Why, oh, why, this quality?

[chatoyancy]

I was never sold on chocolate diamonds, but miniskirts, well I love them, especially with leggings at my age! Hey, what the heck?

I thought everyone had a miniskirt or two in their closet. I do. Isn’t it a wardrobe classic? Now, the resurgence of “mom jeans” is something I’ll never understand.

 

[Bluegemz]

I thought everyone had a miniskirt or two in their closet. I do. Isn’t it a wardrobe classic? Now, the resurgence of “mom jeans” is something I’ll never understand.

Lol!! Mom jeans are out for me, at least, so I hope! Though, I very rarely wear jeans anymore. I’ve never been able to fully identify what they are, it’s more what some jeans look like on due to a mismatch of proportions with the person’s body. I imagine pockets that are badly placed which make the rear look way wider, or exaggerates a proportion which is not fitting to the person, unflattering folds and waist height, and an unexciting, drab denim color/wearer parttern. I’ve seen them both in overly tight and loose versions.

 

[chrono]

Don’t own a single mini skirt.

 

[Bluegemz]

Don’t own a single mini skirt.

Do you not like them...or perhaps Is there a reason why? Just curious...

 

[chrono]

If I did, I’d be accidentally flashing everybody.

 

[Bluegemz]

If I did, I’d be accidentally flashing everybody.

Lol!! I completely understand!

 

[ringo865]

Lol no Mini skirts. Shaped like a pear. And am over 50.

But I do have about 20 pairs of jeans, at least. Yet I wear the same three/four all the time. Long ones for boots, short ones for flats. Flare leg, pencil leg, Capri. Two to three sizes each.

I’m saving the smaller ones for when I fit back into them (like they’ll be so out of style by then they’ll be back in style)

 

[chatoyancy]

Lol!! Mom jeans are out for me, at least, so I hope! Though, I very rarely wear jeans anymore. I’ve never been able to fully identify what they are, it’s more what some jeans look like on due to a mismatch of proportions with the person’s body. I imagine pockets that are badly placed which make the rear look way wider, or exaggerates a proportion which is not fitting to the person, unflattering folds and waist height, and an unexciting, drab denim color/wearer parttern. I’ve seen them both in overly tight and loose versions.

I’m pretty casual, so I wear jeans pretty frequently. I’m picky about them though. You are spot on about mom jeans. You described them perfectly. They just aren’t flattering on anyone.

 

[Stone Hunter]

I thought that “Mom jeans” were just high waisted jeans... above the belly button. No?

 

[Anne111]

LOL, nice topic but somewhat off-thread. I keep on looking at high end five-six-figure ready-to-wear jewelry, not even unique pieces, and find pretty flawed near worthless gems in sophisticated goldsmith work.
Can anybody tell me why? Why a windowed dull color amethyst in a $20000 necklace. A nice amethyst is max 500 if you buy retail. why why why not make it $20500 instead and put a good gem there????

 

[chatoyancy]

I thought that “Mom jeans” were just high waisted jeans... above the belly button. No?

Google the SNL skit “mom jeans” on YouTube. I actually don’t think really high waisted or extreme low riders look good on anybody. I don’t care if you are thin, curvy, short, tall, or somewhere in between.

 

[chatoyancy]

LOL, nice topic but somewhat off-thread. I keep on looking at high end five-six-figure ready-to-wear jewelry, not even unique pieces, and find pretty flawed near worthless gems in sophisticated goldsmith work.
Can anybody tell me why? Why a windowed dull color amethyst in a $20000 necklace. A nice amethyst is max 500 if you buy retail. why why why not make it $20500 instead and put a good gem there????

You know Anne, I find myself disappointed in museum exhibits since finding Pricescope. I visited the Louvre this summer and thought some of the gems in the Crown Jewels looked like plastic. The red spinels, blue sapphires and pink and white diamonds were nice, but the rest just looked like costume jewelry to me. The above is just an example, it’s happened more often.

