Home / Coloured gemstones / Gemstone Layouts

Gemstone Layouts

A gemstone layout is a matched set of stones selected and arranged for a single piece of jewellery, usually a necklace or bracelet, with each stone's size and position fixed before the piece is made. Matching for colour, cut and size across twenty or forty stones is the whole of the work, and a good layout can take longer to assemble than any single stone. Byrex Gems assembles layouts for the jewellery trade in Toronto, filmed unedited, with prices for approved buyers and viewings by appointment.

Among the gemstone layouts listed today: 40.06 ct Round Blue Sapphire Layout (27 pcs), Ceylon Heated, 39.67 ct Round Blue Sapphire Layout (29 pcs), Ceylon Heated, 39.08 ct Round Blue Sapphire Layout (29 pcs), Ceylon Heated, 36.71 ct Round Blue Sapphire Layout (24 pcs), Ceylon Heated, 11.05 ct Round Ruby Layout (36 pcs), Burma Heated.

What a gemstone layout is

A layout is a set of stones chosen to be set together in one piece, laid out in the order and orientation they will take in the finished jewellery. A rivière necklace of graduated oval sapphires, a line bracelet of uniform cushion rubies, a necklace of emerald cuts alternating with diamonds, a collar of pear-shaped spinels: each begins as a layout on a tray, with every stone numbered and its position agreed, before the goldsmith makes the mountings.

Layouts come in two broad kinds. A uniform layout uses stones of the same nominal size throughout, as in a tennis bracelet or an eternity band, and the challenge is colour and depth consistency across the run. A graduated layout steps the size from the centre outward, as in a classic rivière, and the challenge is a smooth progression with no visible jump, together with a colour match across sizes that naturally differ in saturation.

The species most often laid out are sapphire in blue, pink and multicolour, ruby, emerald, spinel, tsavorite, tourmaline, aquamarine and tanzanite, with diamond layouts as a category of their own.

How stones are matched for colour, cut and size

Colour is matched first and most carefully. Every stone is sorted under one daylight-equivalent light source, viewed from the top, for hue, tone and saturation, and then checked under an incandescent lamp to catch stones that shift differently. Because saturation increases with size, a graduated layout must be matched so that the larger centre stones do not look darker than the small end stones; the sorter chooses slightly lighter rough for the centre or slightly deeper rough for the ends to even the run. Treatment is kept uniform across the layout: all heated, or all unheated, or all enhanced to the same stated degree, and disclosed for the set.

Cut is matched for shape, outline, faceting style and proportions. Stones should share the same crown height, table size and girdle thickness so that they reflect light alike and sit at the same height in the piece; a single stone with a different pavilion will show as a dark or bright spot in a line.

Size is matched by measurement, not weight. Uniform layouts hold to a stated tolerance, usually around a tenth of a millimetre, and are sorted for depth. The match is stated as it is and shown unedited on video.

How to brief a layout

A clear brief shortens the search. State the piece and its length or circumference, the species and colour, the shape, whether the layout is uniform or graduated, the stone count or the size at each step, the total carat weight you expect, the treatment requirement and the clarity standard. A reference, whether a stone, a photograph under known light or a piece the client admires, fixes the colour better than words.

Say how the stones will be set. Prong and bezel settings forgive small differences in outline; channel, invisible and bead settings do not, and the layout must be sorted tightly for depth and girdle. If the layout is part of a suite, brief the whole suite at once, since matching across pieces is easier from the same parcel.

Lead time depends on the brief. A uniform layout in a commercial colour can often be assembled from stock; a graduated layout of fine unheated sapphire in a specific hue may take months, because each step must be found or cut and the whole run matched. Layouts are filmed unedited as they are assembled, so a buyer can approve the match before the stones are sent on approval.

What drives the value of a layout

A layout is worth more than the sum of its stones, and the difference is the match. Finding forty sapphires of the same blue, cut and depth means rejecting many more that are individually fine, and the time and the rejects are reflected in the price. The tighter the match, the greater the premium; a layout in which no stone stands out under a loupe commands far more than one that looks even only at arm's length.

The species and colour set the base, as with single stones. A layout of saturated blue sapphire, fine ruby, Colombian emerald or neon spinel sits far above the same layout in commercial colour, and the premium for unheated corundum or lightly enhanced emerald applies across the set. Size raises value steeply, because large stones of matching colour are scarce and a graduated necklace whose centre stones exceed a few carats each is a rare assembly.

