My Amelia stone? Unheated Padparadscha from Richard Wise
- Thread starter TravelingGal
- Start date
- Status
RNgemlover
Shiny_Rock
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2009
- Messages
- 362
I respect and admire Mr. Wise''s remarks. I''m looking at one of his alexandrites right now!
LtlFirecracker
Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Feb 29, 2008
- Messages
- 4,837
Wow, I can''t believe that stone was not real. Shows how easily it is to fool someone. I am glad that Mr. Wise made the situation right, and can''t wait to see your new stone.
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2004
- Messages
- 38,364
TGal,
I'm sorry for your experience and my jaw just dropped in awe when I read about the pad. Well, at least you'll have a bigger and better pad now?
Just kidding - I know you have probably gotten attached to it as you went about the setting design. It is also my personal practice to get a reputable lab cert for any gemstone over $2K.
I'm sorry for your experience and my jaw just dropped in awe when I read about the pad. Well, at least you'll have a bigger and better pad now?
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2003
- Messages
- 645
Chrono,
My supplier was quite embarrassed when I told him and immediately phoned his cutter in Sri Lanka, who, in turn began tracing the rough. Like any business where large sums of money are at stake, the gem trade has its share of scam artists. However, in my 30 years of traveling to gem locations all over the world, I have found that most of the people involved in the trade are decent, hardworking and honest.
That said, the first time I was ever offered an obvious synthetic was at a mine site in Central Thailand. Dealers are regularly offered synthetics mixed with natural rough on the streets of Ilakaka, just outside the sapphire mining area in Southern Madagascar. Read the series I wrote with Vincent Pardieu on Madagascar on the Colored Stone website.
If you don''t know the product, you better be damn sure you know the dealer.
My supplier was quite embarrassed when I told him and immediately phoned his cutter in Sri Lanka, who, in turn began tracing the rough. Like any business where large sums of money are at stake, the gem trade has its share of scam artists. However, in my 30 years of traveling to gem locations all over the world, I have found that most of the people involved in the trade are decent, hardworking and honest.
That said, the first time I was ever offered an obvious synthetic was at a mine site in Central Thailand. Dealers are regularly offered synthetics mixed with natural rough on the streets of Ilakaka, just outside the sapphire mining area in Southern Madagascar. Read the series I wrote with Vincent Pardieu on Madagascar on the Colored Stone website.
If you don''t know the product, you better be damn sure you know the dealer.
LembeckGems
Rough_Rock
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2007
- Messages
- 25
I have seen Pads that have been considered Pads since forever by dealers that now the labs are saying they are not pads. Why? From what the dealer told me, when showing me two Pads he had gotten back from the lab (GIA or AGTA I forget which), one certed positive the other turned down (and the turned down stone looked more like a Pad than the accepted stone, to both of us) the stone that was rejected displayed both peach /orange and pink hues simultaneously. Don''t know if that is still the case.
Yes, RW Wise is 100% reputable. Period. I have not done business with him personally but my partner Amazon Joe D sold him something years ago. Joe and RW have a mutual friend, Dave Epstein, who speaks very highly of him.
I know a few dealers who have stuck in their "collections" mistakes they have made. Buying one thing and it turns out to be another. Interestingly, sometimes it works in your favor. I purchased a suite of Afghani Indicolitish Tourmalines years ago when I was a baby buyer and one of the gems, 8 carats or so, turned out to be a Sapphire!
Every Gem Has a Destiny
Yes, RW Wise is 100% reputable. Period. I have not done business with him personally but my partner Amazon Joe D sold him something years ago. Joe and RW have a mutual friend, Dave Epstein, who speaks very highly of him.
I know a few dealers who have stuck in their "collections" mistakes they have made. Buying one thing and it turns out to be another. Interestingly, sometimes it works in your favor. I purchased a suite of Afghani Indicolitish Tourmalines years ago when I was a baby buyer and one of the gems, 8 carats or so, turned out to be a Sapphire!
Every Gem Has a Destiny
TravelingGal
Super_Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2004
- Messages
- 17,193
Interesting...any ideas on why it was rejected?Date: 3/2/2009 5:58:30 PM
Author: LembeckGems
I have seen Pads that have been considered Pads since forever by dealers that now the labs are saying they are not pads. Why? From what the dealer told me, when showing me two Pads he had gotten back from the lab (GIA or AGTA I forget which), one certed positive the other turned down (and the turned down stone looked more like a Pad than the accepted stone, to both of us) the stone that was rejected displayed both peach /orange and pink hues simultaneously. Don''t know if that is still the case.
