A New Source to Consider; Mine Direct

[iLander]

I don't know about you, but I am always looking for new websites to browse through, so I thought I'd post about my experiences with Blaze Wharton.

I found Blaze n Gems mentioned on Jerry's (Gemart Services) website. Apparently, Jerry cut a ginourmous sapphire that was found at the Eldorado Bar Mine, which Blaze owns. http://www.gemartservices.com/newstuff.htm (the sapphire at the top)

So, I thought I'd check out the website, and I found a sapphire which I liked http://blazengems.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=21&products_id=589

I received it, but it was a bit paler than it looked on the website. It does have the star mentioned on the site, but it is a tiny star. I asked specifically about the star before they sent it and they described it very well by email. I returned the stone because of the color, and Blaze and his wife were very courteous and refunded my money the day they got the package.

So, not a completely successful transaction, but I thought they were very nice, completely honest in their description, and responsive. He has a couple of rubies on his site, and he does disclose the treatments. His prices are pretty decent. He has some rough, and if you want to take a shot at "creating" a stone, you can ask Jerry about cutting it for you. I don't think Jerry cuts many of Blaze's stones, but I do think Blaze uses Jerry for the special projects.

If I were to do it again, I would ask for a couple of extra pics, and ask them to compare the color to the web picture. Which, as we all know, is what we are supposed to do with all our vendors, but I forgot to ask about color.

So, for what it's worth, thought I'd pass it along: http://blazengems.com/store/

 

[VapidLapid]

I see he is selling 5 acres in Ennis on that site also. Back in the 1970s when I was 17 I worked on a cattle ranch in the Madison River valley just south of Ennis. extraordinary country there. Can't really imagine a plot under 2000 acres though, I have heard that in the post 1980s yuppie boom and sprawl everything was being subdivided up into 20 acre lots. The view from the ranch encompassed easily 2 million acres. way in the distance on the other side of the valley one could almost make out an old talc mine's footprint. The sky is quite larger than one is lead to believe from the moniker Big Sky Country. Nor does the expanse of the land diminish under that big sky. I hate to think what all the subdividing is doing to the experience of the land, but I imagine it will bring a sadness much like what I get driving down Round Hill rd now.
Thanks for bringing the site back to our attention. I was intrigued when I came across it the same as you did, and am curious to try a rough from them.

 

[JewelFreak]

Glad to hear of your experience, iLander, thanks for posting. I found the site some time ago through Jerry's & check it out occasionally but have not bought anything yet.

+1, VL. Sadness due to all development. My sister lives in Durango CO & just outside town, a beautiful valley carpeted in glorious green & wildflowers was for centuries home to a huge herd of elk, just noble & beautifully graceful. It's now a hospital complex. Nearly criminal to me. And if you're talking about the Round Hill I know, it is very saddening. Ditto North St., where we used to live in the back country. Their zoning was stricter until the past several years but with developers dominating town boards and the green of money brighter than that of nature & space, nowhere is saved. I now see magnificient rural North Carolina sprouting endless strip malls, townhouses, cookie-cutter tracts & shake my head in mystification & sorrow.

--- Laurie

 

[VapidLapid]

JF, we must have been neighbors.

 

[JewelFreak]

Well dang, VL, wish we'd known it! We could've played with gems all day.

--- Laurie

 

[iLander]

Okay, that's pretty weird VL and JF. . .

 

[VapidLapid]

I was class of '79, Bella house
Sherwood, off riversville