Cut quality and uniformity of proportions are rewarded, because they decide whether the finished piece reads as a single line of light. A layout in which every stone is reported is a different product from one sold on the dealer's sorting.

Layouts in jewellery history and the market today

The rivière, a necklace of graduated stones in simple collet settings, dates from the eighteenth century, when the development of brilliant cutting and candlelit evenings made a line of matched stones the most desirable form of necklace. Sapphire, ruby and emerald rivières followed the diamond original, and the great jewellery houses of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries built their reputations partly on the ability to assemble matched stones at scale.

At auction, important necklaces and bracelets are described stone by stone, with reports on the principal stones and sometimes on every stone, and the catalogues make clear that the match is what buyers pay for. A necklace of matched Burmese rubies or Kashmir sapphires can exceed the value of a single large stone of the same quality, because the assembly cannot be repeated.

In today's trade, layouts are assembled by dealers who hold deep stock in one species and sort continuously, and by cutting houses that cut a run from matched rough. Demand comes from jewellery houses, independent designers making one-off necklaces and bracelets, and manufacturers producing tennis bracelets and eternity bands in volume. Byrex assembles layouts from its own stock and sources stones through its offices and partners to complete a run.

Buying layouts from Byrex Gems

Byrex Gems has served the jewellery trade from Toronto since 1988, and more than seven thousand jewellers, designers and dealers have bought from us in that time, some of them for decades. Many of our layouts carry reports from leading laboratories where a stone warrants one, and every stone is photographed in our office, unedited, so what you see is what arrives.

Approved trade buyers see prices online. A message on WhatsApp at +1 (437) 450-3786 is answered within hours; an email to info@byrex.com, the same day, seven days a week. What is listed is a part of what we hold: more layouts and matched pairs are kept in the vault, and what we do not hold ourselves we can source through our offices worldwide. Private viewings are arranged by appointment in Toronto, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Dubai.

Gemstone Layouts: questions buyers ask

What is a gemstone layout?

A matched set of stones selected and arranged for one piece of jewellery, usually a necklace or bracelet, with each stone's size and position fixed before the mountings are made. The stones are matched for colour, cut, size and depth and sold as a set.

How closely are the stones in a layout matched?

As closely as the brief requires. Colour is sorted under one daylight-equivalent light and checked under incandescent, cut is matched for proportions and girdle, and size is held to a stated tolerance, usually around a tenth of a millimetre, with depth sorted for tight settings.

How long does a layout take to assemble?

It depends on the brief. A uniform layout in a commercial colour can often be assembled from stock; a graduated layout of fine unheated sapphire or Colombian emerald in a specific hue may take months. Byrex gives a realistic estimate at the outset and reports on progress.

Are the stones in a layout treated?

Treatment is kept uniform across the set and disclosed for the layout as a whole: all heated or all unheated for corundum, the same stated degree of enhancement for emerald. Laboratory reports are arranged on the principal stones or on each stone where the value justifies it.

What should I include when I brief a layout?

The piece and its length, species and colour with a reference, shape, uniform or graduated, stone count or step sizes, expected total weight, treatment requirement, clarity standard and the setting style. If the layout belongs to a suite, brief the whole suite together.

Does Byrex supply layouts with laboratory reports?

Yes, where the value justifies it. Reports from GIA, GRS, SSEF, Gübelin, Lotus or AGL are arranged on the principal stones or on every stone in the layout. Commercial layouts are otherwise sold on Byrex's sorting with treatment stated for the set.

Does Byrex build layouts for private clients?

Byrex assembles layouts for the jewellery trade and receives private clients by appointment in Toronto. A private client can commission a layout for a necklace or bracelet and have the piece made through their jeweller or through Byrex; prices are shown to approved trade buyers who sign in.

Can I see a layout laid out in Toronto?

Yes, by appointment at 27 Queen Street East, Suite 407, Toronto. Layouts are shown on a tray in their final order under daylight-equivalent and incandescent light, and every layout is filmed unedited so what you see online matches the set.

Byrex Gems, 27 Queen Street East, Suite 407, Toronto. Coloured gemstones and natural fancy colour diamonds for the trade since 1988, and for private clients by appointment.

Browse by stone

Coloured gemstones

Fancy colour diamonds