An authentic lab certificate is an essential part of buying, selling and owning any piece of jewellery or gemstone.
I founded The Gem Lab because it’s important to me (and to you!) that the gemstones our clients buy are the genuine article. The only way for a jewellery customer to have real confidence in what they buy is to have a certificate of authenticity with the gemstones they buy.
We invest a lot of time in making sure that the stones we certify are authentic. And we stay on top of the latest fraudulent practises, bringing you breaking updates as we hear about them. That way, you can focus on running your business without worrying about missing anything important.
Certified Authentic – or Counterfeit Certificate?
Unfortunately, gemstones are not the only assets in the jewellery trade that are targeted by fraudsters. Just as gemstones are often misrepresented – or even total forgeries – laboratory certificates can be forged, as well. And they often are.
Only Trust a Genuine Gem Lab Certificate
How do you know if a certified gemstone is what it appears to be? To ensure the integrity of our certification process, The Gem Lab always issues certificates with a unique reference number. These numbers are carefully recorded by us so that there is no chance of duplicated documents or mistakes.
We focus on clarity. Our certificates are written in clear, plain English; and we will use abbreviations very rarely – if at all.
Should there be anything unusual that needs to be disclosed on the certificate, such as the origin of the stone, or whether or not it has had an artificial treatment, this will be typed in full. For example, you may see something like, ‘Sri Lankan Type’ or (for filled rubies) ‘Foreign substance in surface-reaching fractures (Minor)’.
What is even more worrying is that I have recently been made aware that some dealers will say something like, “Jeremy said…”. If they can’t quote a reference number, it’s likely not to be true. All gemstones and jewellery checked by The Gem Lab will have a reference number on the certificate that is issued to the client. If anyone assures you that “Jeremy said…” please ask them for the reference number and then check it with me! Peace of mind is just a phone call away.
Unsure? What To Do Next …
If you receive a certified gemstone and something about the certificate doesn’t ring true for you, please don’t hesitate to act. Contact me by email, SMS, or WhatsApp, or phone me on (021) 761-1746 or 082 653 4567 with the reference number on the certificate.
Please take care out there. And if you’re ever in doubt, take heart: we are just a phone call away. We’re ready and waiting to help you close more sales.
Blog feature image by Grant Durr on Unsplash
