What makes a gemstone precious? Is it beauty? Origin? Cut? History? For some, it is subjective. But for professional dealers, the origin of the stone plays a significant factor in increasing the value or price of the gemstone. Professional gemstone dealers and experts rely on gemological equipments in making their assessment. Gemological microscopes help in magnifying, not only the beauty of the stone, but also the gemstone’s characteristics. Gemological microscopes aid these experts in proving the origin and value of a gemstone. Gemological microscopes make microscopic examinations of these stones easy and hassle-free.

The original article discusses and compares the factors that make gemstones precious or highly valuable. It was said that in a consumer’s point of view, beauty and price ranks high in the criteria for buying gemstones. However, dealers argue that knowing the origin of the gemstone is also important. They said that knowing the origin of the gemstone helps the consumer make an informed choice. Origin certificates of the gemstones, for the dealers and experts, makes or breaks a stone.

How reliable are these origin certificates? Dealers, in these day and age, cannot accept a fellow dealer’s word regarding the origin or birthplace of a gemstone. Because of the technology that is geared towards destroying or distorting traces of a stone’s origin, these dealers must rely on a gemologist’s official and scientific report on a gemstone. Gemologists use gemological microscopes in analyzing these stones. Much like spotting a fake painting, gemologists can confirm or deny the dealer’s report or claim on the origin of a stone.

The two most popular and highly-valuable gemstones are the Burma rubies and Kashmir sapphires. Even a hint that a gemstone has characteristics of these two will increase the value tremendously.
In the article, GIA was cited as one of the foremost authority in issuing origin certificates. Although for 25 years GIA was preaching to the public their anti-origin policy: “sell beauty, not birthplace”, it made an about-face in 2006. The reason cited in the article was profit.

GIA uses the latest scientific instrumentation and analytic technology, which includes the latest gemological microscopes, to make their work on he authentication of a gemstone’s origin accurate, greatly reducing guesswork.

In the original article, it was said that microscopic examination of gemstones would reveal gemological signatures and indicators. A gemological laboratory equipped with gemological microscopes can identify these gemological signatures and indicators with stunning accuracy.

However, due to normal processing of the stones, some of these signatures and indicators are eradicated or altered making microscopic examination of these stones inaccurate. It was also mentioned in the original article that new sources of gemstones like rubies and sapphires have been discovered to be quite similar to the high-valued gemstones with locality or origin coming from Burma or Kashmir. Advanced technology and techniques are applied today in addition to microscopic examination of the stones to be very accurate in the findings.

Building specimen libraries of stones from known localities is another suggestion cited in the original article in order to fine-tune the identification of a stone’s origin.

At present, GIA is the only laboratory equipped to accurately authenticate the origin of a stone and to issue origin certificates.Read the entire article