shape
carat
color
clarity

The Amora Gem Chronicles

GemWren

Rough_Rock
Joined
Sep 2, 2022
Messages
5
Hi everyone, posting here in desperation.
Does anyone know if BTD are still trading please? They appear to have dropped off the planet. I placed an order with them in May for an Avarra Emerald and they took my money readily enough but I have never received my stone. I am in Australia and there were issues with the initial freight quote which I tried to resolve over email by offering to pay the additional freight but I've never received any reply. I've tried every way possible to contact them including their "contact us" function on the site, the zendesk IM system, messaging via Facebook but no reply is ever forthcoming.
Have also stalked the owner Less Wright on Linkedin but don't have a paid account so can't message him there.

I purchased this for our 10year anniversary as we are not able to afford the real deal unfortunately and did a lot of research into sims with the 'natural' look (ie inclusions & colour) and the Avarra seemed to tick all my boxes. Wondering if I've done my AUD400 and been scammed.
Any help forthcoming is hugely appreciated!
 

vintageinjune

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jan 4, 2012
Messages
1,089
Hi everyone, posting here in desperation.
Does anyone know if BTD are still trading please? They appear to have dropped off the planet. I placed an order with them in May for an Avarra Emerald and they took my money readily enough but I have never received my stone. I am in Australia and there were issues with the initial freight quote which I tried to resolve over email by offering to pay the additional freight but I've never received any reply. I've tried every way possible to contact them including their "contact us" function on the site, the zendesk IM system, messaging via Facebook but no reply is ever forthcoming.
Have also stalked the owner Less Wright on Linkedin but don't have a paid account so can't message him there.

I purchased this for our 10year anniversary as we are not able to afford the real deal unfortunately and did a lot of research into sims with the 'natural' look (ie inclusions & colour) and the Avarra seemed to tick all my boxes. Wondering if I've done my AUD400 and been scammed.
Any help forthcoming is hugely appreciated!

Honestly, I do not know, but I'd contact your credit card company about getting your money back.

BTD has had the exact same 72 lab grown diamonds for sale for about 2 years listed on their website. If they were still in business, I would have expected some change in inventory over that time frame.
 

Slickk

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jan 3, 2013
Messages
4,929
Hi everyone, posting here in desperation.
Does anyone know if BTD are still trading please? They appear to have dropped off the planet. I placed an order with them in May for an Avarra Emerald and they took my money readily enough but I have never received my stone. I am in Australia and there were issues with the initial freight quote which I tried to resolve over email by offering to pay the additional freight but I've never received any reply. I've tried every way possible to contact them including their "contact us" function on the site, the zendesk IM system, messaging via Facebook but no reply is ever forthcoming.
Have also stalked the owner Less Wright on Linkedin but don't have a paid account so can't message him there.

I purchased this for our 10year anniversary as we are not able to afford the real deal unfortunately and did a lot of research into sims with the 'natural' look (ie inclusions & colour) and the Avarra seemed to tick all my boxes. Wondering if I've done my AUD400 and been scammed.
Any help forthcoming is hugely appreciated!

Have you tried on their message board which seems awfully dead … I’m so sorry.


ETA don’t they run the Diamondbistro.com sales site? Maybe try there?
 

luvmysparklies

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Aug 5, 2003
Messages
703
Honestly, I do not know, but I'd contact your credit card company about getting your money back.

BTD has had the exact same 72 lab grown diamonds for sale for about 2 years listed on their website. If they were still in business, I would have expected some change in inventory over that time frame.

I agree with this!
Back in the day, people were lined up to get his stones and there was a lot of demand. However, he seemed to always prioritize some large client overseas and the rest of the people were frequently left with the crumbs of scarcity of merchandise when it came to his stones. They produced high quality jewelry, but I never cared for how the people on his forum that were loyal clients (or at least tried to be) seemed to be last in line.

Definitely do a chargeback. You have made efforts to contact him/his business to no avail. Sorry you are going through this.
 

GemWren

Rough_Rock
Joined
Sep 2, 2022
Messages
5
Honestly, I do not know, but I'd contact your credit card company about getting your money back.

BTD has had the exact same 72 lab grown diamonds for sale for about 2 years listed on their website. If they were still in business, I would have expected some change in inventory over that time frame.

Thank you, yes I have begun the dispute process as I just have had no response from them.

