Question about purchasing gemstones

[portia]

I''m in the process of buying two stones from Swalagemtraders and I can save a bit of money if I pay via bank wire. I know there are some PS members that have purchased from Swala and was wondering if you did a bank wire or paid via paypal? I''m a little leary of sending my money to a foreign bank and without any checkout process - just send x amount to this bank account. Has anyone had any experiences with this?

 

[lelser]

Eric and Mark at Swala are truly stand-up people. I wouldn''t worry at all,and in fact on my last trip there I left over 10k worth of material which they shipped out for me. They are absolutely trustworthy.

Cheers,

Lisa

 

[portia]

Thanks for the info, Lisa. I''ve only heard good comments about Swala on PS, but when it comes down to wiring money away today it made me second guess myself. I''m glad to hear they are trustworthy.

 

[chrono]

I’ve paid Swala three times via bank wire. On all 3 occasions, he received the money safely the next day. All 3 times involved large sums of money.

 

[portia]

Chrono, that''s great to hear! I''m really excited about these stones after seeing other swala purchases here. Off to call the bank!

 

[chrono]

So....any hints of what you’ll be getting this Xmas?

 

[portia]

I''m getting a 3.4ct round Mahenge spinel and a 2.95ct. cushion tsavorite. I''ve been drooling over the spinels and tsavs I''ve seen here lately that I just had to get one of each!

Yes, xmas is coming early to the portia household... except I''m santa! LOL I''ve been looking around for a while and Swala''s stones seem to be very high quality at a nice price point for the quality. I''ll be sure to post pics when I get them.

 

[chrono]

Woah! That is going to be a super Xmas present. I can’t wait to see pictures of both.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Ooooo...more swala swag! Awesome! Can''t wait to see photos!

 

[portia]

heheh love it.... swala swag!

So how long does shipping take from Swala?

 

[chrono]

About one week for me in the USA.

 

[klewis]

Congratulations! - I really like that stone and I was so close to buying that a couple of weeks ago. The only reason I didn''t go for it was I had decided to wait until I could afford a bigger stone. I mention that in case you think I decided against it for any reason to do with the quality of the stone.
Disappointingly, once I had made that decision and let Swala know they never replied to my follow up email and so they''ve lost me as a customer.

Portia - I''m envious and I can''t wait to see your pics of it. Congratulations again, I think you''ve bought a great stone.

 

[chrono]

Klewis,
You mentioned that Swala did not reply to your follow up email. How long was that? Just throwing it out there but Eric is on the road often and sometimes, I don’t get a reply for up to a week. It appears that he’s the only one who handles customer service for Swala. There’s always the possibility of emails getting lost in cyberspace, which I experience often enough. Because of that, I normally give the vendor another chance and if I still don’t get a reply, then I move on.

 

[klewis]

That was a few weeks ago - 3 I think. I asked a very specific question about larger stones and when I got no reply I thought perhaps they thought I wasn''t a serious buyer. I''m not too upset though, there''s lots of other tantalizing choices available.

 

[chrono]

Date: 12/4/2009 1:37:31 PM
Author: klewis
That was a few weeks ago - 3 I think. I asked a very specific question about larger stones and when I got no reply I thought perhaps they thought I wasn''t a serious buyer. I''m not too upset though, there''s lots of other tantalizing choices available.

I’m sorry about that and understand how you feel.

 

[klewis]

I''m just so pleased to see this stone going to a PSer

 

[portia]

klewis, I''m sorry to hear that. Maybe if you email them again, they''ll respond? They do have some nice stones and I think I read somewhere that they have other stones available, but not posted to the website. So maybe they have a larger one available?

 

[klewis]

Date: 12/4/2009 2:00:17 PM
Author: portia
klewis, I''m sorry to hear that. Maybe if you email them again, they''ll respond? They do have some nice stones and I think I read somewhere that they have other stones available, but not posted to the website. So maybe they have a larger one available?

