Fake Photos on Website

[WTFarmGirl]

I don't poke around much, but yesterday I happened to pop on to the site and they advertised loose gemstones, so I took a gander.

Hmm... how odd their 1ct tanzanites look SO BLUE. Gosh I'd almost say that looks JUST LIKE the 9ct stone they had on a while back!

. . . . it WAS. As I scrolled down, I realized they had "repeat images" of all the stones, and no matter WHAT SIZE tanzanite you ordered, it had the SAME PHOTO. Worse yet, the photo likely WAS of a SLC stone and I feel bad for the poor soul that bought that one . . . it's VERY poorly cut, the facets do not at ALL line up. Proof that "Tony and his team of cutters" don't know what they are doing, and to think of all the quality tanzite they downgraded due to poor cuts...

Now I'm sure MANY companies use dummy photos on their website. Most any jewelry computer program can craft your ring up in 3D and put "their stone" into it in whatever color you want. But LOOSE STONES, especially tanzanite where the color varies GREATLY between sizes, is very much false advertising when a random photo is recycled over and over.

[joshuatheemerald]

The bait-and-switch here is terrible! I’m not very much into the loose stones but I’m sure those who are like you FarmGirl have an eye for it and can see right through the trickery!

The “fake” thing about LC that has always gotten me is when they show the comparison pricing on the shows and the “website” they are showing is clearly a false mockup of something they’ve tried to make look like Walmart, or Wayfair, etc. I always laugh when there is a misspelling or the photo is the same photo that LC is using on their website AND the “comparison” sites! Come on guys, as Mr C would say!!

[WTFarmGirl]

Yeah, I don't know what they are thinking. Why not show someone else's real site with name fuzzed out and show us REAL price differences instead of fake ones? Makes me think they are not cutting an actual deal...

[CDK]

I'm one of those poor suckers...I paid 299.99 each for those 1 carat Tanzanites...The Pear and Cushion look like a 3rd preschooler cut it...I should have sent them back...Now, the round carat is beautiful...however, they look smaller than a carat...I still didn't learn lesson , so then I bought the 3 carat for 1234.00...it took my breath away...it kills me when I see Tony and Marva ohhhing and awing over the 1 carats...

[WTFarmGirl]

One of their tricks to make a lower quality stone look "better" is to cut it too deep. I had a loose 4ct I had bought from them (and a 3ct in a ring) and the 4ct was cut very deep and too girthy to even be mounted. Both had mis aligned facets, and the ring was over polished to the point of looking like a cab instead of faceted. Fortunately I had taken them to a jeweler to be appraised and he pointed out the issues. Both were returned!

I've seen a lot of stones go through their presentations, and almost all are cut too deep. Depth should be no more than 2x width.

The worst part is, I have probably almost 2,000 loose gems and NONE of the faceting jobs look as bad as the SLC gems.

[CDK]

WTFarmGirl Hey there! Gemstones are addicting...Where else is a good place for loose gemstones? I used to do ebay 20 years ago but now I feel most sellers are untrustworthy...I just won a few 8.5 carat Amethyst hearts from SLC and they are gorgeous...I'm still trying to get a good deal on a Morganite, Kunzite and a Turkizite

[WTFarmGirl]

WTFarmGirl Hey there! Gemstones are addicting...Where else is a good place for loose gemstones? I used to do ebay 20 years ago but now I feel most sellers are untrustworthy...I just won a few 8.5 carat Amethyst hearts from SLC and they are gorgeous...I'm still trying to get a good deal on a Morganite, Kunzite and a Turkizite

@CDK

If you don't mind my asking, what did you pay at auction for the amethysts? I have bought lots over the last year, ranging in size from 8ct-65ct, price currently going for amethysts and citrine are around $1/ct or well cut exceptional stones for $3/ct. But usually I snipe my bidds in and get mine for $1-6 each TOTAL for the stone. The 65ct I nabbed for approx $55.

I have pawed through ebay. Lots of sellers who have zero knowledge on gems OR minerals. Etsy is a BIT better, but still lots of the same.

My preferred site is Gem Rock Auctions. I only bought ONE fake, a lovely "topaz" at 53ct. Turned out to be glass. While the seller argued it was real, I sent him proof of my testing and he promptly refunded my money. I ended up buying lots of Nurielite from him later on. My best advice is to pick out 2 or so gems you REALLY want from ONE seller, and when they list a bunch of lower priced "clearance stones" then you swoop in and grab everything. Shipping can be upwards of $50 (it's FAST though, no more than 10 days usually), so you want to really make it worthwhile. or check shipping prices ahead of time and choose a vendor with lower shipping. I also check reviews and feedback too!

Most will let you combine shipping within 3 days! PLUS they have 2 other sister sites too I've bought HOARDS of loose opals for dirt cheap, plus opal rough and koroit opals Sadly no Zultanite as Zultanite is strictly controlled unless its the black market stuff Lots of Kunzite for dirt cheap and Morganite. I have not pursued any Morganite yet . . . and no one is really selling RUSSIAN Chrome Diopside since no one does business with Russia. Lots of nice tourmaline and sapphires.

BUT BE AWARE . . . these are NON-STANDARD SIZE STONES, so any mount must be CUSTOM MADE. My dumb self had conversed with an Etsy ring mount seller who assured me I could fit an off sized stone into a mount if it was close enough in size. THAT is incorrect and it looks STUPID. SOOOOO, I ended up having to swallow my pride and design everything from the ground up for EACH gemstone. VERY time consuming, and the only way to profit off your items is to either sell exceptionally high, or design and print them yourself and send off to be cast.

THANKFULLY SLC does sell standard size gemstones (at least from what I saw). It's likely things like Tanzanite are also non standard, and Michelle's ill suited advice once on TV to buy a ring on SLC and pop out the existing stone and pop in a new one is beyond ridiculous.

Also be warned, they all "talk" and word will spread on what you like to buy, and they will track you down OFF the site to sell through Instagram, FB or Whatsapp. Which I kinda of like, saves me the hassle of looking, but it's a bit stalker-ish