GemsNY.com Reviews

[Snwboarder159]

Hello,

I've spent the past couple months researching various stones as I am planning to propose in about a month. During all my research I came across this site and found some threads very useful, but also thought much was lacking. One thing I would have really liked to see were more reviews of Colored Stone retailers. I did find a thread listing many sites, though I really disliked most of the sites and they also lacked a very large selection. I eventually came across GemsNY.com either by this site or Google...don't remember...but as I could not find many decent threads on this retailer I thought I would start one.

I hope people will find my review along with those others hopefully post helpful. Please share your experiences if you've purchased from this store.

I was looking for a Ruby, Emerald, or Sapphire and out of all the sites I found, GemsNY was the best.

The Good:
They offered the widest selection, most comprehensive sorting/filtering, the most certification reports, and best overall photos. I also liked their 30 day return policy.

The Bad:
The "Discount" prices seem a little too discounted to be real. I highly doubt the appraisal is accurate, but it is sufficient to insure the stone against theft, lost, etc.

My Stone and Experience:
I ended up purchasing a Round 1.99 ct, Vivid Blue, FL, Brilliant Cut, Ceylon Sapphire (Untreated!). Price was $4,477.50 (est. at $13,500). I called the store and spoke to one of their gemologists and he answered all my questions and even pulled out the stone to look at it for me. He explained this was as flawless as a sapphire will generally get with only a few very tiny, very difficult to see inclusions under 10x. He also said there was zero zoning (which I was very concerned about). The gemologist said the stone was very well cut and had an excellent brilliance and noted the Culet came to nice point and was not cut off. Overall the stone was very symmetrical in its cut.

https://www.gemsny.com/sapphires/1.99-Carat-Round-Sapphire-SU57DRD/

I should also mention that the photo on their site was a little darker than the stone turned out to be, but was still a beautiful blue.

I found all of the information to be true and they even provided certifications from both GIA and UGL. I have to say that overall I am very satisfied with the quality of the stone and the price. Even though I highly doubt the actual discount, I do believe it is a very good price for the stone. I have seen far worse stones for not much less money. I would upload a picture of the stone, but it is currently with Green Lake Jewelry getting set into a custom ring.


I hope this review was helpful!

- Bryan

 

[chrono]

Welcome and thank you for your review. I hope you don't mind that my opinion is different from yours.

Gemstones aren't like diamonds; to get a fine quality stone within a month means either overpaying or sacrificing another C like colour, size, cut or treatment.

I've sorted through umpteen pages of GemsNY sapphires and found almost all of them to be lacking in both cut, clarity and colour. What is described as vivid appears grayish blue on my monitor. Gemstone clarity grading only requires that the stone be eye clean. There should not be a huge premium for a flawless stone because that is not the standard. It might be so for diamonds though some will disagree on that point too. A UGL memo isn't worth the paper it is printed on but the GIA memo is sufficient. AGL is the top lab for coloured gemstones.

 

[VapidLapid]

I would like to add further that GemsNY are retailers, so the retail price is what you paid, $4,477.50 and the $13,500 price they say is the retail value is nothing but a bit of fictional window dressing. I see gray, zoning, a window and a blunt culet. Now there is really nothing wrong per se with a blunty culet, old mine cut diamonds have lovely culets that are even parallel to the table they are so blunt. What is meaningless is pointing out that the culet is pointy. That and the fictional discount are enough to make me suspicious of any seller. GeoPolitics is making gem rough scarcer these days than it would be otherwise , and the bad economy is blocking most new mining efforts. Talented lapidaries have to scrounge for months to find suitable rough, which is why you will find not much on hand when you look at their websites. Most of their inventory is not listed anyway. It is best to contact them and ask if they have anything that that will cut to match your wants. As good rough is very limited, I am extra suspicious of "discount retailers" that have extensive inventory for you to look at online. If the stone you linked to is the one you purchased I must say it looks to be pricey for what it is, and if you already bought it and it is on its way to Green Lake why are they still offering it for sale? Perhaps that is the trick to the bounteous extent of their wares.

 

[minousbijoux]

Thank you Chrono and VL for saying what I was thinking. That is by no means a vivid sapphire and certainly does seem to have grey in it, even more visible in the picture on the GIA report. The price is a retail price and seems high for the size and quality of the stone. I do think there are some retail vendors on the sticky thread at the top of this page, like Swala, AJS, Africagems, and Pala that have a fairly extensive inventory as well. All in all, whether the OP meant to or not, it reads as shilling.

 

[ChrisA222]

Snowboarder..Im sorry that we are sort of raining on your parade. I guess my question to you is..why didn't you take a minute to post the stone and the info to the board and ask before committing? Then, you would have gotten this before it was too late to do anything about it.

