Professional Gemologist Certification Course
Disclosing Enhancements: A Gemologist’s Guide
Minimizing the Sales Impact of Disclosing Enhancements
Gemologists in the business of selling gems need ways to declare gemstone enhancements without hurting sales. Try presenting the information as educational. (“Show off” your expertise). Or, you could make the disclosure after consummating the sale. (Weaker, but still satisfactory). For example, if you sold an emerald ring, tell your customer that the stone was oiled while explaining how to care for the ring.
In a sales situation, always present things in a positive light. You can say things like, “the oil is invisible and simply helps you see the emerald” or “I can’t tell if this aquamarine has been heat treated because the process is identical to what happens in nature.”
Disclosing Enhancements in Gem Appraisals and Other Written Forms
Of course, how you report gemstone treatments varies from situation to situation. We can’t cover all the varieties of written appraisals, certifications, grading forms, etc. However, the most important thing is to make the disclosure obvious and clear, not hidden in fine print or obscured by vague or misleading terminology. For example, stating that a glass-filled ruby is simply a treated ruby is totally unacceptable.
For International Gem Society…
Donald Clark, CSM IMG
The late Donald Clark, CSM founded the International Gem Society in 1998. Donald started in the gem and jewelry industry in 1976. He received his formal gemology training from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and the American Society of Gemcutters (ASG). The letters “CSM” after his name stood for Certified Supreme Master Gemcutter, a designation of Wykoff’s ASG which has often been referred to as the doctorate of gem cutting. The American Society of Gemcutters only had 54 people reach this level. Along with dozens of articles for leading trade magazines, Donald authored the book “Modern Faceting, the Easy Way.”
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