A LEADING Myanmar geologist last week called for analysis certificates for Myanmar gems, a move he said would help the domestic gem industry.

U Nyan Thin, an experienced geologist, said there are many varieties of gems – genuine gems of varying quality, imitations, synthetic gems and treated stones.

Gem evaluators in Myanmar only issue certificates that guarantee whether the gem is authentic or not.

However, many other countries assess gems to determine their exact quality, and therefore, value.

U Nyan Thin said that with an analysis of the exact qualities of gems, which could then be presented as a certificate, the gem market in Myanmar would flourish.

But some experts and gem and jewellery dealers do not agree with U Nyan Thin’s recommendation.

“The market does not need quality analysis, we only need to make sure whether the gem is genuine because the gem merchants already know whether the gem is treated or not,” an advisor of the Department of Geology and representative of Macle gem trade laboratory, Professor Hla Kyi, said.

The necessary equipment required for detailed gem analysis would be too costly, he added.

Gem and jewellery shop owners last week told Myanmar Times that usually only customers with little knowledge about gems ask for a certificate guaranteeing a gem’s authenticity.

Daw Su Su Than of Ruby Land gem shop said most gem buyers do not ask for a certificate, especially customers who are knowledgeable about gems.

“If the customer needs a certificate, we give it, but most people do not ask for it,” another gem dealer, Ma Aye Aye Su, owner of Vervain Jewellery, said.