A world leader in coloured gemstone, diamond and pearl testing
Get your items tested by us.
- Fast shipping and safe door-to-door delivery
- On-site testing in Bangkok, Hong Kong and USA
- Easy order and secure payments by credit card
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*Verify your SSEF report and download a digital copy at www.myssef.ch
Upcoming on-site testing
Get your gems tested during in Bangkok, Hong Kong and the United States.
Celebrating 50 years of SSEF
Some 150 industry leaders and opinion-makers from around the world gathered in Basel to celebrate the golden anniversary of SSEF.
Auction highlights
A selection of remarkable jewels recently tested by SSEF and sold at auction.
Become a gem expert
Since its successful beginning in 2001, SSEF’s education department has offered a broad spectrum of gemmological courses to thousands of students from industry, trade, and academia.
Discover our courses
- All levels of gemmology
- Large course collection of stones
- Leading gemmologists as lecturers
- Highly practical courses in small groups
We also provide tailored courses for individuals and companies.
Free online courses by SSEF
Understanding Gemstones
Start your journey to becoming a gem expert with these introductory online courses.
Facette
Facette is the annual magazine of the Swiss Gemmological Institute SSEF. 2024 marks its 29th issue. Starting as a humble leaflet with a few black & white pages in a very basic layout, Facette has evolved into a magazine rich in information about recent research findings and activities at SSEF.
Research at SSEF
Since its beginnings over 50 years ago, the Swiss Gemmological Institute SSEF has been a driving force and at the forefront of scientific innovation in gemmology. Our dedication to gemstone scientific research is an important foundation to our expertise and reliability in testing.
Hundreds of publications, presentations and much more!
Also follow our latest research in:
Low-temperature heating of corundum: possibilities and challenges for detection
Heat treatment is generally applied to gemstones to change and enhance their colour. Over the past few decades, it has become a very common practice for certain gem species, such as aquamarine, amethyst (resulting in citrine), copper-bearing tourmalines (Paraiba), tanzanite, and notably for any colour variety of corundum.
Unravelling the secrets of antique jewellery
Testing of antique jewellery at SSEF may provide insights which go far beyond simple gem testing. They add valuable information to the jewel, starting from its design and craftsmanship in the making, the choice of colours and qualities of gemstones, or the facet arrangement and proportions of old cutting styles.
Vanadium chrysoberyl
Vanadium as a colouring element is quite often underestimated, mostly as it is often associated and acting together with chromium, a chemical element with a similar geochemical behavior and paragenetic occurrence but which is historically better known in the trade and easier to detect with simple tools (spectroscope) by gemmologists.
The colour range of Paraiba tourmalines
Paraiba tourmalines owe their attractive colour to the presence of copper. In the best case, this gives rise to a vivid blue colour, also known in the trade as ‘neon’ blue or ‘electric’ blue and not known from any other gemstone in nature.