Gemstones are precious so before buying gemstones you must make sure about the piece of gemstone that you are buying and that it is of high grade. Gemstone certification ensures that the gemstone which you thinking of buying meets the standards set by gemologists. There are certain terms (technical and non-technical) used to describe a gemstone’s grade, clarity and quality. Technical terms are type1/type2/type3, VVS (minute to detectable inclusion), VS (minor inclusion), and SI (noticeable, obvious, prominent etc).

Based on the above gemstone certification is provided for a particular gemstone by an authentic body. Apart from technical terms simple terms like clean, eye-clean and included are also used by gem dealers to describe gemstones. Clean means there are no inclusions even under magnification and eye-clean means the gemstone has inclusions but is not visible to the naked eye.

Gemstones like amethyst, citrine, topaz, zircon etc belong to the quartz family and are known for their perfection (clarity). These are type 1 gemstones and are certified as VVS, VS etc. Type2 gemstones like garnet, ruby, sapphire etc have inclusions classified as minor, noticeable, obvious, prominent, affecting appearance etc.
Type3 gemstones like emerald, red tourmaline etc always comes with inclusions and such stones are described as noticeable, obvious, prominent, more prominent, affecting appearance/durability etc. Gemstone certification thus makes you aware about gemstone quality and composition.

Since you are investing your money you should know how authentic the gemstones are which you are buying. You should also know that a minute inclusion means imperfections that are not visible to the naked eye but only under 10x magnification. On the other hand you would understand that some gemstones have lot of inclusions naturally but these inclusions do not undermine the quality of such gemstones.