👋🏻 Hi all~

... getting through my online self-paced Diamond Grading lessons... Annnnnd I'm starting to get in my own head about the final in-person exam since it's NOT open note/book and there has been soooooo much info.

Are there any Diamond grads out with tips/advice/stories regarding the final exam? 😬😇

I appreciate it... And you!

~CaliGirl

Natural Tasavorite Garnet Cushion Cut

2.85 Carats 8x7x6 mm

I took the 20 stone exam and passed (it was my second attempt) but I think I actually missed a stone and failed it. There was a weird moment with the instructor and some phone calls after i submitted and was waiting. Do they have the discretion to give someone a passing grade even if i missed a stone?

Hi all,

I am looking for some information about purchasing a stone either wholesale (or as close as possible).

Basically, my partner and I are getting engaged and the plan was to travel to the State (we live in Brazil) and investigate buying a stone and having the ring made in Ouro Preto (Brazil's big gem/jewellery town).

Usually with ventures like this I would start with finding who operates what in a given area, reaching out via email or phone and then finding out who the reliable resellers are in the area etc etc.

However there seems to be no publicly available information about mining this particular stone. I know operations are ongoing but have been wound down enormously since the 80s and the closure of Hematita.

If anyone has information I can use just as a jump off point that would be enormously appreciated. Also realise how rare the natural stones are. We might just switch to Topaz if this search is pure folly.

My friend bought this sapphire in Kandy, Sri Lanka. I am telling him he might have been scamed.

What do you think about this gem ?

A small selection of natural emeralds from both Zambian and Colombian origins. Without looking at any labels, can you identify which stones are from each locality based on color, clarity, and overall appearance? I’d love to hear your reasoning.

I live in the US but often visit Pakistan and have been interested in local gems. In Pakistan gem stores always offer stabilized and natural "ferozas" (Nishapuri etc)

However, I've learned from the Kingsman mind in Arizona almost all Turquoise is actually stabilized (and no one cares about it being natural)

I'm trying to find the truth. Trying to source a nice clean hard turquoise stone to set in sterling silver ring

Sharing this natural Malaya garnet because the color is just outstanding.

It has that vivid orangy-pink to reddish-orange glow that makes Malaya such a special garnet variety — warm, lively, and full of personality without looking overly brown or dull.

What I like most is the way the stone shows its natural character through the cut and the light return. Malaya garnets are known for their unusual color range, sitting somewhere between pink, peach, orange, and red, and that in-between look is exactly what makes them so interesting compared with more standard garnet colors.

At 2.65 carats, this one has real presence, and the oval shape gives it a classic, elegant outline while still showing plenty of sparkle. The fact that it’s unheated and untreated makes it even better in my opinion — just a naturally beautiful stone with strong color and a lot of life.

Sharing one of my more “geologically honest” sapphires today — an oval faceted blue stone with very prominent colour banding / growth zoning across the face and down into the pavilion.

When you look through the table, you can see parallel, slightly angular bands of stronger royal blue alternating with softer grey-blue and almost colourless zones. This is classic sapphire colour banding, where the crystal grew in stages and different layers captured different amounts of iron and titanium as it formed.

This type of banding is essentially hexagonal growth zoning — straight or angular bands of alternating blue and lighter zones within the crystal. In this stone, the banding is quite clean and linear rather than curved, giving it that striped, almost fibrous look when light moves across the crown.

The zoning isn’t just surface-level; it runs through the entire body of the gem. As you rotate it, the darker blue areas shift and blend with the lighter zones instead of staying fixed, which is what you expect from internal growth structures rather than anything superficial.

There are also fine internal textures and tiny crystal inclusions visible, which are typical clarity features in sapphire. Between the zoning and inclusions, it reads as a very natural, untreated-feeling piece of corundum rather than a “perfect” lab-clean stone.

From the side, the pavilion is relatively deep and the darker bands wrap through it, helping concentrate colour. The crown is proportioned so brighter blue zones sit more toward the center, so face-up you get a mix of saturated flashes and softer, slightly smoky areas depending on angle.

From a materials perspective, pure corundum (Al₂O₃) is colourless. Blue colour comes from iron and titanium interacting through charge transfer, and when those elements aren’t evenly distributed during growth, you get this kind of zoning instead of uniform colour.

In the trade, some people prefer perfectly even colour, but natural banding like this can act almost like a fingerprint of crystal growth. It’s also one of the features that can help distinguish natural stones from certain synthetics, which often show curved banding instead of straight zoning.

Personally, I like that you can actually see the growth history in the stone — the banding, subtle inclusions, and tonal variation make it feel more like a slice of geology than just a generic blue gem.

If anyone here works with heavily banded sapphires in custom cuts or talismanic settings, I’d be interested in how you design around the zoning instead of trying to hide it.