How we describe stones

Almost every emerald on earth has been clarity-enhanced with oil or resin. The degree of that treatment can move a stone's value by several multiples, which is precisely why so many listings are vague about it.

So here is the standard we hold ourselves to, and the one you should hold any seller to.

• We assume every stone is enhanced and say so, rather than implying otherwise through silence.
• We don't claim an oil grade we haven't paid a laboratory to establish. A GIA report grades clarity enhancement as F1 minor, F2 moderate or F3 significant. Until a stone has one, we say it hasn't.
• Mine names are a sourcing statement, not a per-stone claim. We buy from the Muzo district and the mines around it, and we say so. But no individual stone is labelled Muzo, Coscuez or Chivor unless a laboratory report attributes it. Mine names sell; unverifiable mine names attached to single stones are how buyers get hurt.
• Colour descriptions are our own observation, in plain words, never dressed up as a grade. No laboratory issues a colour grade for emerald the way one does for diamond.
• Photographs and video are unretouched, shot under consistent light against a grey reference. No saturation, no filters, ever.
• Weights and measurements are taken at the bench and confirmed independently on any certified stone.