Seeking info about rubies from Thailand

[ca6301]

I recently made a large leap of faith and purchased some rubies from a broker from Chantiburi, Thailand. One of the stones was listed like this: Color: Rich Top Red, Treatment: Heat, Country of Origin: Madagascar, Luster: Excellent, Clarity: VS, Weight: 1.48. It also gave other types of info such as RI and Specific Gravity. I paid 34.99 for this stone.

I have done a lot of research on the web, and I understand the different types of treatments. The truth is, the more I have read, the more confused I become. I want to see how these stones measure up, but can not find a way to get them appraised. While doing a google search, it brought me here. Can someone steer me to a good appraiser, someone that will tell me if I made a good deal or just wasted my money (I live in Southern Arkansas)? How do I show the value to the customer and be honest about it? How do I decide the value of the stone?

I am trying to find a source for "okay" stones to embed into a cast figurine. Not making fine jewelry here.

Thanks,
Carl

 

[Harriet]

I''ve heard that Neil Beatty, aka Denver Appraiser, is extremely knowledgeable with coloured stones.

 

[ca6301]

Thanks for the response. I will look him up.

 

[Harriet]

You''re welcome. I don''t know how much he charges. It might very well be more than what you paid for the rubies.

 

[smitcompton]

Dear Ca5301,

Oh, boy. I will repeat here what others on this board told me about Madagascar stones. I bought some a while ago myself at similar prices. They (experts on board) say that most Madagascar rubies and or red sapphires are probably berrilium treated or glass filled and generally have little value. My stones don''t look all that bad. They are included to the eye but they are transparant- translucent. I wanted to give two of them as gifts to people who help me in my life weekly etc. The ebay vendor wrote me that he only sells heat treated rubies. I looked at BE treated and glass filled rubies and they actually looked much better than mine. I thought if these are BE treated or glass filled they should look better.

My dilema was should I give them rings with ths material or not? I decided to ask one of them to choose a stone to put in a ring(I gave her about 10 to choose from.) and if she didn''t like them she could pass. She was so thrilled to pick one, and I put in a 14Kt white cold semi-bezel with 15 pts of diamonds surrounding the bezel. Frankly, the ruby was lovely, good color, a little sparkle in the sun, and looks amazing on her finger. In March she wore it to Paris.

She took the ring to Hezberg Jewelers and they gave her a written appraisal for $1050.00. I did not give the other person one.

Some of the rubies and pink rubies look pretty good to me. I have a pink sapphire that I intend to make into a pendant. I noticed on a few that there may be cracks that go to the surface. Am not sure. I would use some of them in jewelry, but the experts made me timid at first.

I bought some spessertite garnet and green tourmaline from him as well. The green toumaline is good,very clear, but it is ordninary tourmaline. The Spess has a brown overtone with orange. I put ths in a semi-mount just to see how it would look. I am not kidding it looked good. (I have real nice Spessertite from another source.)

I think you should use some for your other project. If you look at enough rubies you''ll be able to see the difference. I like most of mine. These of course are not top quality or medium but they are better than the opaque ones you see in the mall stores. I even saw an opaque stone at a jeweler at the Paris Hotel in Vegas.

Be cautious, it is still buyer beware. A lot of cheats on ebay.

Sincerely,

Annette

 

[ca6301]

Hello Annette,

Thanks for the info. I really enjoyed reading your post about your experiences. I think I am going thru a lot of the thoughts and concerns that you had then. In the end, I will just need to wait for the rubies to get here and sort this out then.

I am not making jewelry, just embedding in figurines. I still want to be honest with the Customer and give them a fair appraisal on the stone. Besides, the last thing I want to do is damage a decent brand name that has taken almost twenty years to build.

You know the funny thing about the mall stores. Once I decided to do this, I started my research by visiting every jewelry shop I could find. Every trip I took would include a stop at some jewelry store. Most of the stores sold only synthetic stones. Like you, I was in Vegas and saw several very nice stones set in rings. My favorite was a square cut with two trillion diamonds, one on each side. The price was really steep. Next to it was a ruby ring with a stone that I would never give to anyone, and they still wanted an arm and a leg.

