Dagny Solheim 
I spent six years hunched over a microscope in a grading lab, looking at stones that were often much smaller than the marketing brochures suggested. I remember one particular sapphire, no larger than a grain of coarse salt, that a client had been told was “magnificently shaped” for its weight. It wasn’t. It was a … Read more
I spent six years hunched over a microscope in a grading lab, staring at stones until my eyes felt like they were full of sand. I’ve seen countless collectors get swindled by salespeople who claim a stone has a “natural, deep saturation,” only to realize later that the jeweler just used a specific facet arrangement … Read more
I spent six years hunched over a microscope in a grading lab, staring at stones until my eyes felt like they were filled with sand. I’ve seen enough “designer” cuts to know that most of the marketing around cushion cut proportions and how to read them is nothing more than expensive smoke and mirrors. Salespeople … Read more
I spent six years hunched over a microscope in a grading lab, staring at stones until my eyes felt like they’d been scrubbed with sand. I’ve seen enough “miracle” stones pass through my hands to know that the industry loves to use a bit of smoke and mirrors to keep prices high. People often think … Read more
I spent six years hunched over a microscope in a grading lab, staring at inclusions until my eyes felt like they were filled with sand. I’ve seen people pay a premium for “natural” stones that were actually just clever tricks, and I’ve seen others recoil in horror when they see a single word on a … Read more
I remember sitting in a cramped grading lab in Bergen, the fluorescent lights humming overhead, staring through a loupe at a parcel of stones that looked like neon seawater. One particular piece of apatite—a shade of blue so electric it looked like a shallow tide pool hitting white sand—shattered the moment the setter applied too … Read more
I spent six years in a windowless grading lab, staring through a loupe until my eyes burned, and if there is one thing I learned, it is that the internet loves to turn simple minerals into magical talismans. You’ll see shops online claiming that prehnite and its soft green glow can somehow realign your entire … Read more