How much do your family and friends know about gems?

[Nomsdeplume]

I showed my friend a picture of a paraiba the other day. Her response? "Oh, a tanzanite!".

 

[alene]

I'm afraid my not quite 2-year-old daughter knows more than anyone else in the family. She'is fascinated with stones. She points at them and yells, "Bwue!" or "welllow!" Apparently, gem stones are great for learning colors.

 

[RockHugger]

Date: 5/5/2010 9:40:45 AM
Author: kribbie
I showed my friend a picture of a paraiba the other day. Her response? ''Oh, a tanzanite!''.

LOL!!!!

 

[gingersnap]

Hah! I wouldn''t say I know all that much about stones myself (Perhaps this is why they are still interesting) but my family knows much less!They are very nice to listen to me babble on about basic stuff (I try not to use up their patience tooo much) However, I was showing my brother and mom some cheapies I had found in various colors; green, blue, reddish, orange... and my brother says "Why aren''t all green stones emeralds, all blue stones sapphires, all red stones rubies etc? It would be much easier"

 

[T L]

Date: 5/5/2010 10:05:14 AM
Author: RockHugger

Date: 5/5/2010 9:40:45 AM
Author: kribbie
I showed my friend a picture of a paraiba the other day. Her response? ''Oh, a tanzanite!''.

LOL!!!!

That''s nothing, my one friend calls all my gems, "diamonds." He doesn''t know the difference between a colored gem and a diamond.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

pretty much nothing

 

[Arkteia]

Oh, ladies (and gentlemen), your other halves are Gubelins compared to who I live with.

My husband, "I am so glad that you changed your hobby. I was concerned about all these money you spent at Nordstrom Rack! It used to be even worse with Filene''s Basement!"

Also, "look, I bought you this ring at J.C. Penney. They were having a sale. 2-ct total weight of diamonds!" (One of these days, I should post this ring here. Do not know what to do with it but feel sorry for the poor guy. I have an idea, though).

My son, "you are too old for these stupidities. Who sees them? Instead of this crappy stone, you should have bought yourself a new Lexus (come to say, I could have bought a Lexus instead of Alexandrite, but my travel time to work is 15 minutes and no one sees my Lexus anyhow). "I have to look at your finances and show you where to invest". (He is majoring in economy and mathematics. Needless to say, his own investments failed, but he is only 20).

Some hope here...My younger son, "Now it looks purple...and now green!"

Same confusion about demantoid and emerald in all of my beloved ones.

My father, "I do not know a thing about your gems, but since you like them, I am happy for you. You worked hard, you deserve them."

And, now, (a slim chance for business venture), my Russian friends...(this is really interesting).

- So, you collect diamonds? This is very glamorous these days...
Me: - Not diamonds, colored gems.
My friend: - Oh, then it is for real...They look interesting...

In a couple of days, "I thought...Since they cost so much in Russia, maybe you can buy some for me, too. But I do not like pendants, I like rings and earrings:.

Me: "Which stone would you prefer?"

My friend: "I don''t know...something you''d buy for yourself...like that green one you were wearing last time" (it was a demantoid!).

I think I have to go through a list of my former classmates and collegemates - many of them made nice careers, and gems in Russia are very expensive! (Except for stones like opals, charoites or malachites).

 

[LD]

Just remembered a very funny story that all you stonites will appreciate. Okay, I''ve already said that hubby says "bad cut" and "that''s got a window" when he hasn''t got a clue lol BUT BUT BUT

We were in a jewellers one day and the jeweller decided to show me a genuine Alexandrite (here we go .....). He said he wanted to show me the colour change and without warning whipped out a lighter and started to heat up the Alex (

yes, I kid you not). Before I could say "what ..........", hubby jumps up and knocks the lighter out of his hand! I don''t know who was more surprised, me or the jeweller!

So we both look at him and hubby shrugs and says "you don''t heat Alexandrite to see the colour change, you just take it into different lights"

Cue the sound of my chin banging on the floor!

So yes, some knowledge does get imparted to our loved (and uninterested) ones by simply brainwashing them gently over the years

 

[Indylady]

Crasru, your stories are too funny!

 

[packrat]

JD knows what a bezel is and after the sales girl told me she didn''t have any channel set bezel bands he told me we wouldn''t buy from them regardless b/c she didn''t know channel set from bezel set. I said "Do you?" and he said my ering is a bezel b/c it has the ring of metal around the stone, and he knows how much I adore the little bands that have the rings of metal around each individual stone, and that was not what the girl was showing me-he said when he looked at the rings she was bringing me, the stones were set into the ring, like in a little channel, so he knew what it was! It was cute-he was demonstrating w/his hands while he talked.

 

[mariedtiger]

This is a wonderful thread for good laughs!

 

[oddoneout]

Date: 5/4/2010 4:55:19 PM
Author: colorluvr
My husband is a professional Geologist, and knows NOTHING about gemstones unless you talk about their mineral composition and then you have his interest - otherwise - nada!

That''s both cute and funny.

 

[oddoneout]

Date: 5/5/2010 4:35:35 PM
Author: LovingDiamonds
Just remembered a very funny story that all you stonites will appreciate. Okay, I''ve already said that hubby says ''bad cut'' and ''that''s got a window'' when he hasn''t got a clue lol BUT BUT BUT


We were in a jewellers one day and the jeweller decided to show me a genuine Alexandrite (here we go .....). He said he wanted to show me the colour change and without warning whipped out a lighter and started to heat up the Alex (

yes, I kid you not). Before I could say ''what ..........'', hubby jumps up and knocks the lighter out of his hand! I don''t know who was more surprised, me or the jeweller!


So we both look at him and hubby shrugs and says ''you don''t heat Alexandrite to see the colour change, you just take it into different lights''


Cue the sound of my chin banging on the floor!


So yes, some knowledge does get imparted to our loved (and uninterested) ones by simply brainwashing them gently over the years

That''s hilarious. He''s lucky he didn''t set off fire alarms with the lighter (or catch something on fire).

 

[violet3]

my family (and most friends) know very little and think i''m nuts