Buying Flaws for Beginners

[Edward Bristol]

Most aspiring gem-lovers are overwhelmed by the depth and width of the market. If they have been confused in a B&M jeweler, a quick web-search is going to do the rest. But, alas, there is no competence for the lazy. Selecting antiques, real estate or vintage cars requires homework too.

101 buying guides offer good reading and places like this help. Be prepared to spend weeks in a fog but do not despair. Collecting gems is a passion and the learning never ends.

Here is a fresh perspective for the determined beginner. It comes out of a thousand discussions with early stage buyers and their consecutive decisions.

First allow this axiom: “No natural gem is perfect.”

The deeper your knowledge the better your choices will get, but there is no final word. All veterans know this.

Consider that 95% of what comes out of a mine goes straight back into the pit. Most rough material is too small, too included, too dull or too unshapely to be cut into gemstones.

Only the remaining 5% make it into sales and they all are flawed.

It is those flaws that need attention: Evaluating gemstones means recognizing imperfection.

Here is an exemplary list of common flaws rated with negative numbers:

1. Clarity: From lens-only bubbles (-1) to visible black inclusions (-3)
2. Window: From small and symmetric (-2) to big and uneven (-5)
3. Color-zoning: From faint (-1) to dramatic (-2)
4. Cutting: From not-precise (-2) to native egg-shape (-5)
5. Treatment: From heat-only (-1) to surface coating (-10)
6. Color: From off-ideal (-1) to pale or dark (-5)

Remarks:
1) A terrible gem could here, theoretically, make it to minus 30. Yuk!
2) Color includes tone and hue

This individual list has no fixed reference. You can add or disregard issues or give reverse ratings. It needs to look different for cat’s eyes, pairs or color changers; in fact, the list will look different for every single purchase.

Professionals make this kind of evaluation automatically and in seconds.

You need not to be that fast. Also, you need not think of anything other than what you want or like; and that is entirely up to you. You may find a specific color perfect and some treatment acceptable while other buyers might not be interested in the same stone for half the price.

As always, if you want what everybody wants you need to dig deeper.

Imagine the one elusive but perfect stone: It would have no window (not even a tilt window), be free of inclusions but not synthetic, have no color-zoning, sport an art-full precision-cut, be untreated and have exactly the hue you want it in and in exactly the right tone. Plus, it needs be in the desired size and shape, have ideal proportions, be of your preferred origin and have a perfect certificate. And it must be for sale at an affordable rate.

Back to reality: On the one side we have a set of negotiable flaws. On the other side we have restrictions in budget and time. A successful purchase needs to balance these two sides (only eternity or unlimited budgets are excused).

Practically, you might be shopping for a round yellow sapphire in 2 carats and you need to order soon. The web shows legitimate offers between 250 and 2000.

Study the flaws that make the difference between 250 and 2000.

A terrible window may bring you from 2000 to 1000, a pale hue downs it to 500 and heat may bring you to 250.

Below 250 (e.g. bad window, pale, BE-treated and included) the definition of gem-quality sapphire gets shaky.

If you like numbers you may actually chart your alternatives with prices and flaws on a rough scale.

In the end, I advice to follow your heart, not the numbers.

Remember: “There is always a better one”.

 

[LD]

Ed - if I bought by numbers I'd end up highly confused! For beginners how would they be able to tell the difference between a small window and a bigger window? It's impossible. People should use their eyes and buy what pleases them and, as you say, follow their heart!

My advise is to buy:-

(a) a stone they are attracted to
(b) be aware of any treatments that have been applied - so they know whether something is priced well or not and how to look after it
(c) from a vendor with a good returns policy so they can return it if the stone appears to be different from the vendor's photo

The only research that I believe newbies should do is to look up gems and how to care for them and then be aware of the different treatment levels and what is acceptable to them?

I totally agree with you that very few gemstones are perfect - unlike our diamond collectors who look for perfection. Looking for flawless coloured gemstones means you rule out about 95%!

