What happens to my photo after I upload it?

It is checked in your browser, sent once to the server, held in memory for the single request that reads it, and never written to disk, object storage or logs. Only the written report is kept, and only when you unlock it.

Why does the report name a family instead of a single stone?

Because appearance is compatible with more than one answer. Colour, transparency, cut, luster and visible inclusions rule families in and out, but stones from different families can look identical in a photograph, and what separates them are measurements taken with the stone in hand. So the report says "quartz family, amethyst-type purple" and gives each candidate a confidence score, instead of stating a species as a fact.

What do I get without paying?

The photo-quality verdict and what is wrong with your frame, what a photo cannot settle, the caveats, and the section describing the visible clues. Unlocking adds the possible identification with its reasoning, the alternatives that were considered and set aside, the loose-or-set context, the imitation indicators, and the checks to do next.

How long does a reading take?

Seconds. The photo is checked, then read for colour, cut and inclusions, then the report is written. There is no queue and no appointment.

When is a second photo worth adding?

When the first frame left something unread: a setting in the way, glare across the table, or a colour you cannot trust. A profile view adds the girdle line and the depth of the stone. Both frames are then read together. One good photo is still a complete run.

Does the report tell me what my stone is worth, or certify it?

No. This tool does not price stones and does not appraise them, no part of the report is a valuation, and it is not a certificate. It describes what is visible and points you to someone qualified to take the measurements those questions rest on.

How Gemstone Identifier reads a photo of a stone

You upload one photograph of a stone, loose or set in jewelry, and get back a written reading: what the frame shows, which families it fits, and what a photograph cannot settle. This page is the whole of what happens in between.

Your photo is read once, in memory

The file is checked in your browser first: that it is an image, that it is under the size limit, and that its shortest side is at least 320 pixels. It is then sent once to the server, held in memory for the single request that reads it, and passed to the reading model. It is not written to disk, to object storage or to logs. Only the written report is kept, and only when you unlock it.

If there is no stone in the frame the run stops there and says so, rather than describing whatever else it found.

The evidence the reading uses

A photograph carries appearance, so the reading works from appearance and from nothing else. Seven observations do the work:

Body colour, and how evenly it sits from edge to edge: straight-edged zoning and parallel banding are separate evidence from uniform colour.
Transparency: whether the background reads through the stone, whether it is cloudy, or whether no light passes.
Internal features the camera resolved: needles, veils, clouds, colour bands, and whether they are angular or rounded.
Cut style and the state of the facet junctions: crisp lines or soft rounded bands where two faces meet.
Surface luster: the character of the reflection, not its brightness.
Chips, abrasions and the shape of any break surface already present at an edge.
Scale, when the frame gives something to judge it against.

Each clue is written down before any conclusion is drawn. That order is deliberate: the report opens with "What the photograph shows" so you can check the reasoning against your own stone rather than take the conclusion on trust. The gemstone identification guide goes through each clue and what it can and cannot tell you.

Why the answer is a family with a confidence score

Appearance is compatible with more than one answer. Two stones from different families can be indistinguishable face up in a photograph, and what separates them are readings taken with the stone in hand. So the reading stops at the honest unit: a family and a look-alike group. "Quartz family, amethyst-type purple" is a statement the evidence can support. A species named as a certain fact is not.

Each candidate arrives with a confidence score, the strongest feature supporting it, and the weakest link in the argument. The alternatives that were considered and set aside are listed too, with the reason each was ranked lower, because a list of rejected candidates tells you as much as the winner does.

What the free preview contains, and what unlocking adds

The preview is the honest half, and it is free on every run: the photo-quality verdict with the specific problems in your frame, what a photo cannot settle, the caveats on the reading, and the whole of the "What the photograph shows" clues section. If your photograph cannot carry a reading, you find that out without paying.

Unlocking adds the analysis: the possible identification family by family with its reasoning, the alternatives considered and set aside, the loose-or-set context, the imitation indicators marked present, absent or not readable, and the non-destructive checks to do next along with what to ask a gemmologist for.

One full report is $9.99 and three are $19.99, bought once in US dollars. There is no subscription and nothing to cancel; a report you have already opened never costs a second credit. The pricing page has the details.

Where a second photo changes the answer

Two photographs of one stone can be read together, and the second one is worth taking when the first frame left a clue unread. A profile view gives the girdle line, the depth of the stone and the proportion of crown to pavilion. A frame with the light behind the stone shows the interior, which is where the most useful features live.

For a stone held in a setting the second angle matters most. A setting removes the girdle, the pavilion, the depth and often the true body colour from evidence, and metal reflects into the stone and shifts the colour that reaches the camera. When that happens the reading says which clues the setting took away and lowers its own confidence to match, rather than writing the certainty it would give a loose stone in daylight.

What it does not do

Four things, stated plainly, because a reading that hides its limits is worse than no reading.

It does not price stones and does not appraise them. No part of the report is a valuation and there are no figures in it.
It is not a certificate. A laboratory report is a different kind of document, made with instruments, with a named person or institution accountable for the result.
It cannot take the measurements that need the stone in hand: refractive index, specific gravity, the behaviour of the stone under polarised light or a spectroscope, weight on a balance, and dimensions.
It makes no statement about how a stone came to look the way it does. That question belongs to a laboratory with the stone on the bench.

The checks it does suggest are all safe ones: a better photograph, a look through a 10x loupe, a different light source, a jeweller's scale, and an appointment with a qualified gemmologist or appraiser. Nothing that scrapes, heats or soaks the stone appears anywhere in a report, because none of it is needed and all of it risks damage.

Reading your own stone

Photograph the stone in daylight on a plain neutral background, fill the frame with it, wipe the surface first, and upload the frame on the home page. The preview arrives in seconds and tells you whether the photograph is good enough before anything else. If it is not, retake it and run it again; that costs nothing.

Read a stone now, or work through the clues in the guide first and come back with a better frame.

Questions

What happens to my photo after I upload it?: It is checked in your browser, sent once to the server, held in memory for the single request that reads it, and never written to disk, object storage or logs. Only the written report is kept, and only when you unlock it.
Why does the report name a family instead of a single stone?: Because appearance is compatible with more than one answer. Colour, transparency, cut, luster and visible inclusions rule families in and out, but stones from different families can look identical in a photograph, and what separates them are measurements taken with the stone in hand. So the report says "quartz family, amethyst-type purple" and gives each candidate a confidence score, instead of stating a species as a fact.
What do I get without paying?: The photo-quality verdict and what is wrong with your frame, what a photo cannot settle, the caveats, and the section describing the visible clues. Unlocking adds the possible identification with its reasoning, the alternatives that were considered and set aside, the loose-or-set context, the imitation indicators, and the checks to do next.
How long does a reading take?: Seconds. The photo is checked, then read for colour, cut and inclusions, then the report is written. There is no queue and no appointment.
When is a second photo worth adding?: When the first frame left something unread: a setting in the way, glare across the table, or a colour you cannot trust. A profile view adds the girdle line and the depth of the stone. Both frames are then read together. One good photo is still a complete run.
Does the report tell me what my stone is worth, or certify it?: No. This tool does not price stones and does not appraise them, no part of the report is a valuation, and it is not a certificate. It describes what is visible and points you to someone qualified to take the measurements those questions rest on.