Tokyo Gem Lab

[usnwife]

I am looking at buying a stone certed from this lab. Is it reputable? Thanks.

 

[jarne]

hello to you all.

I have been reading here a year +

I have used tokyo lab in silom the past 8 years or so a total of 15-20 times.

One of many small gem labs in the area, so if I want a confirmation if its an unheated gem or type of gem, dimeions, weight, basic treatments, I will go for the or the small labs.
300 bath = 10 usd , gets a certificate the same day. They also have certs incl a picture and a little additional info at 30-35 usd.

If I had done a major buy, for me being 2000 usd up, I would have used the Gia, Swiss lab.
Also if I wanted to be sure of more complexed treatments.
I belive they are more equiped and of course carries more weight in the gem society.
In the big labs you usually have to wait a few days or more to get the lab report.

best regards

 

[T L]

I am looking at buying a stone certed from this lab. Is it reputable? Thanks.

Probably good for spinel, chrysoberyl, tourmaline, garnets, but I wouldn't use them for sapphires or rubies.

Labs don't "certify" anything. I wish people would stop calling these reports, "certs." They just denote their opinion on the characteristics of the stone.

 

[Edward Bristol]

TGL is for the Japanese what GRS is for the Swiss.

They are very serious and professional.

 

[T L]

TGL is for the Japanese what GRS is for the Swiss.

They are very serious and professional.

Ed,
Do they have a LIBS or LA-ICP-MS?

On their website, I can't find a way to corroborate report numbers either, unless I'm missing it. Is there another way to do this, because reports can be forged otherwise.

http://tokyogemlab.com/

No one is saying they're not serious or unprofessional, there are some great smaller labs, but they must be able to properly test corundum, and they should have a report verification site IMO. Vendors have been known to forge reports.

 

[T L]

I found this commentary online, but I'm not allowed, via forum rules to say where. Also Tokyo Gem Lab is out of Thailand, not Tokyo Japan, and I'm unsure why they would use that name?????

"I can't speak about Tokyo Gem Lab per say, but I have encountered a few scammers using their reports. Were they legit reports falsified by the TGL or were they counterfeit reports? I can't answer that, sorry. But I would want more info about them before just accepting them as valid from my personal experiences with certain Ebay vendors who have had them."

The above information was posted in 2009.

I would be careful using them because you cannot corroborate reports that I know of via their website. If someone wants to email them, that's fine. I would also be very careful if the stone is corundum (ruby or sapphire), as we don't know what they use to properly and fully test these gems, as the treatment can be quite invasive and hard to detect.

TGL is for the Japanese what GRS is for the Swiss.

Contact and address information for TGL is in Thailand, not Tokyo. This is off their main website on the contact page. I cannot find any website linking them to Japan. Is there a Japanese TGL????

http://tokyogemlab.com/

Contact: Manager ( Tokyo Gem Laboratory (Thailand) Co., Ltd. )
Address: 987 3rd Floor Rama Jewelly Building Silom Road
Bangrak Bangkok, Thailand 10500
Tel: +66-2357324 Fax:662-6352033.
Email: [email protected]

 

[chrono]

Ed,
Can you please provide clarification as to what you mean by your sentence? It sounded as though you are saying TGL is based in Japan but I know they are based in Thailand.

 

[Edward Bristol]

I think they are run by Japanese and that they have their origin in Tokyo (like GRS in Switzerland).

We often use them for our Japanese customers because they like it, hence my remark. They also issue reports in Japanese.

Amongst traders within Bangkok they also are quite popular because they are fast and reliable. (For example: I am waiting for an "express report" from GRS in BKK for 2 weeks now... and counting).

TL; I always judge simply for heat/no-heat capabilities in sapphires. That's all that counts for me, so perhaps I am narrow mined when it comes to testing of diffusions etc.

 

[treasurehunter]

I also cant get any reply contact page from Tokyo gem lab report for verifying a TGL Memo report I have , any ideas, When I email them I get the email wasn't sent error reports from Gmail

 

[T L]

Treasurehunter, sorry for your problems. I wish I could help you.

There is this lab in Thailand, and again, I would always be cautious with corundum, but I do like the setup of their web page, and I have noticed that many dealers use this lab, as they're inexpensive and quick. You can easily verify a report as well. I have a spinel report from them that I was able to verify online. Verification is extremely important. What is the point of getting a lab report if you cannot properly contact the lab or verify the report? There was also a photo of the stone on the gem brief.

http://www.glclab.com/

I'm not saying this lab is accurate or special, but at the very least, there is report verification.

I'm also glad to see that Burapha now also has a verification page, but I don't know if it works. They are a reputable smaller lab in Thailand, but not able to fully test corundum last I checked.

http://bgl.chanthaburi.buu.ac.th/#

 

[chrono]

I always judge simply for heat/no-heat capabilities in sapphires. That's all that counts for me, so perhaps I am narrow mined when it comes to testing of diffusions etc.

GIA has caught sapphires AIGS deemed as unheated to be heated. Any such cases with TGL?

 

[chrono]

I also cant get any reply contact page from Tokyo gem lab report for verifying a TGL Memo report I have , any ideas, When I email them I get the email wasn't sent error reports from Gmail

TH,
I'm sorry about this. I don't know what else to suggest.