 

[T L]

Of course no natural gem is perfect. As for the "following your heart" comment, I often followed my heart when I first started collecting and ended up buying some real duds. With education, and learning about the myriad of variables that make up a gem, I think it's less a risk to follow your heart, as your heart won't allow you to end up with an uneducated, overpriced, and poor purchase. For example, if you want a certain stone, and you have your heart set on it, then by all means buy it, but do not do so without knowledge of all the risks and pitfalls of that particular gemstone purchase. I also feel it's very important to see as much of that particular gemstone species, and the hues you're interested in as well. For example, one should not purchase a tsavorite without seeing many kinds of examples, especially if they never saw a single tsavorite in person ever.

 

[kenny]

In the end, I advice to follow your heart, not the numbers.

Horrible advice, especially coming from someone who sells colored gems.

You might as well tell us to stay ignorant and just buy whatever a vendor offers.

I say, follow your head and get as educated as possible about what all the numbers mean.

Sure we are buying the stone, not the report, but the report and the numbers help establish what the price should be.

The less you learn the more likely you are to overpay for inferior goods.

 

[Pandora II]

I can see your point Kenny, but if you have a limited budget then it is all about compromise. If you get too bogged down in the detail of what makes a perfect stone then you can easily miss some 'good enough' stones.

A small window may close up in a setting, an inclusion that looks HUGE in a static photograph may be invisible to the naked eye, a colour that is less than premium may be just what makes the person's heart beat faster but might they be put off because it's deemed too dark or too pale?

Ed says in his post that it's important to understand why one stone is $200 and another $2,000 - so he's not saying people should remain ignorant. But at the beginning it's very easy to think that the coloured stone game is way too hard with too many variables and not many rules that people can be put off very quickly from buying anything at all.

 

[sapphirering]

See, I read Ed's post to mean buy what you truly like, and not buy according to what the experts or the market dictate as desirable. Of course overpaying is a bad thing. But people who find this forum to educate themselves are (hopefully) savvy enough to not overpay for a gemstone. The way I see it, there's value, and then there's preference. I come to the CS forum to educate myself and to determine what is the right value for the gemstones that I prefer.

Yes, taste does evolve as you gain more CS knowledge. But I think sometimes the old timers here forget that not everyone has the resources nor the desire to devote a lot of time to studying the world of gemology. For some of us newbies/lurkers, we just want to buy a stone that we like, and we want to make sure that we don't overpay. And that's it. In my case, I have a very strong understanding of my color preference. (I'm a photographer). If I collected gemstones, I would probably be more into buying the premium colors. But I'm not interested in collecting. I know what colors I like to wear, and if they are not considered premium it really doesn't bother me. As long as I pay a fair price for a stone, I'm happy. I know I'll never have a stone that makes the aficionados go ooh and aah and I'm fine with that.

Having said that, the CS forum is invaluable for those of us who seeks real-life opinions. I really do value all of the posts here. I personally think this is the best, most educational forum on PS. I admire all the passion and generosity of the regular contributors here. So thank you.

 

[T L]

See, I read Ed's post to mean buy what you truly like, and not buy according to what the experts or the market dictate as desirable. Of course overpaying is a bad thing. But people who find this forum to educate themselves are (hopefully) savvy enough to not overpay for a gemstone. The way I see it, there's value, and then there's preference. I come to the CS forum to educate myself and to determine what is the right value for the gemstones that I prefer.

Yes, taste does evolve as you gain more CS knowledge. But I think sometimes the old timers here forget that not everyone has the resources nor the desire to devote a lot of time to studying the world of gemology. For some of us newbies/lurkers, we just want to buy a stone that we like, and we want to make sure that we don't overpay. And that's it. In my case, I have a very strong understanding of my color preference. (I'm a photographer). If I collected gemstones, I would probably be more into buying the premium colors. But I'm not interested in collecting. I know what colors I like to wear, and if it's not the considered premium it really doesn't bother me. As long as I pay a fair price for a stone, I'm happy. I know I'll never have a stone that makes the aficionados go ooh and aah and I'm fine with that.

Having said that, the CS forum is invaluable for those of us who seeks real-life opinions. I really do value all of the posts here. I personally think this is the best, most educational forum on PS. I admire all the passion and generosity of the regular contributors here. So thank you.

