Colored Stones in the UK

[luckynumber]

Thought i would keep to the US spelling even though i''m in the UK

PSers in the UK, can you tell me where you have been buying your coloured stones from??

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 11/12/2009 8:23:24 AM
Author:luckynumber
Thought i would keep to the US spelling even though i''m in the UK

PSers in the UK, can you tell me where you have been buying your coloured stones from??

You need Pandora, she should be along presently!

 

[luckynumber]

yay for pandora!!!

i await her kind presence eagerly.....

 

[LD]

Well I''m not Pandora but I''m in the UK!!!

I buy all my gemstones from abroad I''m afraid. There is very little in the way of excellent certified gemstones (without paying through the nose) in the UK. There is one exception - that may surprise you - The Jewellery Channel. They have a wide selection of certified gemstones (mostly Tanzanite - very very good quality as their parent Company STS is a Tanzanite One Sightholder), some sapphires, apatite, the occasional piece of Madagascan Paraiba Tourmaline, Emeralds (some of which are very nice) accompanied usually with an IGI certificate. The prices are very good indeed.

Other than that, I buy from trusted Vendors (most of which are listed on this website) but some others that I''ve been using for years and have built up a good relationship with. Just one word of caution - watch out for the huge import taxes you can sometimes get hit with (depending on the method of shipping).

Hope that helps.

 

[luckynumber]

thanks lovingdiamonds!

never would have thought of the jewellery channel LOL!!!

 

[mousey]

Holts in Hatton Garden specializes in colored stones- but to be honest, nothing really took my breath away while I was there. I am a newbie to all this, but I think you might be better off buying from the US. Even with Tax and import etc I think you probably still get a better deal and a prettied stone.

 

[LD]

Date: 11/12/2009 9:57:08 AM
Author: mousey
Holts in Hatton Garden specializes in colored stones- but to be honest, nothing really took my breath away while I was there. I am a newbie to all this, but I think you might be better off buying from the US. Even with Tax and import etc I think you probably still get a better deal and a prettied stone.

I totally agree, if you're a proper gemstone collector unfortunately Holts (even though they have their own built in gemologist's course etc) are NOT the place to look

 

[Pandora II]

My ears were burning!

I buy all my stones overseas - I haven''t found anything I want to buy in the UK at a price I''m happy with. Leaving the delights of Moussaieff, Graff etc to one side as gorgeous but not in my price range, a lot of the loose stuff I have seen has windows you can walk through, not great colour and vendors who don''t know their stuff.

I''m based in London so I get to see a lot of what is potentially available.

Holts is very disappointing. I''ve been in several times and have never bought anything. Some of their staff also don''t seem to know a lot - I asked to see sphenes and the girl said she had never heard of them. Their demantoids were very poor colour and cost a bomb. Their tsavorites were less than ideal colour, very small and again cost a ridiculous amount for what they were.

So, I just grit my teeth and pay the import taxes!

 

[LD]

Date: 11/12/2009 7:02:58 PM
Author: Pandora II
My ears were burning!

I buy all my stones overseas - I haven''t found anything I want to buy in the UK at a price I''m happy with. Leaving the delights of Moussaieff, Graff etc to one side as gorgeous but not in my price range, a lot of the loose stuff I have seen has windows you can walk through, not great colour and vendors who don''t know their stuff.

I''m based in London so I get to see a lot of what is potentially available.

Holts is very disappointing. I''ve been in several times and have never bought anything. Some of their staff also don''t seem to know a lot - I asked to see sphenes and the girl said she had never heard of them. Their demantoids were very poor colour and cost a bomb. Their tsavorites were less than ideal colour, very small and again cost a ridiculous amount for what they were.

So, I just grit my teeth and pay the import taxes!

I feel your pain!

 

[luckynumber]

PANDORA

which US sites do you buy from pretty please!!!

 

[Deia]

I must say I bought my first gemstone from Holts, because I didn''t know better. I love my stone, it''s got a small window but being that it was my first one I will cherish it forever. I''ve gone in there a few times since as I also am base in London and I must admit the prices are ridiculous. The man I spoke to was very nice and very knowleadgable (I spoke to some girl one time before that and she didn''t know much at all but she seemed new and told me she was doing a gemstone course at the GIA) and he asked me if I was in the trade because I seemed to know so much about colored stones HAH! I was flatered lol considering I don''t know *anything* compared to so many of you ladies here.

He showed me some sphene, I wasn''t impressed at all and thought hey I could get better sphene on ebay for 1/5 of the price! He also showed me this large heart shaped spinel that had a huuuuuuuuge window and was so yucky brown it made me sad lol... (this was right after I bought my spinel which although isn''t comparable to a mahenge is gorgeous to my eyes)...anyway I told him I would come back and show him my new spinel, he was really interested in seeing it.

Anyway not sure why I just wrote a novel lol, I am a bit bored at work, but I also do all my gem purchases online with US vendors and pray that they don''t get caught in customs.

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 11/13/2009 7:47:16 AM
Author: luckynumber
PANDORA

which US sites do you buy from pretty please!!!

I don''t normally buy stones that are actually on websites. I have a number of dealers - not just in the USA - who I will contact if I''m looking for something in particular, or some of them will contact me if something comes in that might be of interest to me.

Vendors that I buy from known to PS are: Rick at Art Cut Gems, Wink and Palagems. Richard Homer has also sourced and cut stones for me.