3 essential rules of buying gems

Date: 10/10/2009 8:08:44 AM
Author: morecarats
Generally good advice from Edward. I hope he doesn't mind if I add two points:

2. Certification -- This should be included in anyone's list of 'essential rules of buying gems.' Even well-intentioned dealers can misdentify gems. Insist on certification from a recognized independent gemological lab before you take delivery of any gemstone, and beware of dealers who issue their own certificates. Even if gemstones are not guaranteed to make your life meanngful, there is some objective truth about what you're buying.

Date: 10/10/2009 10:43:26 AM
Author: PrecisionGem




You have to think about the cost of the cert, compared to the cost of the stone. You can pay more for the cert than the stone.

Date: 10/10/2009 4:36:24 PM
Author: Richard W. Wise
All,

Great suggestions, but may I suggest a good golden rule of gem buying?


'If you don't know the product, make sure you know who you are doing business with.'


There are many ways to cheat the uninitiated and they can't all be covered with a certificate and labs also make mistakes. There is no substitute for integrity. In fact, certificates are important for important gems but no one is going to get a lab certificate on a 5mm amethyst, but, in general, I agree.

Date: 10/11/2009 1:14:58 PM
Author: movie zombie
education Education EDUCATION

just like when buying diamonds......i can't say it enough. if one wants quality, one has to know what quality is in the first place.

education Education EDUCATION

mz

Date: 10/12/2009 11:25:10 AM
Author: movie zombie
more, you reinforced my education Education EDUCATION.

knowing what is the market standard and knowing what pleases your eye=education.
knowing who gives the best value for $ with certification=education
knowing that you might get a price break if your eye perfers a color not the market standard=education
native cut v. precision cut=education
moh and whether or not a stone is appropriate for a ring or better set as a pendant=education
what is a window=education
why i should not buy a stone with a lot of extinctin=education
i could go on but i won't!

yes, the world of color is different than diamond and i prefer the color world. it is a much harder world in which to become educated re the ins and outs of what constitutes a fine stone.

in order to make that budgetary decision and what tradeoffs i'm williing to make, i need to be educated first.

a good place to start is with Richard Wise's book. there are others also. and a lot of info on line as well.

however, there is amethyst, there is Amethyst, and then there is AMETHYST. yes, buy what your eye prefers, but get educated re the stone of choice first BEFORE buying. one wants the best value for $ spend, just like with diamonds and, again, that means getting educated.

in the end it still comes down to what pleases each individual: but how do you know unless you have a frame of reference? the world of color is for the adventurous. visit a lot of jewelry stores and you won't find a lot of loose stones to examine. but they are there. look at their color stone rings. in my case, however, i find i know more than the store personnel.......sigh. but i like to look anyway just to see what is out there and to keep myself aware so that when i do spot something that pleases my eye, i know what i'm getting if i decide to plunk down the $.

buying from individuals that you know and trust with a credit card and then sitting back and enjoying your color stone is indeed the way to go. after getting educated, Educated, EDUCATED.

mz

Date: 10/10/2009 9:07:25 PM
Author: morecarats


I know certification can be expensive, especially from the likes of GIA. But there has been a recent trend by some labs to offer identification reports at very reasonable prices. In our own business, for example, we offer the AIGS 'Brief Report' to our customers at a cost of $20.00. Many customers are willing to pay that modest price, even for an inexpensive amethyst. It's a small price to pay for peace of mind. When you consider how much synthetic quartz is in the market, for example, lab certifcation is your only assurance that you're getting a natural stone.

Date: 10/12/2009 8:49:25 PM
Author: PrecisionGem



I don't think the $20 or $25 certs will separate lab created amethyst from natural. I know they won't with sapphire, you need to go to the next level, which is normally around $185 in the US.

Trusting your source is a good insurance too. As a cutter, there is a big difference in natural quartz, and lab created that comes in a nice bar. So buying from a trusted source as Richard pointed out is the thing to do. A known source is not going to his or her reputation on the line selling misrepresented goods. As a customer wanting a cert, you can always have one done, with the understanding that if the stone comes back not as represented a refund is due for the stone and the cost of the cert. Any dealer who has a cert done with each stone is going to include the price of the cert, plus shiping back and forth from the lab into the price anyway, so either way you end up paying for it.

Date: 10/12/2009 5:21:18 PM
Author: LovingDiamonds


Excellent post and I wholeheartedly agree.

Morecarats - you say that all the good gemstone dealers state enhancements. I beg to differ. Especially when gems are set in jewellery you need to ask. Not everybody buys loose gemstones. If you don't understand treatments in the first place, you're ignorant about the questions to ask. Placing your faith in the printed word is not sensible.

Date: 10/10/2009 4:36:24 PM
Author: Richard W. Wise
All,

Great suggestions, but may I suggest a good golden rule of gem buying?


'If you don't know the product, make sure you know who you are doing business with.'


There are many ways to cheat the uninitiated and they can't all be covered with a certificate and labs also make mistakes. There is no substitute for integrity. In fact, certificates are important for important gems but no one is going to get a lab certificate on a 5mm amethyst, but, in general, I agree.

Date: 10/10/2009 1:53:07 PM
Author: mastercutgems
... especially with us cutters; most of us have spent say $8K on test equipment to make sure what we buy even in the rough is what it is supposed to be; who wants to spend 4 hours of their time cutting a synthetic??? not me...

Date: 10/13/2009 8:50:19 AM
Author: morecarats



The disclosure issue is not really an issue about good vs. not-so-good gemstone or jewelry sellers. If you're in the United States, it's a matter of law. The Federal Trade Commission has clear guidelines about what counts as proper disclosure. As many people here have mentioned, you need to be an educated consumer and familiarlity with the FTC regulations is important. You can read the FTC guidelines here:

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/guides/jewel-gd.shtm

As a number of posters on PS have pointed out, sales staff in your average jewelry store often know surprisingly little about colored gemstones (their main job is to move diamonds). So the onus is really on the retailer to follow the FTC guidelines and state clearly whether a gemstone is natural or synthetic, and how it has been treated. If you don't get a statement in writing, you really have no protection as a consumer.

Date: 10/15/2009 2:14:28 PM
Author: mastercutgems
Why yes... as I know many cutters still cut synthetics; they like it as it is cheap and they have fun with it. They can also practise unusual cuts they have done in gemcad and other software gem and light or ray tracing programs. That way if the cutting diagram goes a-rye you will not be wasting precious material... Not all cutters cut for profit; they cut for their personal collections.

I know some 18 years ago when I first got into it; I bought a parcel of aquamarine at a gem show. They were all frosty alluvial pieces of rough; water worn; unfortunately one that was really pretty turned out to be a old coke bottle that someone had broken and put in a tumbler. It was a permanent reminder to buy a Refractometer and use it on a regular basis. But back then 500 dollars bought a lot of rough. And a lot more glass Luckily there was only one piece of glass; but unfortunately that was the prettiest piece in the lot...
But it can and will happen; oh the stories I could tell...

But it will only take one time for you to learn your lesson and will teach you to test, test, test...