If you're looking to spend a great deal of money on a particular gem, here's my advice (which I understand may differ from others, and that's fine).

1) Find the color you love the most
2) Find out all the species of gems that have that color (for example, if you love green, look up emerald, tourmaline, peridot, tsavorite)
3) Find out about all the potential treatments, durability, price ranges, photos, and see which one of those gems has the optimal combination of variables for you.
4) Once you've decided on that particular gem, try if you can to get to a gem show to see as many examples in person. If not, then as many photos as you can. For example, if you have your heart set on tsavorite, then try to do that.

For any gemstone purchase, I don't think it's too difficult to understand the basics of color by learning about hue, saturation and tone. Those three variables play an extremely important role in any colored gemstone purchase.

One need not learn about every single gemstone species to buy a gem, but they should single out what they love. Sometimes, you can go to a show and find a gemstone that you're entirely not looking for, and fall in love with it, then find out what you can about it. I feel that sapphires/rubies are the most difficult of gemstone purchases, and definitely not for the beginner without lots of homework, so a garnet might be easier to find. In any case, when someone is buying a car, they do their research, and I cannot imagine not doing the research for any other expensive purchase.

If you're only spending a small amount, then do so with the caveat that you might be buying a treated stone, or even a synthetic. A

 

[Kim Bruun]

As for the "following your heart" comment, I often followed my heart when I first started collecting and ended up buying some real duds.

That is very comforting to know. Makes me feel better about my own duds. When I first started collecting, there were so many things I wasn't aware of. I bought a native cut sapphire with the most beautiful pink colour I've ever seen. Then I learned about windowing - and lo and behold, my shallow sapphire has quite a big one!

I've also bought the smaller of two similar stones to save a few hundred dollars on a couple of occasions. The lesson learned is that sometimes, bigger is better. Make fewer and better purchases.

And then there are the Internet duds... Oh my... Can you say extinction and grayish saturation? Man, some vendors really know how to photograph their stones to make them prettier than IRL, and some are generous with their descriptions ("this spinel is similar to tanzanite in colour." - yes it is, if tanzanite was the colour of wet newspaper). Lesson learned: Don't be afraid to ask to return something that you don't like.

I believe you need to make a few mistakes to learn what you like and to refine your taste. Just make sure you learn from your mistakes.

 

[T L]

Just make sure you learn from your mistakes.

That is the best advice I think - and I often see people repeating the same mistakes in purchasing gems. It's upsetting to see that, especially when there's a lot of money involved. We can take this one piece of advice into so many aspects of our life as well, but that's another place, another thread.

 

[minousbijoux]

You know different people have different learning styles. I learn from my experiences, good and bad. Some people don't need to go through the process to learn, but can do so from reading about how to go about it/what to do. For those of us who learn from first hand experience, mistakes are often part of the package. It might sound odd, but since I learned from them, I appreciate the mistakes I've made.

 

[movie zombie]

if a stone doesn't speak to me its usually because it does not meet the criteria for my now developed eye......yes, i follow my heart but my heart sees through my developed eye.

 

[Edward Bristol]

In the end, I advice to follow your heart, not the numbers.

Horrible advice, especially coming from someone who sells colored gems.

You might as well tell us to stay ignorant and just buy whatever a vendor offers.

I fail to understand, Kenny. That is not what my post was about. On the contrary!

Again, you pick-out one, rather prosaic and peripheral, sentence and bounce on it with all negativity.

Kindness, tolerance and a positive attitude used to be more common here.

 

[chrono]

While I love playing with numbers and clear definition of grading, buying by the numbers in this case might end up more confusing. Even as it is, there is no general consensus to using the GIA colour grading although it was attempted once. I still like and use the system for the most part though. The problem is with consistency here; how is an experienced or beginner expected to know how to grade each category from minus whatever to whatever? It is not an issue for someone experienced but when a newbie has not seen many examples, perhaps what is rightly a -1 might be incorrectly thought of as a 2.

I don't mind the follow your heart advice as long as the mind has clearly evaluated the pros and cons of the gem. There is nothing worse than buying anything without thinking it through as objectively as possible.

