We sift through thousands of gems monthly on the open dealer and mine markets of Sri Lanka and follow very strict buying criteria for our stock. We look for stones that are eye clean close up, of attractive or unusual colors, and are either in the rough or recuttable into beautiful cuts without losing too much weight. If those three value and rarity-enhancing criteria aren’t met, we pass no matter how beautiful the stones might otherwise look.
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Each and every one of our stones receives equal attention during photography. They’re carefully arranged into unique real life diorama-like settings that complement their natural beauty, and then photographed under calibrated studio lamps that match diffused daylight color temperature.
Full Setup
Finished Image
In order to better show the interior of every gem and accurately represent their clarity and cut, every single finished studio image is composed of a stack of 20-30 separate photos of different focal planes condensed into a single image for an X-ray like view of each stone’s entire surface and interior.
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To portray industry-standard grading for colored gems, additional images of every stone are taken on hand in diffused daylight outdoors for a better showcase of how they look in person.
Color editing is the crux of accuracy for colored gems online. No device on this planet can accurately capture all gem colors all the time, regardless of how skilled or knowledgeable the photographer might be. With our wealth of color grading experience that stems from looking at hundreds of thousands of stones for over a decade, we ensure that the final images look as faithfully accurate as possible to the actual in-person colors by painstakingly editing the images in diffused daylight with the stones and the monitors side by side until they look just right. Our near-nonexistent return rate is a testament to the success of this meticulous approach.
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We usually have our gemstones tested at the Gemmological Institute of Colombo, which is the best equipped laboratory in Sri Lanka tech-wise. In addition to the spate of commonly used gemological instruments, GIC uses FTIR, LIBS and UV-Vis-NIR for a much more reliable identification and analysis process. Certification by GRS, a well known Swiss lab with a branch in Sri Lanka, is also available on demand.
Occasionally, you might wish to have a stone tested at a different laboratory of your own preference – and that’s perfectly okay. We expect treatments to add up to the same conclusions regardless of where you wish to test and will stand behind that. Please see our FAQ for more detailed info on this (last paragraph of the Returns section).