Thanks. Yes they do have larger - I didn''t looked seriously at them since I needed to wait until I could afford larger. Although now, after that hiccup, I am reconsidering and my next purchase my be something different

What are your plans for this spinel?

 

[portia]

Well, not exactly sure what the plans are. I prefer fancy shapes to rounds, but loved the color of this one and it seemed to be a nice size although I do prefer larger size stones. I thought I could add a halo around it to make it appear larger and wear as a pendant or ring. I''m also thinking of using rose gold. I''m sure I''ll have more of a vision when I get it and can see the actual size and color.

Can''t wait to see what you get when you decide! A larger spinel or something else? mmmmmm.... sounds fabulous!

 

[klewis]

Date: 12/4/2009 1:20:32 PM
Author: klewis
Congratulations! - I really like that stone and I was so close to buying that a couple of weeks ago. The only reason I didn''t go for it was I had decided to wait until I could afford a bigger stone. I mention that in case you think I decided against it for any reason to do with the quality of the stone.

Disappointingly, once I had made that decision and let Swala know they never replied to my follow up email and so they''ve lost me as a customer.


Portia - I''m envious and I can''t wait to see your pics of it. Congratulations again, I think you''ve bought a great stone.

Since it was in this thread thread that I mentioned them, I think it''s only fair to Swala Gems to say that a couple of days a go I did get a reply from them.
Portia - You must be getting excited???

 

[Lovinggems]

Portia gorgeous purchases, if you can please post photos, we love photos here.

 

[portia]

Date: 12/10/2009 12:23:05 AM
Author: klewis

Date: 12/4/2009 1:20:32 PM
Author: klewis
Congratulations! - I really like that stone and I was so close to buying that a couple of weeks ago. The only reason I didn''t go for it was I had decided to wait until I could afford a bigger stone. I mention that in case you think I decided against it for any reason to do with the quality of the stone.

Disappointingly, once I had made that decision and let Swala know they never replied to my follow up email and so they''ve lost me as a customer.


Portia - I''m envious and I can''t wait to see your pics of it. Congratulations again, I think you''ve bought a great stone.

Since it was in this thread thread that I mentioned them, I think it''s only fair to Swala Gems to say that a couple of days a go I did get a reply from them.
Portia - You must be getting excited???

Yes, I''m so excited to see these stones!!

Glad to hear they replied to your email.

 

[portia]

Date: 12/10/2009 3:45:32 AM
Author: Lovinggems

Portia gorgeous purchases, if you can please post photos, we love photos here.

Thanks, Lovinggems. I should have the stones by the end of next week. I''ll be sure to post pics of them.

 

[Arkteia]

Oh my God! I saw this round spinel on their website and wanted to buy it but it was reserved for L. It''s you who bought the spinel! I love round stones. If by any chance you don''t like it or it doesn''t fit into your ring, I''ll buy it from you on the spot!

 

[Arkteia]

They seem to be slow responders - but I explain it by difference in time. Also, their business seems to be booming and they appear quite busy. I shall buy the stone Eric recommended me, although I would prefer a larger one. I assume it is difficult to call Tanzania and phone calls are expensive but generally, US vendors would spend more time with me. Jason S. from Pala was the best. R. Wise was good although but so far I did not buy anything from him (except for his book). Another problem, you can not return Swala''s stones so I am not going with a pricier one - let''s see how this one looks! It is pear-shaped and I do not like fancy shapes, but that was Eric had to offer of the "better ones".

 

[portia]

Date: 12/10/2009 5:19:40 PM
Author: crasru
Oh my God! I saw this round spinel on their website and wanted to buy it but it was reserved for L. It''s you who bought the spinel! I love round stones. If by any chance you don''t like it or it doesn''t fit into your ring, I''ll buy it from you on the spot!

crasru, I''ll keep you posted. Although, I have a feeling I''ll probably be keeping it. I''ve not returned a stone yet! lol