Have you purchased from D&J Rare Gems?

[Indylady]

I'd love to hear reviews. Thanks in advance!

 

[mariedtiger]

I found them to be okay. Sufficient communication, accurate pictures. The stone was not quite as fantastic as the sales text implied, but then that is just marketing, right? I think if you look more at the price and picture with the sense of you get what you pay for, you will have a good idea of what you will receive. I think I'm just spoiled by the wonderful cutters that we all know and their generous sharing of knowledge and pros&cons of their stones, so don't mind if I sound just a tad crabby.

 

[AustenNut]

I've bought from them twice, returning something once. I was very pleased with my first purchase, which was a parcel of peridot. The color in the photo was like the color of the stones I received. The second one was a red zircon, which had a fabulous description. Unfortunately, like mariedtiger, the stone didn't live up to the hype, though it may also be a reflection of my lack of familiarity with that gemtype. They didn't quibble about me returning it though, and gave me a full refund.

 

[T L]

I'm pretty sure Yingh has and she also posted accompanying photos of her purchases.

 

[MAC-W]

I've bought a Tourmaline and a Hauyne from them. (havent posted pictures yet - I know, me bad!)

Love both stones. The hauyne I bought wasnt the one that I originally made an offer on, cos it turned out that one had already sold, but they offered me a substitute Hauyne and it was every bit as nice (at least according to the pictures. Didnt see the original stone in real life but the subsitute stone is fantastic colour).

I also tried to buy a grandiderite from them but unfortunately that one was also sold and they didnt have any others in stock. (I'm still hoping to get one from them in future)

Their communication when I bought wasnt what you might call the best but (extenuating circumstances) they were in Mexico at the time and I was offshore on the rig, so I thought it was great we were even able to communicate at all given we were both away from our normal places. They were also really understanding that I was offshore and seemed to take that into consideration with the timeframes they gave me.

I would have no hesitation about recommending John, and definately plan to buy more stones from him in future.

Hope that helps

Mac

 

[jstarfireb]

I bought a Mali garnet from them. It's a pretty color, very bright, but doesn't seem to have the dispersion that Mali garnets are known for. Probably just that particular stone and not a problem with D&J. They were honest and communicated well, and I don't hesitate to recommend them.

For green stones, their pictures tend to minimize yellow and make the stone appear more green, but their descriptions and communications are more honest.

 

[Indylady]

Thank you MariedTiger, Austen, TL, Mac, and Jstar!!

Your reviews have made all the difference. I've had a really, really hard time getting into contact with them, so I was beginning to write them off. I'll keep considering them for future purchases!

 

[minousbijoux]

Its funny, but I had just ordered from them when you wrote that post, and I waited in trepidation to see what the responses would be like. I'm glad that overall, they were positive. So today I received my stones. I will try and take piccies this weekend to show. They were all well cut, as described stones. The one caution I would say is that he must take his pics in bright, direct light as IRL they were all a bit less bright than his pics. I am keeping two and sending back one. This is the one I am sending back:

http://www.djraregems.com/cutbyus.html 15741, pyrospessartite. IRL, it reads as dark orange red (almost red), with no sparks of such color as in his image. The cut is good, and it would, as he suggests, make a great ring stone (I was just looking for something a lot lighter). I would definitely buy from them again.

 

[jstarfireb]

Good to hear you liked the other 2 stones! Can we see?

I have to say...I think they need a better web designer. There should be a way to link to each stone directly rather than have to flip through a huge list of everything (or use Ctrl-F).