Buying a Real Gemstone in Pakistan: A Dealer's Step-by-Step Guide

The quick version: know what the stone is for before you start. Judge it on colour first, then clarity, cut and weight. Ask plainly whether it has been treated and get the answer in writing. Work out the price per carat and compare it with stones of similar quality. For anything valuable, get an independent lab report. And only buy from someone who lets you see the stone before you pay and will take it back if it is wrong. Almost every bad purchase we hear about in Pakistan, whether it is glass passed off as neelam, a "Kashmiri" origin nobody can prove, or an emerald packed with resin, comes from skipping one of these.

Below we go through each step the way we would if you were sitting across the counter from us. The checklists work anywhere, not only with us.

Ten things to check before you pay

1. Be clear about the purpose: a ring you will wear daily, an astrological stone, a gift, or something to keep.
2. See the stone in daylight, not just under shop lamps.
3. Look at colour before anything else: hue, tone, saturation.
4. Expect some natural inclusions. Be suspicious of "flawless" sold cheaply.
5. Check the cut for dark patches or a see-through middle.
6. Divide the price by the carat weight to get the per-carat rate.
7. Ask what treatment the stone has had, and ask for it in writing.
8. For a valuable stone, have it tested by an independent laboratory.
9. Without a lab report, treat any origin claim as sales talk.
10. Read the return, delivery and payment terms before money changes hands.

Step 1: Decide what the stone has to do

A good stone for a daily ring is not always a good stone for a collection, and an astrological stone has its own rules. Start here.

Step 2: Look at the stone the way a dealer does

People borrow the "four Cs" from diamonds, but coloured stones are judged differently. Colour carries most of the value.

Colour

• Hue is the main colour and any second tint in it, such as a neelam that leans slightly violet or slightly green.
• Tone is how light or dark it is. Medium to medium-dark usually looks best. Very dark stones go black indoors; very pale ones look washed out.
• Saturation is how strong and clean the colour is. This is where prices split widest. A vivid stone can be worth several times a greyish one of the same size.

Take the stone to a window or under a daylight lamp. Bright shop spotlights make nearly everything look good.

Clarity

Natural stones grow with small crystals, fine needles, healed cracks and colour bands inside them. A few that do not catch the eye are normal, and they are one of the better signs that a stone is natural. Zamurd in particular is expected to have inclusions; a completely clean emerald at an ordinary price is very likely lab-grown. Our guide on how to identify a natural emerald goes into this. What you should walk away from are cracks that reach the surface, or inclusions that make the whole stone look cloudy.

Cut

A well-cut stone spreads light and colour evenly from edge to edge. Two faults to look for. A window is a pale, see-through patch in the centre, from a cut that is too shallow. Extinction is dark areas, from a cut that is too deep. A lot of coloured stones are cut to save weight rather than for looks, so a slightly smaller stone with good proportions is often the better buy.

Carat weight

Coloured stones are sold by the carat, and the rate per carat usually climbs as stones get bigger, because large clean crystals are harder to find. A single 4-carat stone will normally cost a good deal more than two 2-carat stones of the same quality. Buy the size you actually need: the minimum your astrologer has asked for, or whatever sits well in the setting.

Step 3: Ask about treatment, every time

Plenty of gemstones are treated. That is fine when the seller tells you. It becomes a problem when they do not.

We tell you about treatments that are standard for a stone, such as heated yaqoot and neelam or oiled zamurd, whenever we know them. If a seller cannot tell you whether a stone has been treated, assume you are not hearing the whole story.

Step 4: Make sure the price adds up

Divide the price by the carat weight. Then compare that per-carat figure with other stones of similar size and quality, keeping in mind that rates move with quality, supply and the rupee. Every listing in our shop shows the price of that exact stone. The ones people search for most:

• Blue sapphire (neelam) and yellow sapphire (pukhraj)
• Ruby (yaqoot) and emerald (zamurd / panna)
• Opal, aquamarine (beruj) and peridot (zabarjad)
• Amethyst (jamunia), turquoise (feroza) and agate (aqeeq)

Two rules we live by. When a price is far below the going rate for the quality being claimed, the stone is probably synthetic, glass or heavily treated. When it is far above, you may be paying for a name or a story. If sellers keep using different names for the same stone, our Urdu and English gemstone names page will help you keep track.

Step 5: Read the certificate properly

A certificate is only worth as much as the people who issued it. For any valuable stone, an independent laboratory report is money well spent, and you are always welcome to have one of our stones tested. When you read a report, check these lines:

1. Identification: species and variety, for example "natural corundum, blue sapphire".
2. Natural or synthetic: the most important line on the page.
3. Treatment: such as "no indication of heating", "heated" or "clarity enhanced (minor)".
4. Weight and measurements: these should match the stone in your hand.
5. Photograph: it should be of the actual stone.

Origin, meaning Sri Lanka, Kashmir, Colombia and the rest, is an expert opinion that only well-equipped labs give. Without a report, an origin is just something a seller said. For more on this, read where sapphire comes from.

Step 6: Look at how the seller works

A seller who trusts their stones will show clear photos of the real stone, answer straight questions and put the terms in writing. This is how we do it at Authentic Gems:

• Every listing is one natural stone, photographed as it is, with its own weight and price.
• Delivery is by insured, tracked courier for a flat Rs. 500 per order. We confirm each order by phone or WhatsApp and dispatch within 1 working day. Karachi orders usually arrive in 1–2 working days, Lahore, Islamabad and the other big cities in 2–4, and smaller towns within about 7 (details in our shipping policy).
• You pay Cash on Delivery, after opening the parcel in front of the rider and checking the stone.
• Unused stones in their original packaging can be returned within 7 days for a refund or exchange (see the return and refund policy).
• How we check our stones is set out on the authenticity page.

The mistakes we see most

• Paying for the label. "Kashmiri neelam", "Burmese yaqoot" and "Colombian zamurd" get used very loosely. Ask to see the report.
• Only looking under shop lights. Walk to the door or a window.
• Buying weight instead of beauty. A heavy stone with a big window in it is no bargain.
• Trusting "flawless and cheap". Together, those two words usually mean synthetic or glass.
• Setting an astrological stone too soon. Check the choice with your astrologer first. Once a stone is set or altered, it generally cannot go back.

For simple checks you can do at home to catch imitations, see real vs fake gemstones.

When you are ready

Have a look through the Authentic Gems shop, or start with the stones Pakistani buyers ask for most: neelam, yaqoot, zamurd and pukhraj. We are in Karachi and deliver across the city, from DHA and Clifton to Gulshan-e-Iqbal and North Nazimabad, as well as to Lahore, Islamabad and the rest of Pakistan. Not sure which stone fits your purpose or budget? Message us before you order and we will talk it through.