Gemstone Grading

Touchstone Gems' grading system for gemstones. We believe that colour is the most important factor when grading gemstones. However, when colour, cut, polish, and symmetry are equal, grading can become complex.  To simplify our in-house grading, we have three quality grades based on the gemstone's appearance and appeal.

Our fine grade is our top commercial quality and commands our highest price per carat. These stones have excellent colour saturation, even though they may have a similar percentage of inclusions compared to our medium grade. Overall, the cut, clarity, symmetry, and colour of our fine grade gemstones are considered the best by us.

Our medium grade gemstones can have more visible inclusions that can be seen from a distance with the naked eye. The colour of these stones is less intense, and they tend to be more translucent.

Standard grade gemstones are considered our lowest grade stones that can appear to be less desirable. They may have surface-reaching cracks, inclusions, and large fractures.

We have developed our grading system with over 30 years of experience with gemstones. It's important to note that we do not use other vendors' grading systems, and all of our gemstones are considered commercial grade.

We do not sell investment-grade gemstones here at Touchstone Gems.