Reports and treatments
What a report tells you
A laboratory report is an independent assessment of a stone's quality. It is not an estimate of its price: laboratories do not appraise, but appraisers rely on their analysis.
For a diamond: the 4Cs (color, clarity, cut, carat weight), measurements, proportions, fluorescence, any treatments and confirmation that the stone is natural. Often also a plot of the inner characteristics, which helps identify that very stone.
Every report has a unique number, sometimes laser-inscribed on the girdle of the stone and invisible to the naked eye. It can be checked online on the portal of the laboratory that issued it, for example My HRD for HRD Antwerp.
The Antwerp laboratory issues reports for natural diamonds, for color, for identifying smaller stones and for jewelry. It can seal stone and report together so they stay linked. Since 2025 our shop has been part of Point of Trust, HRD Antwerp's retailer network.
Gemstone treatments
Many colored gems are treated to improve their color or clarity. This is not a flaw, as long as it is disclosed. International trade rules require the seller to inform the buyer fully before the sale is completed, verbally and in writing, even if not asked and even if the information lowers the value.
Fissures filled with colorless oils, waxes or resins, surface waxing, heating, bleaching. The seller must state which treatment the stone has undergone and record it in the sales documents.
Irradiation, diffusion, dyeing, filling of fractures or cavities (for example with glass), impregnation with plastic, coating. Here the word "treated" accompanies the name of the stone with equal prominence, and must be explained verbally before the sale.
For some stones the treatment cannot yet be identified with certainty: in these cases the rule is to disclose it as possible rather than say nothing.