Have you purchased anything from Forevergemstones?

[innerkitten]

I noticed they were having a sale. I don''t know much about them though.

 

[T L]

I purchased a Mozambique cuprian tourmaline (advertised as Paraiba on his website). The color was much lighter than expected and in the picture, and I felt I overpaid big time. I returned it, and he refunded me the money without hassle.

 

[innerkitten]

Interesting. So it didn''t look exactly like the photo when you received it (as far as color)?

 

[T L]

Date: 2/22/2009 12:32:06 PM
Author: innerkitten
Interesting. So it didn't look exactly like the photo when you received it (as far as color)?

In the picture, it looked like a bright, albeit medium light saturated neon blue/green. It had distinctive color in the photo. When I got it, it was almost colorless (picture a pale blue aqua color), and I did check it out in a variety of light sources. It did come with a GIT memo indicating it was natural elbaite tourmaline with copper. I immediately told him that same day that I wanted a refund. My experience might have been just one incident. If people had positive experiences, I would like to hear about them. He does seem to have a nice selection, but I haven't purchased anything since. Maybe I should give him another chance.

 

[Babyblue033]

I''ve only bought a few very inexpensive blue topaz from them and was pretty happy with them.

 

[chrono]

There''s something about their photography that strikes me as tampered. The colours don''t look right.
That said, I''ve never purchased anything from them because of that.

 

[MonkeyPie]

I do think the pictures are a bit color enhanced - in some of them, they overdid it and the colors got blown out, turning highlights white and "blocky". That doesn''t mean the colors are incorrect, just that they tried to make them pop more, and failed at doing it correctly.

For smaller, cheap gems it would probably be fine, but if you are looking to buy something expensive, I''d ask for more pictures.

 

[platinumrock]

I can''t say that I have.

 

[icekid]

I have (a merelani mint garnet) and would not repeat the experience. I asked many, many explicit questions regarding extinction/windowing and they either did not know what they were talking about, or straight up lied. I was quite disappointed. However, they refunded my money promptly.

 

[Gailey]

Yes

A couple of weeks ago I purchased 2 pairs of 4 mm round imperial topaz. It was a smooth cross border transaction, they arrived within a few days and I am pleased with them, albeit they are a bit small. Not that I was expecting them to be larger, the price was really quite cheap, which is part of the reason that I went with someone I hadn`t purchased from before.

I had quite a long conversation with Marty. He seems like a decent sort of chap. He freely admitted he didn`t cut the stones and is merely a re-seller, which is perhaps why he didn`t appear to be as learned as some of our lapidarists and what we have come to expect. But I don`t think he mis-represented the stones. I also thought that his pictures were quite accurate. I will post his pictures and when I get my camera back from my son, I will post some of my own shots so that you can compare.

Would I part with a king`s ransom for one of his stones? Probably not, but not because of his lack of knowledge or his pictures.

 

[Gailey]

Here`s the second pair. I do notice that the backgrounds are different, which is always a bit of a giveaway, but I have been more disappointed with colour not being accurate in other stones that I have bought and paid considerably more money for.

 

[T L]

Those are very pretty in the pictures Gailey.

 

[platinumrock]

Gailey, those imperial topazes have such a nice peachy/salmony color! Gorgeous!!!

 

[chrono]

Are those 2 his pictures? I can''t wait to see your pictures to compare.

 

[innerkitten]

Those are really nice.

 

[Gailey]

Thanks folks!

They are the vendor pics. I tell you they sparkle like little super novas, really bright. I`ll try with my SLR tomorrow, but it`s not very good at focussing indoors. My son has my point and shoot, goodness knows when I will see it again.

Now if anyone spots a matching pair of imperial topaz pears that would help this earring project, please point me in the right direction!