Disclosure is telling the buyer, before the sale, that a gem is treated, laboratory-grown or an imitation.
In more detail
GIA calls treatment disclosure legally required for anyone who sells a gem. US FTC Guides require it if a treatment is not permanent, needs special care or greatly affects value. Trade groups such as AGTA, ICA and CIBJO set rules for their members. A lab report records what the lab found, but the seller must still disclose.
Related terms
- Treatment: A treatment is any process, other than cutting and polishing, that changes a gem's color or apparent clarity. Anyone who sells a treated gem must disclose the treatment.
- Synthetic gemstone: A synthetic gemstone is made in a laboratory and has essentially the same chemistry and properties as the natural gem. A synthetic ruby is ruby, made by people.
- Simulant: A simulant is a material that looks like a gem but has a different chemistry, structure and properties. Cubic zirconia, moissanite and glass are diamond simulants.
- Origin report: An origin report gives a lab's opinion on the country or region where a gem was mined.