Editor’s Note
This article highlights a recent price adjustment by the gemological laboratory GRS, consolidating certain fees into its service charge. While the announcement is presented as a minor update, it reflects broader economic trends affecting global service industries.
Last month, Xiaonan received an email from the renowned colored gemstone identification agency GRS:
Below is GRS’s 2024 certificate price list (Hong Kong):
A gemstone identification certificate is not only crucial for the gemstone itself but is also highly valued by gem dealers and consumers. Among colored gemstones, countless stones have similar colors and shapes, and synthetic gemstones further complicate the mix, making it difficult for gem enthusiasts to distinguish them when making purchases. At such times, a single professional and formal certificate can easily resolve this issue.
When it comes to diamonds, the GIA certificate is considered the “identity card.” For evaluating colored gemstones, however, one looks to the “Big Three” of international colored gemstone certificates: GRS, SSEF, and Gubelin.
Previously, Xiaonan has discussed SSEF and Gubelin. Today, let’s take a detailed look at GRS.
GRS, short for GEMRESEARCH SWISSLAB AG, is a gemstone identification agency founded by Swiss gemology PhD Dr. A. Peretti. Currently, besides Switzerland, GRS has offices in Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Hong Kong, China.
Typically, the basic information on a GRS certificate includes the certificate number, issuance date, photos of the submitted item, and the identification conclusion.
Information regarding the submitted gemstone includes annotations on weight, dimensions, cut, shape, color, any treatments, as well as origin.
GRS-type color descriptions include, but are not limited to, the following:
In the annotation section, if a gemstone has undergone treatment, it is indicated by letter abbreviations.
What sets GRS apart from other gem identification agencies is its unique gemstone color grading system. Its founder, Dr. A. Peretti, is renowned for “describing colored gemstones using colloquial terms,” and those descriptive terms have become important indicators in the global colored gemstone trade today.
As Xiaonan has shared, GRS compiled the most commonly used and industry-favored color assessment terms from over 20 years into a booklet, publishing “GRS Color Terms Go Global.”
This includes not only the introduction of eight proprietary terms—
• GRS-type “pigeon blood” ruby
• GRS-type “Royal blue” sapphire
• GRS-type “cornflower” sapphire
• “Old Mine/Muzo Green Appendix” emerald
• GRS-type “Sunrise” Padparadscha sapphire
• GRS-type “Sunset” Padparadscha sapphire
• GRS-Type “Honey Color” chrysoberyl
• GRS-Type “Paraiba-Color” tourmaline
—but also a color description term for gemstone characteristics: Vivid.
The term “Vivid” is likely familiar to everyone. It was first adopted by GRS in its identification certificates to describe gemstones with the highest saturation, the richest color, brilliance, and without overly dark tones. It can be applied to various colors such as red, pink, blue, and green.
A couple of years ago, GRS introduced a brand new quality concept in its gemstone certificates: GRS brilliancy-type “vibrant.”
Like “vivid,” “vibrant” is also a color description term for gemstone characteristics. It can only be used to describe a gemstone that simultaneously meets the criteria of perfect cut, excellent clarity, very low dark areas, and even color distribution.
Image source: GRS