Feeling Down About Past Jewelry Purchases re. Enhancements

[Jambalaya]

Re: Feeling Down About Past Jewelry Purchases re. Enhancemen

You want to learn more before even thinking about buying so that when you are ready, you know what you are doing.

Definitely, and learning about CSs is fun and a veritable trip around the world. You can also spend your money with experienced knowledgeable cutters like Gene Flanigan and Barry Bridgestock and Gary Braun (there are more, that's just a top of my head list) if you want to be completely safe and know what you're getting. When any of those guys describe a stone's origins and its quality, its going to be reliable and correct. The other rule of thumb is "There's a sucker born every minute." If something seems too inexpensive to be true...

My first gemstone was a spinel. If I were advising someone starting off, I'd say start with garnets or tourmaline.

Oooh, I have some pink tourmaline! Course, now I'm wondering if that's heated, diffused, glass-filled, powdered or coated, too! Bought from a reputable jeweler though.

 

[Jambalaya]

Re: Feeling Down About Past Jewelry Purchases re. Enhancemen

Macy's still sells my ring so I called them with the web ID number and they assured me it was real. But the pavilion seems to have a thin line of white, so I bet it's diffused or coated or something - not sure if that ever happens with London Blue topaz, or if all London Blue is irradiated and heated, which I'd be fine with. I'm just so suspicious of Macy's as they've had some seriously bad press about their glass-filled rubies.

Yes, it is. It's debatable whether blue topaz ever occurs naturally, and if it does, it will be the palest sky blue. London blue is most definitely heat treated. I remember a big fuss a few years ago whether blue topaz was actually radioactive from treatments. I love blue topaz, so I decided not to worry about it.

If you really want to delve into gemstone fraud, try turquoise. Even museum shops and trusted stores have been fooled.

Ennui, is London Blue topaz (LBT) ever faked from low-quality but technically "real" rough? As in, not irradiated and heated the way that normal LB is, but diffused and coated in some way to make it look like the traditionally treated LBT?

I ask because I'm sure that the pavilion on my suspicious Macy's LBT shows a thin white line when I view it from the underside. Maybe it's the light, but my amethyst ring doesn't do that. But I'm suspicious that it's not even a traditionally treated LBT made with irradiation and heat, but coated/diffused in some way so the color doesn't go all the way though. I did try scratching it with a needle on the underneath, but it didn't work. And of course Macy's can tell me nothing about the product THEY sold, except that it's not man-made topaz.

 

[ennui]

Re: Feeling Down About Past Jewelry Purchases re. Enhancemen

I can't imagine that LBT would be faked; I don't think topaz is rare. However, I have seen a lot of quartz that is treated to look like topaz; first we had "mystic" topaz, and lately I'm seeing "mystic" quartz, because quartz is cheaper. I once heard a salesperson say that "blue topaz, amethyst and citrine are all quartz," and I thought, no, blue topaz is topaz, not quartz. Surprisingly, a lot of high end designers use synthetics because of consistency; natural stones can't be controlled.

I wouldn't be too hard on Macy's; I don't think they are intentionally deceptive, especially on items that you purchased several years ago.

 

[chrono]

Re: Feeling Down About Past Jewelry Purchases re. Enhancemen

London blue is irradiated, not coated. Perhaps that is frosting from wear and tear, or poor polish?

 

[Jambalaya]

Re: Feeling Down About Past Jewelry Purchases re. Enhancemen

Thanks, Ennui and Chrono. Hopefully my Macy's ring is proper LBT, then. Regardless, I'll have to just try and enjoy it because it is beautiful.

 

[ennui]

Re: Feeling Down About Past Jewelry Purchases re. Enhancemen

I just had a thought ... maybe the thin white line indicates that your stone is a doublet. I was trying to find information about London Blue quartz (as opposed to proper London Blue topaz), and ran across an article about quartz doublets. They make "... Emerald Quartz and Sapphire Quartz above, a clear quartz gem is cut in half and then re-assembled with tinted glue. The result is a beautiful quartz gemstone that looks vibrant and colorful and is only revealed to be a doublet when immersed in water."

I hope that's not the case, but on the other hand, doublets are used by very high-end jewelers, it's just normally disclosed.

 

[Sky56]

Re: Feeling Down About Past Jewelry Purchases re. Enhancemen

It's very interesting and disheartening too to read all about gemstone treatments, fakes sold as real, metals marked 14K, 18K, or 925 which are just plated base metals. Read about B jade, polymer-treated turquoise, fake amethyst and citrine, glass-filled rubies, "925" Mexican "silver" and on and on.
What bothers me most is non-disclosure, people being duped and ripped off. I don't see treatments, synthetics, fakes etc. as bad in themselves rather them being sold without full disclosure. I love collecting jewelry but it gives me a very bad feeling, thinking about the unscrupulous rip-off artists which are all too common. Also making legit vendors cringe.
Please don't feel bad...if you collect long enough, there's a good chance you've been ripped off a few times, especially before you've gained education. I bought a ring that several jewelers said was an amazing fake, they thought it was real, a plain gold textured band marked 750 with several English hallmarks, turned out to be plated brass, the dealer called me a liar, I was a long-term customer, and I never went back, he lost a lot of future sales having only refunded half my money, I lost $200.
My mother collected a lot of fine antique jewelry, she wore it with pride. After her death, the jewelry needed to be appraised for estate purposes - her prized Victorian gold chain with pearls and emeralds - the emeralds turned out to be fakes (green glass) and several of her gold antique pendants were really gold-filled, and she paid very high prices for them from New York antique dealers. I've rarely been duped but it has happened a few times- surely you are not alone. I always carry a loupe and looked for GF and other markings but that "gold" band really fooled me as well as crap jade sold as natural. I think the dealer who sold me the gold ring was duped also - he bought it from a dealer who told him it was real, but the way he treated me was awful, had he behaved honorably such as giving a full refund, it would have been forgivable. I understand how you feel, it's not right they didn't tell you the necklace was lab opal, they used an acronym on the receipt instead of telling you clearly, but you say the piece is beautiful, so if you enjoy wearing it, that is good.

 

[ennui]

Re: Feeling Down About Past Jewelry Purchases re. Enhancemen

There are a lot of faked hallmarks out there. Anyone can buy a metal stamp (try Amazon). A lot of vendors don't know about the fraud because they didn't manufacture the jewelry. So, lots of things can happen along the supply chain.

Mexican silver can be 925, or it can be nickel silver or alpaca silver (which is only silver-colored).

 

[Sky56]

Re: Feeling Down About Past Jewelry Purchases re. Enhancemen

^That's true.

About Mexican silver - I own several nice pieces which are vintage - beefy, well-made silver jewelry with great inlay workmanship. It's marked 925, Mexico and Taxco.

In Puerto Vallarta, Cozumel, etc. there are many large stores full of flimsy, expensive "silver jewelry" near the cruise ship ports - everything is stamped 925, with no stamps 'Mexico' or the Mexican state of origin as required by Mexican law.

Nothing is sterling as presented and I've seen many tourists drop a lot of money on fakes. They go home, some have it tested and the only silver in it is a thin plating. I've never seen deception practiced before on such a large, blatant scale. When I was on vacation...By discreetly whispering in a few Americans' ears, I saved a lot of heartache.