Untreated

Some people ask us why don’t we certify our
stones in house? Very simply, we don’t believe you can be truly subjective of
material you offer for sale. In our opinion, a certification and/or appraisal
really only will carry meaning if two conditions are met.

1. The appraiser and/or
certifying organization is well known and independent from the
seller and

2. That the appraiser
and/or certifying organization has the credentials and history to back their
findings.

Certificates are nice,
but credible ones are much nicer, that’s why we normally choose one of the
following organizations for our certifications. Their credibility, history, and
reliability are unmatched.

1. GIA GTL
(Gemological Institute of America Gem Trade Laboratory)-GIA Gem Trade
Laboratory’s sole affiliation is with the Gemological Institute of America
(GIA), the world’s largest and most respected nonprofit educational and research
organization serving the gem and jewelry industry.

2. AGTA GTC (American Gem Trade Association Gem
Testing Center)-The AGTA GTC is the natural colored gemstone industry’s premier
independent laboratory providing the industry and the public with a complete
range of services, including gemstone identification, origin determination and
pearl identification. The laboratory is equipped with the latest,
technologically advanced, investigative equipment.

3. EGL USA (European
Gemological Laboratory)-For over 25 years it has offered the fine jewelry trade
and consumers accurate, reliable gemstone identification and professional
certification to validate their gemstone purchases.

A certification is a
document issued by a Gemological Laboratory describing a loose gem stone, it
indicates the physical of the stone at the time of evaluation. A certification
is not an appraisal.

An appraisal indicates
the dollar Value of the piece under consideration in current market conditions.
Obviously, the Dollar Value can easily change considerably over a relatively
short period of time. Appraisals are most often used for insurance
purposes.

Many people make the
mistake of using an in-house appraiser to evaluate the purchase price of their
stone. This is a big mistake. Firstly, appraisals are often over-estimated, and
are therefore a very poor estimation of price. More importantly, any in-house
Jeweler could be biased.

The bottom line is
whether it be an appraisal or a certification to make sure the evaluator does
not have a vested interest in the outcome of the the stone they are evaluating,
if they do the odds are the evaluation will be biased and have little to no
value.