Gemological laboratories help you sort jewellery collections

If one of your family members leaves you a jewellery collection consisting of colored gemstones, it can be a windfall, but a windfall that has to be handled appropriately. Gemstones are a commodity that is complex and mysterious. There are all sorts of factors that can have a bearing on the value of these gems. 

You have two choices in how you handle these heirlooms, either keep them or sell them. But in both cases, the first organization you should contact is a gemological laboratory to start the steps in determining the value of your assets. Make no doubt about it; if you were endowed with any colored gemstones, they became your asset when you accepted them. And treating them as such will help preserve their value. 

What Do Gemological Laboratories Do?

Gemological laboratories are experts at determining the composition and origins of your gemstones. They can also determine whether your gems have been treated in the way. Knowing all these things helps you when you get to the next step, determining the value of the gemstones. 

It’s noteworthy to mention that the gemological laboratory will not assign a value to your gemstones. That's up to a trusted appraiser. But the laboratory will furnish you and the appraiser with information that's accepted all around the world as certified and authentic. These reports serve as the basis for assigning a legitimate value to your assets. 

If you’re planning on keeping the gemstones, you’ll need these reports for insurance purposes. Insurance companies recognize the authenticity reports issued by gemological laboratories in determining premiums based on the value of an insurable asset.  

If you're putting the gemstones on the market, these reports will be able to speed up the sales transaction and reassure the buyers of the authenticity and provenance of the gem.  

World of Gemstones

There are traditions, processes and practices to the world of gemstones that most people are unaware of. The specific mine and region of the world that a particular gemstone came from can add extra value to it. Determining where in the world your stone is from, down to the particular mine, is the job of the gemological laboratory.  

There are certain colors of the spectrum that are desirable over other colors. These colors have common terms like “royal blue” or “pigeon’s blood”. But in practice, these colors are exact degrees of the color spectrum. Being able to differentiate these colors is also the job of the gemological laboratory. Whether or not your gemstones fit the definition of a color term could help determine their value on the marketplace.

The gemstone appraiser also uses these authenticity reports. They help the appraiser justify the value of a certain gemstone. They also serve as benchmarks they can use in assigning a value to a similar but unique gemstone. 

If you’ve recently come into some gemstones and don’t know where to start in finding the value of your possessions, contact a gemological laboratory to learn the steps needed to have your gems assayed by the experts in their field.