Dagny Solheim 
I spent six years hunched over a bench in a grading lab, staring through a loupe until my eyes felt like they were full of sand. I’ve seen enough “certified” stones to know that a glossy certificate often says more about a company’s marketing budget than the actual dirt the stone came from. People come … Read more
I spent six years in a grading lab, staring through a loupe at inclusions in sapphires, and if there is one thing I learned, it’s that people will try to sell you a story about almost anything. I see it all the time in the crystal shops—glossy brochures claiming that the moon phase you were … Read more
I spent six years hunched over a microscope in a grading lab, staring at inclusions that told more truth than any salesperson ever could. I’ve seen enough “miracle” stones to know that most people are being sold a bill of goods when it comes to prosperity crystals. There is a lot of noise out there—people … Read more
I spent six years in a grading lab, hunched over a microscope until my neck ached, looking at inclusions that most people would never notice. I’ve seen enough “designer” sets to know that most people are being sold a story rather than a stone. You see these curated layering necklaces set with different stones online, … Read more
I remember sitting in a cramped grading lab in London, the air smelling of ozone and stale coffee, staring through a loupe at two sapphires that were supposedly “identical twins.” On paper, they were a match; in reality, one had a saturation like a deep, midnight ocean and the other looked like a faded, sun-bleached … Read more
I spent six years hunched over a microscope in a grading lab, and if there is one thing that gets under my skin, it is the way people talk about rubellite as if it were some mystical, standalone entity. You’ll see shops labeling stones with grand, sweeping claims about “the power of the red stone,” … Read more
I spent six years in a grading lab, staring through a loupe until my eyes ached, and if there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s that a stone doesn’t care about your LinkedIn profile. I see so many people getting lost in expensive, flowery catalogs, convinced they need a specific, high-priced talisman to fix their … Read more