About Our Images
 
PLEASE NOTE: ALL STONE IMAGES ARE GREATLY MAGNIFIED AND ARE NOT PROPORTIONAL. TINY STONES MAY APPEAR TO BE THE SAME SIZE AS LARGE ONES. BE SURE TO TAKE NOTE OF ACTUAL DIMENSIONS GIVEN IN THE TEXT DESCRIPTION. MAGNIFICATION ALSO MAY EMPHASIZE BLEMISHES, DUST PARTICLES AND INCLUSIONS THAT ARE NOT APPARENT OR DISTRACTING IN NORMAL VIEWING. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT ANY STONE PLEASE  EMAIL US. WE’RE ALWAYS PLEASED TO ANSWER QUESTIONS HONESTLY AND FORTHRIGHTLY. WE WANT ONLY WELL-INFORMED, HAPPY CUSTOMERS!
 
No “Stock” Images

We take extreme care with the images of gems and jewelry on our site. Each shows the actual item for offered sale. We never use “stock” gem images like some on-line sellers. We copyright our original images and unauthorized use is not permitted. We work very hard to make sure our gems and jewelry are represented accurately, but two-dimensional images can never capture the brilliance and ‘life’ of an actual stone viewed in person.

Some gem colors are almost impossible to capture photographically. When an image comes up short for whatever reason we do our best to describe in words the stone’s actual appearance. Sometimes we digitally edit images to show a stone’s “real-life” color, tone and saturation but we never try to improve on nature. You see essentially what the camera sees, depending on your monitor and settings.
 
Monitors Vary

Please keep in mind that current imaging technology has limits. The images and colors you see on your personal monitor may be quite different than what we see on ours. Older monitors are limited in the number of colors they can show and often lack sharpness. Monitor settings vary a great deal and that can affect color.
 
Email Your Questions

Email us if you have specific questions about any stone and we'll do our best to answer them. Remember: any item can be returned in original condition for full refund (less shipping costs) if our words or images fall short of your expectations. Nothing can take the place of actually inspecting gems or jewelry with your own eyes under conditions of your own choice. We respect your judgment and tastes.
 
Color Change Images

Our color change gems are photographed as authentically as possible. As there are no international standards for viewing or photographing color change stones, we’ve created our own. For “daylight” we use fluorescent lighting at 6000 Kelvin which approximates real daylight at noon. We use incandescent bulbs rated at 3000 Kelvin for “nighttime” photography. That color temperature represents light from a 200-watt incandescent bulb.

From a historical perspective it’s interesting to recall that electric lights hadn’t yet been invented when alexandrite, the most famous color change gem of all, was discovered. For many years its nighttime color was judged by candlelight. Many purists still adhere to that standard.