Certain stones are almost always cut "en cabochon," including opal, turquoise, onyx, moonstone, and star gemstones. In the gemstone world you will often hear the term cabochon shortened to "cab."Many opaque cabochons are mounted in jewelry in such a way that the base is not visible, and thus the cutter opts not to polish the base. In fact if glue is used to set the cab, it is better if the base is not polished. Translucent or transparent cabs are usually polished on the base.

12. What is "specific gravity" for gemstones? What does it measure?

Specific gravity is a way to express the relative density of a gemstone. It is measured as the ratio of the density of the gemstone to the density of water. It is expressed as a number which the indicates how much heavier the gemstone is compared to an equal volume of water. Scientifically, specific gravity is defined as a ratio of the mass of a given material to the mass of an equal volume of water at 4 degrees centigrade. Most gemstone substances are two to four times denser than an equal volume of water. Specific gravities are expressed in decimal numbers, for example, 4.00 for corundum, 3.52 for diamond , and 2.72 for quartz. Zircon, one of the densest gemstones, may have a specific gravity as high as 4.73 For exact determinations various weighing devices are used, but rough approximations of the specific gravity of lighter stones can be made by means of a series of liquids of known specific gravity. If the stone will float in a liquid having a specific gravity of 4 and sink in a liquid with a specific gravity of 3, the specific gravity of the stone must lie between these limits and be approximately 3.5. See our Specific Gravity chart for density ratings of the different types of gemstones.

13. How can I tell if a gem is "windowed"?

In a well cut faceted gem, the pavilion facets (those on the lower half of the stone) should reflect light back out the top or table of the stone. If the facets are cut below the critical angle for the particular material, light will pass right through the stone instead of being reflected back towards your eye. When this happens the gem will lack sparkle and brilliance. Try holding your gemstone over a piece of paper with some text on it. Look down through the table of the gem. If you can read the text clearly through the gem, it has a window.

14. I recently purchased some gemstones and they were smaller than I expected. Can you help me?

While we can't make your gems larger, we think we know what went wrong. There is a lesson we all have to learn -- weight is not the same as size in gemstones! Different gemstone materials have different density or specific gravity, so some gems will appear larger than others of the same weight. For example, a 1 carat sapphire is smaller than a 1 carat diamond because sapphire is a denser material. We have a weight comparison chart that will let you compare the weight of different gemstones in calibrated sizes. We always give the exact dimensions of our gemstones in millimeters on our website, so don't forget to check the size as well as the weight!