” On one of my journeys, I was watching a lady painting in a gallery, due to influence of alcohol, she spilled a drink over the painting. While trying to save her masterpiece, uncombed lose hairs fell on the wet painting. I said to the owner of the gallery, what a shame! She replied to me, it’s not a shame, the painting has just increased in value as the artists DNA became imbedded in the painting…”
In other words authenticity comes with imperfection!
It’s common for gemstones to be sealed together with their certificate, but what is the use of it if the certificate becomes void once the seal has been opened. In other words you are in the possession of a gemstone certificate that will become invalid once the gemstone is mounted in jewelry.
In order to continually guarantee the gemstone’s authenticity to the client, photography of inclusions/external defects should become an indispensible value.
For analogy, it’s like being a parent to a child with no DNA. Although you know it’s weight, size, color, beauty and race, when “X” is being taken away from you, it is hard to impossible to prove ownership even when it is stated in “X’s” passport that you are the parent. This applies to gemstones in a similar manner, if you own a gemstone and take it to be mounted in jewelry, knowing it’s size, weight, color and quality won’t guarantee you to it being the same stone as you initially possessed. This is the reason why a certificate becomes void due to the fact that when the gemstone has been mounted, size and weight of the gemstone can’t be re-measured as a separate unit.
For this reason the final owner of the gemstone should require reception of a full Gemological Research Report rather than a certificate. It should contain all gemological test results inclusive of images of internal specific inclusions (fingerprints) with their measurements and orientation. In case of the gemstone not having inclusions due to it’s high clarity, damages to facets – imperfections – scratches etc … should be captured along with their specific measurements. The internal picture will give the gemstone a PERSONAL IDENTITY, making it rather impossible to be swapped around with a “look alike”. Ideally once the gemstone has been mounted it should be verified again by a gemologist to reconfirm it being the same gemstone prior to its mounting.