Others have mentioned the negatives they see. The one that bugs me is the step-cut style. Step cuts, at least to my knowlege, are used to either increase weight, or amp up color of the stone. If the stone was cut for brilliance, which should have been the case if it had 'vivid color' it would be a brilliant cut, with nice sharp facets. That is what is going to give you briliancy and sparkle.

I also see grey in the stone and the zoning is pretty obvious in the vendor pic.

I guess the vets here dont care for this type of vendor who is trying to give value to things such as clarity under a loupe, which is meaningless in a colored stone. Also, no vendor should be saying 'vivid' as that is their opinion, it has not been color graded by an independant. To get a vivid stone, it would have to be..well, vivid. Look at the color of your stone and look at this picture that Ive attached. This is a pic of what I would consider a vivid stone.

Lastly, congrats on your engagement and I feel bad that we are the bearer of bad news. Just keep in mind that this is a gem-enthusiast site, and what we see may not be seen by somoene who isn't 'into' gemstones. Good luck!

 

[GregS]

Like another has noted... The OP seems like they're shilling.

I must say though, that I ordered an approximately 3/4 ct. yellow sapphire from GemsNY a while back, it was a couple hundred dollars and they claimed it was untreated, eye clean and the color appeared very nice. The stone that arrived was as advertised. I find their inflated UGL appraisals to be unsavory to say the least so I steer clear of any of their high dollar stuff.

 

[Snwboarder159]

...why are they still offering it for sale?

VapidLapid,

They do not offer it for sale any longer. I had to go into my purchase history to find a link to the page I posted. If you search their site you will not find it available.

 

[chrono]

Snowboarder,
I just used your link to the sapphire on GemsNY and am able to buy it should I choose to do so (add to my shopping cart) with a ship date of September 12.

 

[Snwboarder159]

That's strange. I get an error saying my cart is empty.

 

[Snwboarder159]

Everyone,

Thank you for your responses. I do appreciate the feedback. I was really just hoping to hear from people who had purchased from GemsNY and their experiences, not a review on my specific purchase. But thank you anyway.

Although I am well aware this is not a perfect stone, I have to say it was the best for the size, quality and price I was looking for. As to the other sites people recommended, I have to say that I could not find anything that was even remotely close to the stone I purchased from GemsNY (given all the criteria I was looking for). I even found a thread here that listed at least 15 sites that people from PC liked and went through every last one and still found GemsNY to have the best overall selection. It sounds like just about all of you will disagree with me, but that is my opinion. From the few snippets I could find about GemsNY, people generally had a good experience with them too.
For comparison, AJSGem.com offers a 2.10ct, almost loupe clean, step cut, unheated sapphire for $5,250. http://www.ajsgem.com/sapphire/blue-sapphire/blue-sapphire-2.10-carats.html I think it potentially could be a darker blue than what I received, but it appears to have zoning as well based on my very amateur opinion. As far as price goes, I think this is just as "pricey" as what I received.

That being said, this stone is NOT perfect, but it actually is quite nice in person. The photo on my monitor appears to be a fairly deep blue, no gray-ish coloring, but possible zoning. Though as I mentioned, it is a little lighter in person than in the photo, but it is a nice blue color. I am not sure if I even noticed any gray-ish tones to it either, but I am certainly no expert, and the same goes for the zoning. Overall I thought it had a very nice brilliance to it; it does really shine nicely. All of your points is exactly why purchasing any stone online is extremely difficult...as I would hope you all would agree. I called GemsNY and spoke with one of their gemologists and he answered all my questions to my satisfaction and seemed to be very genuine. All I can say is that I am very happy with my purchase and would recommend GemsNY to anyone looking to purchase.

As to the "appraisal," it is obviously inflated and it had no bearing whatsoever on my decision nor should it for anyone buying from GemsNY.

And as to the price for my stone being high, I have to say that for all my research it was very comparable. Especially for an unheated/untreated sapphire.

To address some of the other points people brought up, this stone is NOT perfect! (I've said this many times now ) But when dealing with colored stones, what is? I had to make sacrifices, but what was most important to me was a stone as close to flawless as I could get, a nice symmetrical cut, brilliant cut (or close to), a nice blue color with little to no zoning. Having a fairly pointed culet which was centered with the table was important to me as well given the setting I am having made. Whether you agree with my criteria or not, it was still my criteria.

I have read through this site and the best piece of advise I found was that if you receive the stone and love it, then it's perfect for you. Everyone's opinions are different, but I feel that I received a very nice stone for a reasonable price and ultimately I do not feel I was mislead by GemsNY either.


Thank you,
Bryan

 

[gongli]

first row, center stone. cut by gulij, famous award winning cutter

http://www.gemfix.com/sapphire_blue.html

also last on 3rd row, and a cushion further down.

