Real spinel or lab? Best guess?

[CHRISTY-DANIELLE]

I'm interested in a ring listed on a bidding site, simply listed as " spinel." 14k gold and marked by known designer. Stone is primarily pink w some lavender and slight orange. I wonder if someone here could look at these extreme close ups and give an opinion. Is it possibly mahenge material? Or are the striations in upper left pic indicative of lab grown? Are the color variations more likely a natural gem?

 

[chrono]

Full close up pictures please. Everything is too blurry. It is normal for spinel to show some colour variation in its sparkles.

I only trust a good lab to determine whether the spinel is synthetic or real because the fakes are way too good these days.

 

[YadaYadaYada]

I recognize this ring (don't worry not in the market) and this designer is known for high end jewelry (bold in aesthetic) and natural stones. So most likely it would be natural but of course a lab report would be the only guarantee. It is a pretty stone!

ETA: just read that they use both natural AND lab stones in their jewelry just FYI

 

[partgypsy]

No clue. I would ask the people selling the ring for any guarantees, documentation they have. If they don't give you any guarantees, there you go.

 

[CHRISTY-DANIELLE]

I recognize this ring (don't worry not in the market) and this designer is known for high end jewelry (bold in aesthetic) and natural stones. So most likely it would be natural but of course a lab report would be the only guarantee. It is a pretty stone!

ETA: just read that they use both natural AND lab stones in their jewelry just FYI

I researched too...same info....might be real? Maybe if I can snag it cheap...pretty color regardless.

 

[YadaYadaYada]

It is such a gamble but even if it is a lab spinel it would have the same properties as natural and it is a pretty stone so if you can get it for a good price...

In cases like this I buy for the aesthetic and assume it's lab so if it ends up being natural it's a nice surprise.

 

[CHRISTY-DANIELLE]

Exactly. I am so failing at my bling ban .

Might help if I quit shopping, lol.

 

[Bron357]

I would only pay the price for a 14kt gold ring with a lab gemstone if it doesn’t have a lab report. It’s hard separating good lab from natural using gemological tools, nigh impossible from photos.
i shop the opposite way, I look for listings where the gem isn’t identified or appears mis identified. While I won’t take advantage of novice eBay sellers selling old aunties stuff, any pro seller who is too lazy, not inclined or not spending $$ to “test” look out, I’m prowling.
I look at the carat assay, 10kt is going to be rubbish gems 99% of the time, the better stuff is set in 14kt or 18kt gold. I look at the setting. If it’s fancy and looks custom vs cast it’s more likely to be a better quality gemstone. I check the weight, more gold weight usually means more likely natural.
my latest find, the $200 sapphire with wee diamonds ring, I only bought to use the setting. I assumed, and it appears so did the pro seller, that it was a lab sapphire. So it wasn’t my ability to ID a natural from lab via photos, just luck due to a seller deciding not to get a lab report. And $200 for a 14kt gold setting with wee diamonds Is cheap anyway.

 

[CHRISTY-DANIELLE]

Well after posting this?, that item suddenly had a lot of bids. Coincidence?
Oh well, ring was too big and price too much for unknown stone for me. Here's a full pic for the curious:


14 k gold (8.1 grams!)by Strellman. Approx 8mm stone.

 

[CHRISTY-DANIELLE]

Sold for $201

 

[Bron357]

That seems a fair price just for the gold weight. The problem with auctions is you never know who and how many are biding their time until the closing minutes or second of an auction. I’ve seen items change in price by literally hundreds if not a thousand dollars or more in the last seconds. Snipe bidding programs, but nevertheless I just bid my max amount about an hour before the end and then wait and see. And while the bidder got it for $201 you Don’t know if their max bid was $205 or $750!

 

[YadaYadaYada]

Also shill bidding is rampant on that site. If they want more money for it they will just get workers to bid on it to up the price.

Last time I bought something from there it was listed as 14k aquamarine ring, it was stamped for 14k and it was white. Well when I got it I knew right off it was silver, tested it to be absolutely sure and it was not gold. They had cast a 14k gold ring in silver and the gold mark was part of the casting. I did get my money back but haven't bought anything since.

 

[CHRISTY-DANIELLE]

@StephanieLynn I'm so naive! I didn't know that was even a thing. How sneaky.
I just got really lucky on a couple items from there so I keep looking. But I don't really need to be buying anyway!

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

Couple of red flags for me on Ebay is when an item has multiple bids on it while similar items have none. I always suspect shill bidding. How I prove shill bidding is this- I save the item on my watch list. Later- maybe weeks or months later I check the seller's feedback for said sold item. About 99% of the time there will be no feedback left by the buyer.

Next on my watch list I pick suspected shill bidding item and choose the option to search for similar items. Many times I can find the same item either re-listed or a new, similar listing created for it. Sometimes by a different seller with the same wording. So- multiple selling accounts. It only takes a minute or two to do this when I am browsing Ebay and I can rule out sellers. Usually I am looking for specific, harder to find items so eliminating bad sellers is helpful to me.

Great deals to be found on Ebay but it's a minefield.