Colored stone guides
Gemstone Origin
Origin can affect a colored stone's price independently of its quality. It is also the thing most often stated with more confidence than it deserves.
What it is
Where the stone came out of the ground
Certain deposits produced material with a particular character, and some no longer produce at all — which is why origin can move a price without anything about the stone itself changing.
The trade's own names
Burma and Ceylon
Some origins keep historic names because that is how the trade speaks. Burma for ruby and spinel, and Ceylon for sapphire, carry real weight in pricing. They are not errors on a listing.
What it means for you
A premium on reputation
An origin premium is a premium on reputation, not on any property you can see. A fine Mozambican ruby can outperform a mediocre Burmese one on every measure visible in the stone. Origin is worth paying for when you want it for its own sake; it is not a substitute for judging the stone.
The important caveat
How firmly origin is known
Determining origin properly is specialist laboratory work, comparing trace elements and inclusions against reference material — and even then the answer is an opinion with a confidence attached rather than a fact. Most stones in the market carry an origin because a supplier stated one.
We show origin where we have it, and the label says where known for exactly that reason. Treat a stated origin as supplier information unless a report accompanies it.