 

[VapidLapid]

Thanks for mentioning those Gongli. When I first read this post and saw our list of recommended vendors glibly dissed as not having the goods while in the same breath touting GemsNY as an upstanding vendor of quality wares at fair prices with selection to satisfy all wants, I was naturally insulted. Our recommended vendors are well vetted by some tough critics and maintained up to date. The first thing I did was to look at some of our vendors for stones that met the OP's criteria, which he said he had done with all our vendors and found nothing. Within one minute I had found two untreated sapphires at gemfix that exceeded the OP's criteria, were precision cut, came with agl reports and were significantly less costly. That and the gushing review of the phone rep's service, ease of use website and the quality of the wares in comparison to our vetted, recommended vendors made me think this was a simple shilling thread. Especially considering that it is the OP's first and only thread. But regardless of intent, opening with a blanket insult and holding up a mediocre retailer as a paragon of the gemstone world is not going to endear a new member to the community.
Snwboarder159, I am glad you like your stone, that is awfully important, especially at the price you paid. This forum functions better to help people like yourself before they buy. If you only want to be patted and congratulated on your wise purchase that is fine, we cam tell you what you want to hear, but please don't come in insulting the board, and then be surprised if we tell you what we really think.

 

[minousbijoux]

Thanks for mentioning those Gongli. When I first read this post and saw our list of recommended vendors glibly dissed as not having the goods while in the same breath touting GemsNY as an upstanding vendor of quality wares at fair prices with selection to satisfy all wants, I was naturally insulted. Our recommended vendors are well vetted by some tough critics and maintained up to date. The first thing I did was to look at some of our vendors for stones that met the OP's criteria, which he said he had done with all our vendors and found nothing. Within one minute I had found two untreated sapphires at gemfix that exceeded the OP's criteria, were precision cut, came with agl reports and were significantly less costly. That and the gushing review of the phone rep's service, ease of use website and the quality of the wares in comparison to our vetted, recommended vendors made me think this was a simple shilling thread. Especially considering that it is the OP's first and only thread. But regardless of intent, opening with a blanket insult and holding up a mediocre retailer as a paragon of the gemstone world is not going to endear a new member to the community.
Snwboarder159, I am glad you like your stone, that is awfully important, especially at the price you paid. This forum functions better to help people like yourself before they buy. If you only want to be patted and congratulated on your wise purchase that is fine, we cam tell you what you want to hear, but please don't come in insulting the board, and then be surprised if we tell you what we really think.

Well said, VL. I couldn't have said it any better. I would feel sorry for the OP if I actually thought he was real.

 

[corundum_conundrum]

I was looking for a Ruby, Emerald, or Sapphire and out of all the sites I found, GemsNY was the best.

Huh, That's a a lot of variety to look for in an engagement ring, and runs a gamut of colors. Interesting that you were so open to so many different options. I think people as flexible as you might want to peruse the recommended lapidaries websites on the sticky and allow themselves to be inspired by a stone, since they have no preconceived notions as to what color or even what stone they want. There are beautiful stone varieties one might not have even considered yet! I am glad you found a lovely stone that inspired you on GemNY, and although you paid a premium, if you found what you were after I'm sure it was worth it and I hope you fiance is very happy as well. Congratulations!

In my experience looking for a yellow sapphire engagement ring, I did come across gemsny. They have a deceptively large selection of unheated yellow sapphires. I call it deceptive because of the many stones in there inventory, only a few are of top quality. So while it may seem like you have more options there than at other sites, other sites actually have a greater proportion of top quality stones. That's not to say gemsny might not be one option among many, but to really get to see some variety of quality stones, one will have to visit a variety of sites. My $0.02

 

[rubymd]

I found pricescope while looking for a ruby ring. I was considering a ring from GemsNY and was advised against it for similar reasons (you can look at my back threads). I found everyone here VERY helpful while I searched. In the end after looking at stones from PS venders I got a completed ring from a local shop that I love the stone for. I don't think that the GemsNY would have been at the same quality. For the OP lad if you found the stone you wanted but I don't understand why your first post seemed to be putting down the PS venders.
For me I am so excited that I found exactly what I wanted in person. But I do know if I hadn't one those venders would have been able to help me find it.

 

[emyso]

I'm new here, but I have to say I found this thread incredibly helpful as I've been browsing gemsny.com. I'll do a lot more researching and posting before I buy but I think this is a great thread for the inexperienced consumer to know what vendors think and to be helped through the process.

