How to check an SSEF report

An SSEF report is checked at myssef.ch: enter the SSEF report number and the Prooftag reference number from the security label on the report, then compare the bubble pattern SSEF shows you with the one on your paper. Reports issued after 11 July 2016 can also be downloaded as a PDF scan and compared page by page. A match proves the paper is genuine — not that the stone in your hand is the one SSEF tested, or that it is unchanged since.

SSEF and its three kinds of report

The Swiss Gemmological Institute SSEF in Basel issues three types of report, and the type itself carries information:

• Gemstone Report — for a single loose gemstone, and only for natural stones.
• Test Report — the most flexible document: mounted stones, jewellery, lots, pearls, and synthetic or imitation material.
• Diamond Grading Report — for loose colourless to near-colourless natural diamonds.

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So an SSEF "Gemstone Report" describing a synthetic stone, or a ring, is a red flag in itself.

SSEF lists several layers of security on its reports: a signature, embossing, lamination and, since 2009, a Prooftag label fixed to the laminated report. The label carries a bubble tag that SSEF describes as usable only once and impossible to reproduce.

How to verify an SSEF report

1. 1.
   Go to myssef.ch yourself and open Verification.
2. 2.
   Enter the SSEF report number and the Prooftag reference number. Both are on the report; the Prooftag number is on the label.
3. 3.
   Pass the robot check and press Verify. A wrong combination returns an error rather than a record.
4. 4.
   Compare the bubble tag. SSEF displays the bubble pattern it has on file. It should match the label on your report exactly.
5. 5.
   Compare the scan. For reports issued after 11 July 2016, view or download SSEF's archived PDF of the report and compare it with your paper, line by line.

Two limits. Reports dated before June 2009 carry no Prooftag label and cannot be checked on myssef.ch; for those, contact SSEF. Reports issued before 11 July 2016 can be verified but have no PDF to download.

Signs of an altered or fake SSEF report

• The numbers do not verify, or the bubble pattern differs from the label.
• The label is missing, damaged or looks re-applied, or the lamination has been opened.
• The paper differs from SSEF's scan in any line — weight, measurements, treatment, origin, comments.
• The wrong report type — a Gemstone Report for a synthetic, an imitation or a mounted piece.
• A stone that does not fit the numbers. SSEF gives a stone a new report number when it is re-submitted after re-cutting or for an update, so an old number on a stone of different weight should be questioned.
• A link that leaves myssef.ch or ssef.ch. Type the address yourself.

What an SSEF report proves — and what it doesn't

SSEF is explicit that every statement on its reports describes the stone at the time of testing. In its June 2026 trade alert, it put it this way: the report "makes no guarantee about the condition of the stone at any later date."

Two more details from SSEF's own guide: the photo on a report is representational and does not necessarily show actual colour, clarity or size, and origin is an expert opinion based on inclusions, chemistry and spectra compared with SSEF's reference collection.

SSEF emerald reports: reading the filler line

Most emeralds have fissures, and filling them with a colourless substance is accepted as long as it is disclosed. SSEF has a full-disclosure policy: it names the filler — oil, wax, natural resin such as Canada balsam, or artificial resin — and grades the amount.

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Insignificant traces are not mentioned, in line with the shared LMHC rules, and filled cavities are reported separately from fissures. SSEF describes emerald colour by hue and saturation — medium, medium strong or strong — and uses no trade names.

The June 2026 alert matters most here. SSEF described emeralds that had been chemically cleaned, tested and reported with little or no clarity modification, then re-filled with oil or artificial resin and offered with the earlier report. Its advice to buyers: verify every report at myssef.ch, have any fissured emerald re-tested immediately before a transaction — especially when the report is not recent or the stone looks unusually clean for its fissures — and be cautious of a clean-looking emerald sold on a "no clarity modification" report. SSEF adds that the same risk applies to other fissured stones, rubies among them.

For buyers in Bangkok: SSEF runs on-site testing sessions in the city several times a year, from an office on Silom Road; dates are listed on ssef.ch.

Before you pay

• Hold the original report and check the Prooftag label and lamination.
• Verify it yourself at myssef.ch, and compare the bubble tag and, where available, the PDF scan.
• Weigh and measure the stone; compare it with the report.
• For an emerald or any fissured stone, read the filler line word for word, and if the report is not recent, ask for a re-test before paying.

For the wider case against trusting a scan, see cross-checking a lab report.

What Everystone does about it

A free Registry record keeps a stone's details and its SSEF report and Prooftag numbers in one place you can share, and once the report is confirmed with SSEF, the record says so. Matching that report to the physical stone is what an Everystone Passport adds: the report describes a stone, the passport shows it is this one. When you buy through the shop, every lot says how far it has been checked, from seller-declared to full verification, and your payment is held until you confirm the stone. More on buying safely.