Yes, RW Wise is 100% reputable. Period. I have not done business with him personally but my partner Amazon Joe D sold him something years ago. Joe and RW have a mutual friend, Dave Epstein, who speaks very highly of him.
I know a few dealers who have stuck in their ''collections'' mistakes they have made. Buying one thing and it turns out to be another. Interestingly, sometimes it works in your favor. I purchased a suite of Afghani Indicolitish Tourmalines years ago when I was a baby buyer and one of the gems, 8 carats or so, turned out to be a Sapphire!
Every Gem Has a Destiny
Dragonflyz
Rough_Rock
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2009
- Messages
- 1
T-Gal,
I thought you''d like to know that I, too, share your "family jewel" and have my own story of adopting this fabulous stone as our family''s official jewel.
I have been a rock-hound since I was five years old. I used to sit for hours in the family driveway (filled will diffrent coloered stones) and collect/sort the pretty rocks---much to my parents dismay, but, hey---it kept me outta their hair for a few hours! I knew I had fallen into a great chasm of fascination and knowledge about rocks, gems, crystals, and minerals so I also collected various rock books thanks to my grandmother''s observation that feeding this addiction could someday lead to a hobby or maybe even a full-blown career.
One evening while my dad was out of town on business, he went into a bar. A woman there who was upset at her cheating fiance flung her engagement ring on the floor to further illustrate the point that you should wonder what the *blinkety* your one and only is doing at a bar for so long instead of spending time with you. Well, my dad found the ring and didn''t give back to the guy. He brought it home from his colorful travels and told me he was going to have it reset into a pendant for my mom as an anniversary present. He then consulted me and my gemstone book where he had me read aloud the section on rare sapphires, which was the first time I ever had heard of "padparadscha". There was no picture only a description of this most magical-sounding stone. It lit my imagination up like a Roman candle! I was 12.
Apon hearing of this stone, we set out together on our own journey to jewelry stores and gemstone experts...the reaction from almost all of them was same. I could see each of them one by one scratch their heads with a Homer Simpsonesque dumb-founded look on their faces,"H-u-u-h?" The mystery only intesified my deep interest. WHAT WAS THIS STONE?!!! It drove me to look even harder for someone who knew. This was before the internet you see. Yep, I''m that old!
Finally my grandmother and I were in a mall going passed a fancy jewelry store window when I spotted an orange stone. Was it...yes! It was the most beautiful large orangy sunset fruit-stone I had ever seen! And it was completely synthetic. My face dropped when I heard that. What a downer. I was 16.
Years later I left the nest and moved to the great Southwest. What luck! The Tucson Gem & Mineral Show I had found was the largest of its kind in the world. My chance to see the real thing was soon at hand. I scoured each booth, tent after tent, hotel after hotel to find the QUEEN in all of her glory. There she was a carat round stone that looked like a tangerine in miniature. It was nearly $10,000.00. Well, I knew it was out of my league, but I kept hope alive that someday after research and persistance, not only would I acquire one for myself, but one for each of my kids. After all, this was a lifelong search and even my dad encouraged me to try for it. I was 20.
It was my second husband who proposed that I get whatever custom wedding ring I wanted. Not one for diamonds like everyone else, I leapt at the opportunity. In 45 years of a family owned and operated jewelry business, the family friends of my soon-to-be''s had heard of this stone, but had never seen one. My requirements were simple---no heat, no treat, any cut, and had to be between 1 & 1 & half carats. They said they had buyers all over that area (Ceylon) and could get 6 to choose from in about 3 months. Six months later their buyers found 2. And my wedding ring was born! It was 1.73 carats, a great color shift pumpkin orange to blood orange oval set in custom platinum with our birth stones set flush on either side. I was 29.
Now, I await my income tax return. It''s not exactly the best economy to do it, but I''ve found a great little pad (1.82 carats) with a rosey-peach blend to give to our girl, Julia, for her wedding ring someday. I am 39.
Maybe I''m romanticizing too much, but to me pads are like seeds waiting to seize the moment when we notice our true colors & potential. I''ve told Julia about what this means to share this family jewel and I hope she comes to appreciate it as much as I do. I hope it ignites her imagination like it did mine. She is 6.
Dragonflyz
Everything happens for a reason...and it''s probably the dog''s fault!