 

[Anne111]

Yes, I had the same museum experience. Old days kings had no google though. They didn't know they got sold what was left.
Once the web has penetrated all buying circles, companies like Bulgari will have a lot to explain.
I doubt even 1%ler like being sold for silly.
But still, I feel like a pest, my question remains unanswered. Why? Why save $200 on the centerstone? Please, anybody?

 

[chatoyancy]

Yes, I had the same museum experience. Old days kings had no google though. They didn't know they got sold what was left.
Once the web has penetrated all buying circles, companies like Bulgari will have a lot to explain.
I doubt even 1%ler like being sold for silly.
But still, I feel like a pest, my question remains unanswered. Why? Why save $200 on the centerstone? Please, anybody?

I honestly think a lot of people who can afford items in this price range only know about diamonds and are into name brands. They automatically think that because it’s a premier brand, it must be the best. Many premier brands do have awesome quality and are luxurious, but not all. However, in any category, whether it’s cars, rtw, handbags, or shoes, a premier brand may have poor or ok quality, but not enough people who can afford their goods know enough to call them on it, so they continue to sell goods that are less than in quality.

 

[ilovegemstones]

I had an old friend I got in touch with after many years say she was surprised I had heard of David Yurman! She was wearing a topaz pendant that had a bright blue colour so I an thinking it was irradiated and heated. I told her about the forum - she has no clue I love gemstones!

 

[Shijitake]

Only Bvlgari and those other top brands know. I really think it's because people just don't care and just want something pretty or prestigious. And/or the companies know this and use cheap material to get maximum profit. Or people just don't know. I didn't know much about gemstone quality besides heated and unheated until recently.

 

[Rad_Fan]

You know Anne, I find myself disappointed in museum exhibits since finding Pricescope. I visited the Louvre this summer and thought some of the gems in the Crown Jewels looked like plastic. The red spinels, blue sapphires and pink and white diamonds were nice, but the rest just looked like costume jewelry to me. The above is just an example, it’s happened more often.

Aren't they paste?

https://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/crown-louis-xv

 

[chatoyancy]

Aren't they paste?

https://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/crown-louis-xv

Well heck! That would explain it. I don’t speak or read much French, so I must have missed that in the description. There were many other jewels there and I don’t think the emeralds were fake, but they were not too great in quality. We also went to the natural history museum and those gems (which were real) did not look fantastic either.

 

[JPie]

Aren't they paste?

https://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/crown-louis-xv

That sure explains a lot!

 

[voce]

Aren't they paste?

https://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/crown-louis-xv

Ooh, thank you, that explains a lot!

 

[Rad_Fan]

I don’t think the emeralds were fake, but they were not too great in quality.

Maybe they need to be re-oiled...

 

[chatoyancy]

Maybe they need to be re-oiled...

I think so!

 

[Shijitake]

I just remembered something my bf told me. A prestigious guitar brand figured out a way to mass produce guitars with much better quality and for cheaper. So they lowered the price, but for some reason, the sales dropped. After a few years, they raised the price again, and sales boomed. The reason they found for this was that people didn't think they were getting good quality if the price is cheap, regardless of it actually being great quality. Maybe it's the same for Bvlgari and other prestigious brands. Rich people don't think it's good enough if the price is "cheap".

 

[Anne111]

Tata! I must have had a pit-bull in my ancestors, I could not let go without a satisfying answer. So, I called around, from new friends in Idaroberstein to blind-calling Bulgari themselves.
Here is why (or at least 'one' why): The unlimited supply of

ideal-cut rough ​

in these center stones (tourmaline or aquamarine BTW) is not guaranteed. There may be 50 deep enough no-window gems in that size and shape around but may-be not 120 or 280, so the qualified pro-guess is that they don't show the best full glitter gem in their ads to minimize the risk of running out of quality stock if the design is a hit. You may be lucky and get a window-less gem but you can't complain if you don't.
I tested that theory on some other brands with similar offers, and it never failed.
There is not enough perfect material available to supply a brand with hundreds of the same gem, so they start on a lower quality base.
It's not about saving money is rarity of product.
What do you say? Make sense?