I also noted the static inventory but at the front end of the purchasing process, I was dealing with Dana who was initially very responsive (I even picked out a stone from a line up of 6!). So I was reassured.

But since telling me I owed them another USD100 for freight (6 weeks after I placed the order) and giving me no method of either paying that additional or applying for a refund, she has dropped off the planet.
 

GemWren

Rough_Rock
Joined
Sep 2, 2022
Messages
5
Have you tried on their message board which seems awfully dead … I’m so sorry.


ETA don’t they run the Diamondbistro.com sales site? Maybe try there?

Thank you, yes I did try posting on their forum via Diamondbistro as well. And FB message. Zero response. I also posted a similar post to this one on the WeddingBee forum just in case someone there had any info.

Terrible service.

Thank you all for your kind suggestions, I will post back when I have a resolution, whatever that looks like!
 

vintageinjune

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jan 4, 2012
Messages
1,089
Thank you, yes I have begun the dispute process as I just have had no response from them.

I also noted the static inventory but at the front end of the purchasing process, I was dealing with Dana who was initially very responsive (I even picked out a stone from a line up of 6!). So I was reassured.

But since telling me I owed them another USD100 for freight (6 weeks after I placed the order) and giving me no method of either paying that additional or applying for a refund, she has dropped off the planet.

Thank you, yes I did try posting on their forum via Diamondbistro as well. And FB message. Zero response. I also posted a similar post to this one on the WeddingBee forum just in case someone there had any info.

Terrible service.

Thank you all for your kind suggestions, I will post back when I have a resolution, whatever that looks like!

Wait... that's some information I lacked. You had personalized help selecting an individual stone, and then once they realize they need more money to pay for additional shipping charges (that their software apparently failed to account for), contacted you 6 WEEKS after taking your money, then just *POOFED*l

I mean, my experience trying to purchase from them didn't go great either. The refund for the diamonds they did not have in stock took about a week, which is fine, but I had imagined having a pair of Takara diamond earrings for years. Dana sent me an email with 3 other pairs they had available, but only two had prices listed, and of course the third pair was the one I was interested in based on the specs, so I emailed back asking for the price.... crickets. Jon at Distinctive Gem came to my rescue and I adore the earrings he made me, but as of hearing about your experience, I believe I shall cross BTD off my list forever. Which is too bad, since I have purchased 5 Amora Gem moissanite stones over the years.

So, it sounds like you might be back on the hunt for a lab grown emerald. Might I recommend Gary at Finewater Gems, pop him an e-mail or IG message and ask if he has any really good hydrothermal emerald rough with oh-so-slight inclusions. Gene from Precision Gem might be a good place too.
 

GemWren

Rough_Rock
Joined
Sep 2, 2022
Messages
5
Wait... that's some information I lacked. You had personalized help selecting an individual stone, and then once they realize they need more money to pay for additional shipping charges (that their software apparently failed to account for), contacted you 6 WEEKS after taking your money, then just *POOFED*l

I mean, my experience trying to purchase from them didn't go great either. The refund for the diamonds they did not have in stock took about a week, which is fine, but I had imagined having a pair of Takara diamond earrings for years. Dana sent me an email with 3 other pairs they had available, but only two had prices listed, and of course the third pair was the one I was interested in based on the specs, so I emailed back asking for the price.... crickets. Jon at Distinctive Gem came to my rescue and I adore the earrings he made me, but as of hearing about your experience, I believe I shall cross BTD off my list forever. Which is too bad, since I have purchased 5 Amora Gem moissanite stones over the years.

So, it sounds like you might be back on the hunt for a lab grown emerald. Might I recommend Gary at Finewater Gems, pop him an e-mail or IG message and ask if he has any really good hydrothermal emerald rough with oh-so-slight inclusions. Gene from Precision Gem might be a good place too.

Thanks so much for that info! Good to know it's not only been that had issues with contacting them.
I didn't include all the back & forth with Dana initially as TBH, I'm so over this whole process that I just hardly even want to think about it most of the time, and really felt embarrassed thinking I had been scammed. Hahaha first world problems, I guess!
My husband reminded me that even though it's a lab emerald I had always wanted one and it was still worth pursuing, which is why I picked up it all back up again to tackle and either track her down or get my money back.

Yes I am on the hunt for a lovely glowy colombian with lots of inclusions. Something around a 2-3ct in either an Emerald cut or a cushion. Flexible on the size & shape for the right stone.
Everything I had read about the BTD Avarras indicated they were just that beautiful glowing columbian colour with the inclusions I had always lusted after, and at the pricepoint I can deal with.
So I'm pretty disappointed that I didn't get to own one in the end.