 

[prof_of_engineering_and_mother_of_two]

It is interesting to read so many positive comments about Gemsny at sitejabber.com, but much greater expertise at this website. Thank you, PriceScope!
At sitejabber.com, everyone loves Gemsny's service, low prices, & pretty rings. But I don't think any of those 34 people posting to date is a jeweler or has sought an outside, expert opinion on the rings purchased. Perhaps many are specially solicited or otherwise suspect responses? I do really like the selection & the phone service I've received, but I've quickly come upon some very serious criticisms of the rings themselves.
In my case, I received a very pretty 2.3 ctw "ruby" (which I'm now told may be mostly filled, to create an amalgam that won't survive well under normal jeweler cleaning techniques) for about $400 & a band that was supposed to be 3 mm wide (with little diamonds channel set) for about $350.
The ruby was too big for me, I'm afraid (my fault for ordering one that size [but the price was right!]); the way it was cut, placed & sized made it a real scratch/tear hazard on skin & fabric. And the band was clearly not going to last many years (it would kink at the back, where it narrows, from every-day wearing). The photos online & in the appraisal did not match the actual ring; the actual band width was clearly insufficient.
While on the phone, discussing a replacement to fix these two issues, the nice Gemsny agent told me what the sizes of the stone & band were labeled as, and my quick checks with a ruler showed them all to be lacking. So, before sending it back, I had a jeweler measure everything with an digital caliper, and every advertised dimension (other than finger size, which was fine) was about 0.5 mm biased high on their website (& in the clearly inflated appraisal). The 3rd-party jeweler (not from a chain, but a small local store that came highly recommended) suggested that one should not pay more than $50 for the stone and $300 for the entire ring. He said that the stone's holder/stting was not the proper shape for its connection to the band, and whoever glued it there (rather than soldered, which is the standard) did the job of "a middle-school student in ring-shop class" (!). He also recommended that one use a lab-grown/synthetic ruby instead (for durability) & certainly size up the band, and still stay under $800 for an essentially custom-made ring (but with 10 kt gold, rather than 14 kt that Gemsny claims to be using).
I wonder: does anyone else see these issues in Gemsny rings? I imagine most dimensions are over-stated at their website. Do most jewelers purposefully over-report all dimensions (using biased calipers?), and is there any group that can help Gemsny correct their mistakes, and protect the consumer? Or is online consumer reporting the best one can do? I imagine they'll still sell nearly the same number of rings (though people will have 2nd & 3rd thoughts about the stones if they explain that "filled" means a relatively fragile stone), but at least they won't be purposefully misleading.
Looking forward to your suggestions on how to end the serious biases seemingly apparent in Gemsny appraisals & advertised dimensions!

 

[chrono]

PoE and Mo2,
I am sorry about your poor experience at GemsNY. In general, when the price is low for something pretty, something has to give, so it means that either the stone is highly treated or the quality somewhere has been sacrificed. I disagree with your local jeweller that synthetic rubies are the way to go though. You should be able to get a natural but diffused ruby that is just as durable if on a very tight budget. There is a "loose padparadscha definition" thread in CS discussing the lack of power by the FTC so I'm afraid there is little we can do to protect ourselves other than doing due diligence prior to purchase.

 

[LD]

You asked why there isn't a review of vendors, well it's because of the following:-

Diamonds are very easy to buy because there is set criteria that anybody with a small amount of research can familiarise themselves with. It's therefore incredibly easy to compare diamond vendors.

Coloured gemstones are much rarer than diamonds so if you approach it like a diamond shopping trip, you will look at the vendor list and think it's lacking. It's not! The list is representative of the market. Of course there are way more vendors than we've listed BUT typically they don't have the quality/cost that we on this forum look for. Our speciality in collecting/buying gemstones is to find the best gemstone at the best price and understanding all the variables.

Coloured gemstones are absolutely/utterly different. Learning about sapphires (for example) doesn't equip you to then buy an Emerald as they are not the same and the buying criteria is not the same, they are valued differently, have different treatments etc and this is just an example of two gemstones. There are hundreds of different gemstones not just one species.

GemsNY is not a vendor that is commonly recommended by us because their inventory typically doesn't represent great quality or great price. There are of course exceptions.

So, we look for individual stones - we do not look for vendors. A great vendor may have a higher than average number of great stones but they could be hideously expensive. Then you could have another vendor who typically has one or two nice stones but the rest are average or less. The variables are huge. However the ones in the list we have provided give a good starting point to those who are generally reliable and on the whole have a good selection.

I'm glad you have found a sapphire you're happy with but it's a bit of a surprise that you come onto a consumer forum and tell us that it's lacking and that you would like to see X, Y, Z etc. Perhaps if you stick around for a bit longer you'll understand the differences and then appreciate the information that IS here! If you ever want to buy a decent sapphire, all you have to do is give us your preferences, a budget and there are lots of knowledgeable people who will try to help.

As for GemsNY? I won't be recommending them.