$2484.01 for a BOOK? WTF!?!

[kenny]

http://www.amazon.com/Collecting-Classifying-Coloured-Diamonds-Illustrated/dp/0965941019?tag=vglnk-c2386-20


I paid 2 or 3 hundred a couple years ago for this book, and I felt like a sucker back then.
A couple days ago this book was listed at $1850.

What the hail is going on?
Is all this recent publicity about FCDs selling for record prices at auction creating some stampede?

Maybe I should sell my copy and retire.

 

[Treenbean]

super expensive books!

The Hofer book is still available in some places for a few hundred dollars. http://gemstone.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=52&Itemid=110

 

[kenny]

Thanks so much Treebean.
I learned something.

I thought Amazon scoured the net for the best prices.

Clearly NOT!

 

[Treenbean]

No prob. Do you have the Aurora Collection? It is something I could afford but I don't want to buy it if it's not good.

 

[kefira]

The book may be a victim of this issue.

 

[JewelFreak]

Hilarious! But even for $106, why would anybody want a book on how to make a fly?

 

[kenny]

No prob. Do you have the Aurora Collection? It is something I could afford but I don't want to buy it if it's not good.

I don't have the Aurora Collection.
It's valued in the tens of millions, but I do have the book in question.
And yes it is VERY good and if you have interest in FCDs I consider it a must-buy, though not at $2500.

BTW there are two books published by Ashland Press and authored By Hofer.
The first one, published 1998, is the 9-pound scholarly tome in question.
The second is much thinner and published in 2000 and is coauthored by Alan Bronstein, the owner (or co owner) of the rocks.
The title is Forever Brilliant, The Aurora Collection of Colored Diamonds,
Amazon has used copies starting at $14.91.

They both contain the exact same 64-pg catalog of every one of the 260 FCDs in the collection.
The smaller book contains only 20 pages in addition to the catalog offering a very small taste of anything technical, but is a delightful and affordable coffee table book that will serve to expose the public to the wide range of colored diamonds, but go no deeper.

Now, what's a Kenny thread without some Kenny pics?
The last pic shows how the catalog pages themselves are identical.

 

[kenny]

BTW, the Aurora collection and the sister collection the Butterfly of Peace are in danger of being busted up and sold off piece by piece.
One of the co-owners recently died and of course the heirs want money instead of a miracle of nature that tours museums.

Sad.

http://roskingemnewsreport.com/the-aurora-collection-on-trial-2

 

[chrono]

Goodness gracious! This is the case of the seller doing this just because they can. I was sopping for a particular import music CD and I was able to buy a brand new CD direct from Japan for $35 but Amazon was selling a USED copy for $79!

In any case, back to the topic. Does anybody know the potential value / cost of that tray of FCDs?

 

[kenny]

Goodness gracious! This is the case of the seller doing this just because they can. I was sopping for a particular import music CD and I was able to buy a brand new CD direct from Japan for $35 but Amazon was selling a USED copy for $79!

In any case, back to the topic. Does anybody know the potential value / cost of that tray of FCDs?

This link mentions one opinion is over $14 million bucks.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/31/arts/court-battle-over-aurora-pyramid-of-hope-diamonds.html?_r=2

Interesting, this link says there are 295 FCDs but the two books only mention 260, so the collection must have grown since publication of the books.
It also would not surprise me if some of the original 260 were replaced with finer examples of that color.
Even I try to do that.

 

[rosetta]

Oh man I love the aurora collection. And have been privileged to see it* several times


*I mean press my nose against the glass for half an hour watching the fluoro go on and off

 

[kenny]

Oh man I love the aurora collection. And have been privileged to see it* several times


*I mean press my nose against the glass for half an hour watching the fluoro go on and off

I'm sick that I missed my chance to see it in San Diego.

 

[rubybeth]

I thought Amazon scoured the net for the best prices. Clearly NOT!

Goodness gracious! This is the case of the seller doing this just because they can. I was sopping for a particular import music CD and I was able to buy a brand new CD direct from Japan for $35 but Amazon was selling a USED copy for $79!

As a former bookseller, I have to point out that Amazon.com is both a seller of goods and a marketplace for anyone to sell the same items used or second-hand. So Amazon.com is not setting the prices of the used items, the sellers using Amazon are (same as sellers on eBay setting their starting bids and getting a cut of the final sale price). In Kenny's and Chrono's examples, this is not Amazon.com price gouging, it is sellers assessing the market and setting a price based on what they *think* they can get. Best way to combat this? Don't buy!

 

[kenny]

Thanks Rubybeth.

What does a black magic marker mark mean that someone drew on the edge of the pages on the bottom of a book near the spine?

Isn't it a reject or something?

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

Set me loose with that cash and I will buy jewelry and not a book. To each his own.