I thought you''d like to know that I, too, share your "family jewel" and have my own story of adopting this fabulous stone as our family''s official jewel.
I have been a rock-hound since I was five years old. I used to sit for hours in the family driveway (filled will diffrent coloered stones) and collect/sort the pretty rocks---much to my parents dismay, but, hey---it kept me outta their hair for a few hours! I knew I had fallen into a great chasm of fascination and knowledge about rocks, gems, crystals, and minerals so I also collected various rock books thanks to my grandmother''s observation that feeding this addiction could someday lead to a hobby or maybe even a full-blown career.
One evening while my dad was out of town on business, he went into a bar. A woman there who was upset at her cheating fiance flung her engagement ring on the floor to further illustrate the point that you should wonder what the *blinkety* your one and only is doing at a bar for so long instead of spending time with you. Well, my dad found the ring and didn''t give back to the guy. He brought it home from his colorful travels and told me he was going to have it reset into a pendant for my mom as an anniversary present. He then consulted me and my gemstone book where he had me read aloud the section on rare sapphires, which was the first time I ever had heard of "padparadscha". There was no picture only a description of this most magical-sounding stone. It lit my imagination up like a Roman candle! I was 12.
Apon hearing of this stone, we set out together on our own journey to jewelry stores and gemstone experts...the reaction from almost all of them was same. I could see each of them one by one scratch their heads with a Homer Simpsonesque dumb-founded look on their faces,"H-u-u-h?" The mystery only intesified my deep interest. WHAT WAS THIS STONE?!!! It drove me to look even harder for someone who knew. This was before the internet you see. Yep, I''m that old!
Finally my grandmother and I were in a mall going passed a fancy jewelry store window when I spotted an orange stone. Was it...yes! It was the most beautiful large orangy sunset fruit-stone I had ever seen! And it was completely synthetic. My face dropped when I heard that. What a downer. I was 16.
Years later I left the nest and moved to the great Southwest. What luck! The Tucson Gem & Mineral Show I had found was the largest of its kind in the world. My chance to see the real thing was soon at hand. I scoured each booth, tent after tent, hotel after hotel to find the QUEEN in all of her glory. There she was a carat round stone that looked like a tangerine in miniature. It was nearly $10,000.00. Well, I knew it was out of my league, but I kept hope alive that someday after research and persistance, not only would I acquire one for myself, but one for each of my kids. After all, this was a lifelong search and even my dad encouraged me to try for it. I was 20.
It was my second husband who proposed that I get whatever custom wedding ring I wanted. Not one for diamonds like everyone else, I leapt at the opportunity. In 45 years of a family owned and operated jewelry business, the family friends of my soon-to-be''s had heard of this stone, but had never seen one. My requirements were simple---no heat, no treat, any cut, and had to be between 1 & 1 & half carats. They said they had buyers all over that area (Ceylon) and could get 6 to choose from in about 3 months. Six months later their buyers found 2. And my wedding ring was born! It was 1.73 carats, a great color shift pumpkin orange to blood orange oval set in custom platinum with our birth stones set flush on either side. I was 29.
Now, I await my income tax return. It''s not exactly the best economy to do it, but I''ve found a great little pad (1.82 carats) with a rosey-peach blend to give to our girl, Julia, for her wedding ring someday. I am 39.
Maybe I''m romanticizing too much, but to me pads are like seeds waiting to seize the moment when we notice our true colors & potential. I''ve told Julia about what this means to share this family jewel and I hope she comes to appreciate it as much as I do. I hope it ignites her imagination like it did mine. She is 6.
Dragonflyz
Everything happens for a reason...and it''s probably the dog''s fault!
TravelingGal
Super_Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2004
- Messages
- 17,193
Dragonflyz, welcome to Pricescope!
What a great story! Thanks for sharing, it was really neat to read.
Now, I don''t know if you are a long time lurker, or brand new to Pricescope, but around here, we need PICTURES! Please start your own thread if you find time to take photos of your pad...it sounds very special!
Linda W
Super_Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Feb 15, 2006
- Messages
- 10,630
Dragonflyz, I also welcome you to Pricescope. What a beautiful story. I would also love to see your Pad. I am also addicted to them. They are very special stones aren''t they? None can describe the beauty of them.
I am so happy you joined and hope you will post more.
Linda
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2009
- Messages
- 13,030
Hehe, if you enjoy the company of pad-lovers, then you''ll certainly never want for company here at pricescope! There are lots of pad aficionados here!
- Status
300x240.png)