Anyway, thanks again.

Carl

 

[Richard M.]

Carl,

I hesitate to poke my nose in here but feel I must. No one is going to sell a gem-quality 1.48 ct. ruby for $34.99. Bangkok gem dealers are among the most sophisticated traders in the world and they know the exact market value of stones they are selling. A top grade untreated Mogok tract Burmese ruby of that weight would easily retail for as much as $15,000/ct. or more.

The odds are close to 100% that the stones you purchased are the glass-filled material described in this article: Glass Filled Rubies

I saw abundant stones of this type selling for an average retail price of $20/ct. at this year''s Tucson gem show. The market is flooded with them. Such stones come not only from Madagascar but also an area of Burma called Mong Hsu, so a "Burmese" ruby is no longer a guarantee of high quality despite the fact that the most expensive rubies in the world come from Burma''s Mogok Tract. My guess is the stones are worth about what you paid for them plus a retail mark-up for your time and effort.

If you are planning to cast your stones "in place," be careful! There''s a good chance the heat required may damage such treated stones. To find out what you''re dealing with you might call AGL look into getting Gem Brief ID reports for your stones, as shown in the article. They''re not appraisals but if the stones turn out to be glass filled as I suspect you can quickly estimate market value.

I hope I''m wrong! Good luck!

Richard M.

 

[ca6301]

Hello Richard,

Thanks for the reply. You are not sticking your nose into any place that it does not belong. That is the reason I am here. There is so much about this crazy world of gemstones I don’t know. In the end, the old adage, “You get what you pay for” holds true.

I enjoyed the link to the AGL article. It really opened my eyes to what is going on. Nothing I had read until now told me how prevalent this treatment was. I had just assumed a portion (hopefully small portion) had been treated with BE or lead glass. Guess that was a false hope.

Looked at your site also, you have some really nice pieces. I really enjoyed the article about Opals. I will be Googling Robert the Devil tonight.
Thanks,
Carl

 

[Richard M.]

Thanks for the nice comments Carl. I hope my input helped.

The matter of gem treatments has become a great concern within the industry. Now even small tanzanites are being surface-coated to intensify their color! Most of the treatments are done secretly outside the U.S., and it''s a game of cat-and-mouse while the gem labs and gemologists catch up.

One of the interesting things I''ve noted is that heavily treated gems are often sold for unrealistically low prices. That''s often the first clue that something is amiss. With expensive stones a 3rd party lab vetting has become almost essential.

Some unsophisticated consumers allow their desire for low price to overcome their natural sense of caution. Your comment that "You get what you pay for" is usually true in the matter of colored gems but there can be exceptions. Trust but verify.

Richard M.

 

[Harriet]

Richard,
I remember a maxim you taught me: Buy only from a dealer you trust.

 

[Richard M.]

Hey Harriet,

What''s with the new avatar? Getting ready for Christmas in June? When it comes to gems and jewelry you can''t get your hint-lists out too soon, LOL!

Richard M.

 

[Harriet]

Christmas has already occurred for me. As for the rest of the gems on my wishlist, they''ll have to wait.

 

[ca6301]

Thanks everyone for the comments and feedback. The gems are setting at FedEx Newark, so hopefully I will get them in a day or two. I will post what I get for anyone else that might happen to wonder into this site. From what I am reading, the selling of gems across the Internet is exploding. Maybe it will help someone else.

 

[ca6301]

UPDATE

Just got the the first Ruby in. It was like Christmas in June. Can''t believe how exciting it was to open the package and see my first ruby bought this way.

It is a good shade of red in most lighting. Sunlight is best, with a deep red color and sparkles everywhere. In darker rooms it takes on a shade of purple. Does the color change mean anything? To the eye, it looks really clean. I can see the bottom cut refracting the light back into the top of the stone. Square cut and as I turn it I can see down to the bottom of the stone.

Now to get it tested. Thanks again to everyone.

Carl