But I'll look into the other two prviders you have mentioned, thanks so much.
I have signed up to Gene's email notification for new drops, and will check out Finewater gems also.
Does anyone have any thoughts on the Jelly Gem lab emeralds? I've been following them on instagram and some of them look like just what I'm after but I had also read somewhere on another forum (can't remember where now) that they don't quite look as 'muzo' in real life as they do in the vids, and the colour is a little too yellowish. Be keen to know if anyone else has seen their stones in person.
Their insta handle is:
jelly_labgrownjewelry

Cheers!
 

vintageinjune

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jan 4, 2012
Messages
1,089
Does anyone have any thoughts on the Jelly Gem lab emeralds? I've been following them on instagram and some of them look like just what I'm after but I had also read somewhere on another forum (can't remember where now) that they don't quite look as 'muzo' in real life as they do in the vids, and the colour is a little too yellowish. Be keen to know if anyone else has seen their stones in person.
Their insta handle is:
jelly_labgrownjewelry

Cheers!


 

GemWren

Rough_Rock
Joined
Sep 2, 2022
Messages
5


That first one is the very thread I had initially found and read about the colour being perhaps not quite what I was after.
But the second post might just convince me!
Thanks so much for those links
 

lessizmore

Rough_Rock
Joined
Mar 24, 2020
Messages
21
Wait... that's some information I lacked. You had personalized help selecting an individual stone, and then once they realize they need more money to pay for additional shipping charges (that their software apparently failed to account for), contacted you 6 WEEKS after taking your money, then just *POOFED*l

I mean, my experience trying to purchase from them didn't go great either. The refund for the diamonds they did not have in stock took about a week, which is fine, but I had imagined having a pair of Takara diamond earrings for years. Dana sent me an email with 3 other pairs they had available, but only two had prices listed, and of course the third pair was the one I was interested in based on the specs, so I emailed back asking for the price.... crickets. Jon at Distinctive Gem came to my rescue and I adore the earrings he made me, but as of hearing about your experience, I believe I shall cross BTD off my list forever. Which is too bad, since I have purchased 5 Amora Gem moissanite stones over the years.

So, it sounds like you might be back on the hunt for a lab grown emerald. Might I recommend Gary at Finewater Gems, pop him an e-mail or IG message and ask if he has any really good hydrothermal emerald rough with oh-so-slight inclusions. Gene from Precision Gem might be a good place too.

I too had difficulty with response from Dana in 2022. I requested Phoenix emerald cut moissanite and received it soon after. I thought it had too much body color and returned it with request to exchange for E/F color. Then crickets. I did finally receive a refund. I really wanted emerald cut so tried ordering again and zip, nada, zilch communication. In searching for info about Les, it appears he has moved on and is perhaps no longer affiliated with BTD at all. I ended up getting a moissanite gem from Tianyu. In doing a bit of research it looks like Distinctive Gem might be a good option. I have Diamelia round in solitaire setting that is very pretty, but after finally getting repairs made to my anniversary wedding ring, I want to get better quality center stone. Recommendations welcome!
 

vintageinjune

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jan 4, 2012
Messages
1,089
I too had difficulty with response from Dana in 2022. I requested Phoenix emerald cut moissanite and received it soon after. I thought it had too much body color and returned it with request to exchange for E/F color. Then crickets. I did finally receive a refund. I really wanted emerald cut so tried ordering again and zip, nada, zilch communication. In searching for info about Les, it appears he has moved on and is perhaps no longer affiliated with BTD at all. I ended up getting a moissanite gem from Tianyu. In doing a bit of research it looks like Distinctive Gem might be a good option. I have Diamelia round in solitaire setting that is very pretty, but after finally getting repairs made to my anniversary wedding ring, I want to get better quality center stone. Recommendations welcome!

For moissanite, I'd go with DG or CvBDesigns.
 

MrsC Jewelry

Rough_Rock
Joined
Oct 3, 2023
Messages
75
That first one is the very thread I had initially found and read about the colour being perhaps not quite what I was after.
But the second post might just convince me!
Thanks so much for those links

I know this is an older thread, but I just found this forum, so I hope it's ok to post. GemWren did you every find your dream emerald?
 
Be a part of the community Get 3 HCA Results
Top