You have got to be kidding??

[Icicles]

I just read about Asha Simulants, and how they now come with a grading report similar to the IGI report. $400 for a fake stone? Who spends that much money on fake stones?

 

[Icicles]

This is what the report looks like. I am hoping someone will tell me this is a joke.

 

[oldminer]

Very entertaining. I sure hope it doesn't cost a lot for the report.

 

[pearcrazy]

Notice the initials-- EGL. Maybe they're hoping that someone who doesn't know what the REAL initials stand for will be fooled. Sheesh!!

What a surprise, it graded at an F/IF with Ex/Ex proportions!! WHAT?!?! not a D in color?

 

[goldengirl]

Wow.

I have some pieces which I intend buy new CZ's for, to replace the crappy glass cz's that came with them....but I'm going to buy them from wink, for like $10. I can't imagine spending $400 on a sim.

A SUBSTITUTE, okay, like a moissanite or a white sapphire, both stones in their own regard...but not a sim.

 

[denverappraiser]

----------------
On 9/6/2004 7:24:54 PM oldminer wrote:

Very I sure hope it doesn't cost a lot for the report.----------------

I can easily imagine that the grading is pretty easy. They probably get a good price since there is only one clarity grade. I wonder if the photos are of the actual stone or if this is just a representative example.

Can you show us the text on the other side of the card? I would be very interested to see their legalese about this.

Neil Beaty, GG ISA
Independent Appraisals in Denver

 

[Icicles]

I took the picture from their site, and they didn't show the back. I wonder if they'd send me a copy if I asked?

Do people really buy these supposed "diamond coated" sims? Can they even prove there's such a coating on them? It's incomprehensible to me. Why in the world would anyone spend $400 on a sim when you can get one for $10 from Wink?

 

[moremoremore]

I dunno man. The BTD message board shows a strong following. Maybe there is something to it? Me, personally, not in a million years. I actually bought a small princess once to see...it looked vey fake- like a typical fake princess. They had accidentally sent me a round too and it did look nice. But I've seen the princess from Wink first hand and it is probably the best princess cz I've seen. Is the diamond coating supposed to make it last longer? OK- then for the price of one asha, buy several of winks stones and have them replaced. I like it when they post pix from this board on their message board and then question if they're real. Whatever. There is nothing wrong with a cz. I think it's great that some people prefer a cz over a diamond. But an overpriced asha? Whatever.

 

[DavidEmslie]

yikes...that bothers me for some reason...not the whole diamond coated CZ thing it kinda makes sence in a way...but that somoene would add a report like that too it. I know sales and marketing people are all about packaging but come on.

Thats just...ack, I dont know. why?

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

We sell QA signity hhearts and arrows CZ as a callibration stone for $5 or as a free throw in with many of our ideal-scope kits

But the certificate will cost an extra $395

 

[CaptAubrey]

----------------
On 9/6/2004 7:51:37 PM Icicles wrote:











Do people really buy these supposed 'diamond coated' sims? Can they even prove there's such a coating on them? It's incomprehensible to me.

----------------

we went over this issue recently in this thread:

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/moissanite.18653/

scroll down past the moissanite stuff.

 

[MsP]

Actually, there has been some talk about Wink's cz's being the same as asha, but without the coating. Pretty interesting if you ask me... but no real proof.

I don't know. If you want to buy a $1000 cz, than that's fine with me. I don't care if women wear cz's and I don't care if they pass them off as natural. I know that most of you will say that you can spot a fake, but I bet that from a foot away, you will not be able to(unless it is like 12cts in an enamel setting or a flimsy silver setting). I've seen asha's in person and they don't scream fake like the department store cz's do BUT if winks is the same, why spend literally, twenty times the money? The fact is that if you want a sparkly stone, and don't need it to last a lifetime, get a cz or a moissanite. People won't question if it is a diamond, they'll assume it is. I have a bunch of diamond pieces and two moissanite pieces(ring and earrings) and no one has ever questioned the moissanite- they assume it is a diamond.

As for the cert- it's useless. But the laser inscribing is good, IMO. If I just spend $500 on a cz, and I take it to the jeweler to be set and they swap it with a generic, I would be peeved(not that they swapped it, but because of the fact that I need to see the laser inscription to tell if the $2 cz is different from the $500 cz

)

 

[WinkHPD]

I know that Leonid does not like us to talk about CZ's on this forum, so I hope I am not out of line to respond. This will be my only post in this thread.

I have a lot of clients who love the CZ's from Interlap that I sell, and also the Asha's that I have recently also started selling. They fill a valid need in the market place and they are a quality product.

Recently Less developed a new coating that he calls his Version 5 that increases the hardness of his product even higher than earlier versions. He has gone to the added expense of having each one certificated and color graded as well as laser engraved. His clients and mine love it. Many of them are having exquisite jewelry made with the intention of replaceing the stones with diamonds when they can, and many have no intention of ever replacing the stones but rather enjoy them for what they are.

I think that there is a very real need for high quality imitations and simulants, just as there is a need for EightStars, Hearts and arrows cuts and flash for the cash cuts. No one product is the right product for every one, but almost every product that is well made is the right product for some one.

While I would not want to offend my many diamond clients here, I would also like to ask that all of you consider that just maybe these products that you scoff at have a very real purpose and fulfill a very real need for people who are not, for what ever reason, in the market for a well cut diamond at this time. I know that I have many clients for both products, and I am very glad to offer quality products in both the genuine and the simulant fields.

Wink

 

[valeria101]

----------------
On 9/8/2004 12:37:42 AM Wink wrote:



... I would also like to ask that all of you consider that just maybe these products [...]have a very real purpose and fulfill a very real need ...
----------------

Costume jewelry is great

Without it it would be virtually impossible to realize larger designs and trendy pieces that you know that would not be just as wearable next year. As long as the pieces made with sims are dispozable trinkets or downright improbable with real gems (think dozens of carats of large gems in one piece, for ex.)... these would not compete in any way with diamond jewelry.


I'd probably start to worry about these simmulats if pieces mixing them with the real thing becomes routine.

Until then... it just feals good to write on a forum with fewer CZ.

 

[denverappraiser]

Wink or Leonid (or anyone else who knows)

Which is the correct forum for this discussion?

Neil Beaty, GG ISA
Independent Appraisals in Denver

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

It starts with D