 

[movie zombie]

.......I don't mind the follow your heart advice as long as the mind has clearly evaluated the pros and cons of the gem. There is nothing worse than buying anything without thinking it through as objectively as possible.

amen.

 

[sapphirering]

See, I read Ed's post to mean buy what you truly like, and not buy according to what the experts or the market dictate as desirable. Of course overpaying is a bad thing. But people who find this forum to educate themselves are (hopefully) savvy enough to not overpay for a gemstone. The way I see it, there's value, and then there's preference. I come to the CS forum to educate myself and to determine what is the right value for the gemstones that I prefer.

Yes, taste does evolve as you gain more CS knowledge. But I think sometimes the old timers here forget that not everyone has the resources nor the desire to devote a lot of time to studying the world of gemology. For some of us newbies/lurkers, we just want to buy a stone that we like, and we want to make sure that we don't overpay. And that's it. In my case, I have a very strong understanding of my color preference. (I'm a photographer). If I collected gemstones, I would probably be more into buying the premium colors. But I'm not interested in collecting. I know what colors I like to wear, and if it's not the considered premium it really doesn't bother me. As long as I pay a fair price for a stone, I'm happy. I know I'll never have a stone that makes the aficionados go ooh and aah and I'm fine with that.

Having said that, the CS forum is invaluable for those of us who seeks real-life opinions. I really do value all of the posts here. I personally think this is the best, most educational forum on PS. I admire all the passion and generosity of the regular contributors here. So thank you.

If you're looking to spend a great deal of money on a particular gem, here's my advice (which I understand may differ from others, and that's fine).

1) Find the color you love the most
2) Find out all the species of gems that have that color (for example, if you love green, look up emerald, tourmaline, peridot, tsavorite)
3) Find out about all the potential treatments, durability, price ranges, photos, and see which one of those gems has the optimal combination of variables for you.
4) Once you've decided on that particular gem, try if you can to get to a gem show to see as many examples in person. If not, then as many photos as you can. For example, if you have your heart set on tsavorite, then try to do that.

For any gemstone purchase, I don't think it's too difficult to understand the basics of color by learning about hue, saturation and tone. Those three variables play an extremely important role in any colored gemstone purchase.

One need not learn about every single gemstone species to buy a gem, but they should single out what they love. Sometimes, you can go to a show and find a gemstone that you're entirely not looking for, and fall in love with it, then find out what you can about it. I feel that sapphires/rubies are the most difficult of gemstone purchases, and definitely not for the beginner without lots of homework, so a garnet might be easier to find. In any case, when someone is buying a car, they do their research, and I cannot imagine not doing the research for any other expensive purchase.

If you're only spending a small amount, then do so with the caveat that you might be buying a treated stone, or even a synthetic. A

Thank you TL. Yes, I pretty much followed your steps 1-4, except I did not attend gem shows. (I would love to attend one if there happens to be one in the Bay Area, CA, but honestly I wouldn't make an effort to go out of town for one.)

.......I don't mind the follow your heart advice as long as the mind has clearly evaluated the pros and cons of the gem. There is nothing worse than buying anything without thinking it through as objectively as possible.

amen.

Yes, +1. In RT, all the regulars advise newbies to look for excellent/ideal cut first. There are still some who buy a lesser cut in order to get a bigger rock. As long as they made an educated, informed decision, I think the forum has done its duty. I see some parallel here. I think it's important for newbies to first have a color that they'd like to seek out, come here to do research and yes, see top/premium colors just to know what's out there. Learn about all the potential pitfalls of buying a CS. Find out what you can/cannot compromise on (maybe someone will want a better color and go down in size, or maybe someone decided that a bit of inclusion, even visible, actually adds some character in their eye), and then hopefully finds the right stone within three lunar cycles.

I think that's one thing that surprised me the most about shopping for a CS. I didn't anticipate how long the search would be. In many ways, I knew that if I hadn't come on the CS forum to learn, I probably would have bought my first sapphire online within a week. But I'm glad that I did my research and I'm really happy with my choice. I don't think I'm now on a holy grail to keep buying better and better sapphires because although I really enjoy CS, I just want to wear them as accessories. But I still lurk around because I have a newfound appreciation of just how rare and special these beauties are.