 

[Bluegemz]

Tata! I must have had a pit-bull in my ancestors, I could not let go without a satisfying answer. So, I called around, from new friends in Idaroberstein to blind-calling Bulgari themselves.
Here is why (or at least 'one' why): The unlimited supply of

ideal-cut rough ​

in these center stones (tourmaline or aquamarine BTW) is not guaranteed. There may be 50 deep enough no-window gems in that size and shape around but may-be not 120 or 280, so the qualified pro-guess is that they don't show the best full glitter gem in their ads to minimize the risk of running out of quality stock if the design is a hit. You may be lucky and get a window-less gem but you can't complain if you don't.
I tested that theory on some other brands with similar offers, and it never failed.
There is not enough perfect material available to supply a brand with hundreds of the same gem, so they start on a lower quality base.
It's not about saving money is rarity of product.
What do you say? Make sense?

Absolutely makes sense. This is the case about why star sapphires are rarely seen in any large quantity, but have been used by a few designers such as Oscar Heyman who have invested in collecting them over time. Designers in general cannot count on a steady supply of them which would be consistent in quality and size.

 

[Anne111]

Yes, and thinking of it, same goes for standardized colors that come only from treatments. If one needs 500 identical blue sapphires, there is ZERO chance to find them unheated. Basically the complete mass industry depends on treated and shallow gems or synthetics. WOW, what a terrible state of affairs.
Thank God for the internet, again. Today, I can get real gems in unique jewelry.

 

[arkieb1]

Real old cuts look like that, they tended to be flatter cuts with big windows and uneven shapes and faceting. Just like diamonds, gemstones in the olden days were handcut with poor lighting and basic equipment. There has been a trend lately to reproduce the look of real "Antique cut" stones and put them into jewellery. I prefer real antique cut gems to the reproductions, even some with huge windows for what they are especially keeping in mind the history of them can be strikingly beautiful.

And actually I think there are articles on the fact they sometimes put windows on purpose like for example in repressive eras to actually see/view the finger or the neck or whatever through the stone as something sensual and part of how the jewellery overall should appear.

 

[Pinkmartini87]

@arkieb1 Thanks for the wonderful history lesson--gemstones are like archeological exacavations without the dirt, so to speak; what may look like "flaws" to us now may instead simply be a true and valuable historical and socioeconomic reflection of its own time and era. A good reminder for us to remain open minded and know that our own preferences (window or not) are, at the end of the day just that: our own.

A history related follow up question for you @arkieb1 if I may: When DID the trend of "shallow, windowed colored stones" begin to give way to the more current aka precision cutting? This might help me, in the right context of course, to date some of the pieces I see in antique jewelry shops.

@Anne111 Thanks for starting such a great topic and it's interesting to hear everyone's thoughts so far. I actually prefer a slight windowed translucent look in colored stones over the precision cut stones, and I don't think it's because of a consumer knowledge deficit as least for me (since I've been learning avidly on here from all of you!). Case in point, I picked an engagement ring with a windowed stone. Thus I'd like to think that there are probably other people who buy windowed stones because they like the look too, not just that they don't know any better. Different strokes for different folks, I suppose. That's why it's so fun to come on this forum and what everyone else likes! I try to keep an open mind and who knows, maybe I'll see a precision cut stone that will knock my socks off one of these days.

 

[Anne111]

It's OK to love your windowed stones, everybody needs love, but as long as gems are bought for color and luster, windows will be counter-beauty.

 

[arkieb1]

You and anyone else that is interested might find this worth reading;

https://www.gemsociety.org/article/the-history-of-lapidary/

Even today in 3rd world countries they cut gems without the equipment that our modern precision cutters have so that can be why will still get badly cut "native cut" gemstones. I've seen firsthand people cutting gems in Vietnam for example with really really basic equipment and in African countries it is often the same.

In your example however it is a replication of an Antique look that is in fashion rather than specific native cutting.