Enough with the Tanzanite already

[Spinoza]

What’s with the never ending supply of Tanzanite? “Hurry buy it, hurry buy it!” WHY? SLC must have enough to sell for 100 yrs or more. It’s on just about every show (other than the Under $10 shows). Yeah, it’s a nice blue stone but I’m sick of seeing it. Something’s shady about a stone that’s not being mined yet the SLC supply seems endless… The imaginary Modani and the arrogant Mr T must have elves making it in their basements…

[Lanai]

Well said. I concur!!!

[WTFarmGirl]

Whats worse is the quality is going down. They had "AAAA" 15ct stones on there that looked "AAA".

[CDK]

I love me some Tanzanite...but yes I agree, the 15 carat Tanzi did not look like AAAA...neither do the 1 carats...I bought a 1.75 carat Tanzanite 20 years ago for 250.00...It was the color of a blueberry with true red flashes...I have yet to see this color again, even on shop LC...

[joshuatheemerald]

Admittedly I do not buy a lot of jewelry other than costume type pieces as gifts, but one thing has struck me reading comments from fellow members who are more informed than me about gems and precious metals…

LC touts that they manufacture their own jewelry, which, is actually not a great “feature” or selling point in my opinion because there is no one to check their validity on the claims of gem clarity or metal quality. I think someone here even said that the certifications they use are not a reputable company. Sorry I can’t speak more on it, but maybe someone else can chime in and explain these points better?

[WTFarmGirl]

Admittedly I do not buy a lot of jewelry other than costume type pieces as gifts, but one thing has struck me reading comments from fellow members who are more informed than me about gems and precious metals…

LC touts that they manufacture their own jewelry, which, is actually not a great “feature” or selling point in my opinion because there is no one to check their validity on the claims of gem clarity or metal quality. I think someone here even said that the certifications they use are not a reputable company. Sorry I can’t speak more on it, but maybe someone else can chime in and explain these points better?

Correct. When I brought my tanzanite and "certification" card in to a jeweler to have a second opinion on appraisal (I didn't show him or tell him about the card until he gave his input AND explained why he assessed it as such). AGI is the company they use, and I have YET to run into any other gem seller that uses this company. They are not regarded as being "accurate" and many question their credibility as GIA certified. The jeweler stated no insurance company would regard their assessment as valid and I'd be better off sending everything to GIA FIRST to be certified in QUALITY, then send to another company to have the appraisal done in conjunction with the correct certification card.

He pointed out that it's a conflict of interests to both assess quality AND monetary value, and certainly AGI was suffering as their assessment was far from correct. It was listed as 'excellent cut" despite facets being crooked, the belly too large and the top facets over polished to almost a cabochon smoothness. And the shape shown along with the carat weight were incorrect. If this was an excellent cut, I cannot imagine what a "poor cut" would look like.

AGI mostly caters to large companies to mass produce certifications. While they do work with individual customers, more often than not these customers leave quite unhappy (according to online reviews).

yes, SLC manufactures most of their items, however I find this to be a fault, not a benefit. While it does lower the price, it also lowers the quality.

[Spinoza]

@joshuatheemerald @WTFarmGirl

Bravo! Excellent points and info!

Would also like to add that appraisals aren’t worth a hill of beans except to inflate what it will cost you to insure the item. The only price you should pay attention to is what similar items are actually being BOUGHT for because that’s the REAL value of your item.

[WTFarmGirl]

@joshuatheemerald @WTFarmGirl

Bravo! Excellent points and info!

Would also like to add that appraisals aren’t worth a hill of beans except to inflate what it will cost you to insure the item. The only price you should pay attention to is what similar items are actually being BOUGHT for because that’s the REAL value of your item.

Well said!

[Lanai]

Agree with everyone. Wanted to add that from the AGI Appraisal Cards that I have seen , it is always the Same Gemologist's Name on the Card which have supposedly done these Certs and Appraisals. I have seen enough of them to have drawn this conclusion as well as to question not only Validity but also to make me wonder if this is a person on the SLC pay role. Just my opinion.

[WTFarmGirl]

Agree with everyone. Wanted to add that from the AGI Appraisal Cards that I have seen , it is always the Same Gemologist's Name on the Card which have supposedly done these Certs and Appraisals. I have seen enough of them to have drawn this conclusion as well as to question not only Validity but also to make me wonder if this is a person on the SLC pay role. Jist my opinion.

How very curious Lanai!

Would you be willing to share the name on the cards you have? I only have one card here as I no longer buy expensive items from SLC (for this reason). I'd love to check mine and see!