Gem treatments

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Lacy
Posts: 435
Joined: 3 years ago

Gem treatments

Post by Lacy » 10 months ago

They should just say so. If the stones are heat treated, irradiated, Fissure filled or Dyed. Or any other treatments they may do. And price them accordingly. So we know exactly what we are buying. Some of us can't afford the untreated stones. I bought a 3ct niassa ruby from LC years ago. They explained the treatments back then and I still bought it. It's pretty and I didn't pay a lot for it. I think it was 49.00. I don't buy jewelry for investments. They probably would sell more if they were honest.
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FarmMom
Posts: 687
Joined: 1 year ago

Re: Gem treatments

Post by FarmMom » 10 months ago

I have noticed that anything LIVE, does not mention treatments. It's not until AFTER an item is aired that it discloses treatments.

With that said, they don't always disclose them, or list the correct ones.

On a side note, jewelry, unless it is designer, is NOT an investment. Period. The only exception might be rare stones, but not all of them are, only the best of the best. That's why people amass large collections, that's the ONLY way to make it an investment, but you still have to have someone to SELL it to, or it's just a big pile. Every relative I've known had their jewelry either given away or dumped. Unless you explain to others what everything is worth, and unless they FEEL like taking the time to investigate after you die, it's worthless.

Running numbers for the newly discovered stone I had been buying, I decided to take a risk and invest in them. I bought them for $2/carat, but I bought so far 250 stones. If they later sell for $4 a carat, I could double my money, but it's nothing crazy. If they sell for $100 a carat, well now we are talking. If they end up being recognized in the gem world, they could go for $500 a carat. THAT'S an investment.

But after running the numbers I realized what investing in gemstones actually meant.

It's a gamble, but at the very worst I call sell them for $4/carat in my giftshop as jewelry, even if the gem world takes no notice of them.

My mother in law spent $3,000 on gold coins as an investment claiming in 20 years it will be worth $65,000/ounce. Pretty far fetched, and few would be willing to pay those kind of prices. More likely, it may be worth $6,000 in 20 years.

But I still say the best investment is real estate. But it also requires more work and background knowledge. Gold is just easy to buy.
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Druid
Posts: 283
Joined: 4 years ago

Re: Gem treatments

Post by Druid » 10 months ago

I noticed different information from this company about the stone treatments on ebay (where they also sell their items) for the same item they have on their site.
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MaeWest1953
Posts: 863
Joined: 3 years ago

Re: Gem treatments

Post by MaeWest1953 » 10 months ago

Howdy Lacy, FarmMom and Druid.....

I love all the good info that you three have shared :)
Makes me wonder just what is the real truth regarding those "rare" stones the Host are hawking on ShopLC
They say many times that this or that stone is really a rare or hard to find item

So scary when I am learning the truth here instead of the place I should be learning about it......SHOPLC
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FarmMom
Posts: 687
Joined: 1 year ago

Re: Gem treatments

Post by FarmMom » 10 months ago

MaeWest1953 wrote:
10 months ago
Howdy Lacy, FarmMom and Druid.....

I love all the good info that you three have shared :)
Makes me wonder just what is the real truth regarding those "rare" stones the Host are hawking on ShopLC
They say many times that this or that stone is really a rare or hard to find item

So scary when I am learning the truth here instead of the place I should be learning about it......SHOPLC
This is quite true. Many rare stones are rare, but not the ones they sell. Grandidierite for example. It IS very expensive, but what they sell is the crap end of them. True grandidierite looks more like a pariaba tourmaline, cleana nd crisp and bright. I abut spit out my coffe one day when they were presenting it and talkuing about waving it around and people asking what it was. But honestly, you'd look like an idiot to wave it around not KNOWING someone in your group KNOWS grandidierite and would be laughing at how proud you were of a low quality stone . . .

Or petalite . . . also a very rare stone, and from I've read, hard to cut as it tends to shatter. HOWEVER, ShopLC DYES their petalite . . . which likely ruins any value. It's pretty, but that's it. While the stone as a whole is rare, for whatever reason it's not popular, and I think ShopLC does it a great disservice to color it and sell it cheap.

Tahitian pearls . . . there is a LOT that goes into a collectable pearl vs a decent pearl. Color, glow, texture, etc etc. Not an investment I'd shop with the LC.

The problem too, is quality is impossible to police. When someone sells in such large quantities, there will ALWAYS be poor examples mixed in, or treated stones sold as untreated. They cannot check every stone. I've read reports of people buying groups of cubic zirconia and finding actual diamonds mixed in. Sometimes it accidental, sometimes purposely.

Anytime you buy from a large company that does not sell direct (TV is NOT direct), you take a gamble. I just received my moonstone necklace in the mail. It was AWFUL. I cannot return it. It had no blue flash and only a tiny line of rainbow on one side. Overall it LOOKED CHEAP. Glad I didn't pay $100 for it, but even $50 seemed too much. But knowing moonstones, I had been leery of this happening. The first two auction rings I got were good . . but I struck out on the third buy . . .
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