Today's TLV, it's pretty but..

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FarmMom
Posts: 687
Joined: 1 year ago

Re: Today's TLV, it's pretty but..

Post by FarmMom » 1 year ago

Catwoman48 wrote:
1 year ago
FarmMom wrote:
1 year ago
Lacy wrote:
2 years ago
They almost got me. I have not ordered from live tv for a while. Then I saw the tanzanite ring. 49.99. Wow right. Then realized it is set with black rhodium over sterling. Which makes the stones look darker, a nice trick of color enhancement. That is why they show the rings with a black background not white. I'm glad I caught that. And didn't buy it. I have many tanzanite pieces from years ago from them when they were a better network. Not one is set in black rhodium. Not for me.

The only stones I like with black rhodium. black onyx, black spinel or black jade for instance. Just my thoughts. No judging anyone who likes the tanzanite TLV.

Happy shopping if you dare...
Ugh, don't get me STARTED on the tricks! I am a professional YouTuber and video editing is my career, so i KNOW what's possible with color enhancing. I mean, if the diamonds are suppoossed to be WHITE and they are BLUE, that's also a dead giveawy!

Also pay attention to the color of their outfits. often they change between sets, and especially with tanzanite will wear colors to match the stone. If on one shot, they shirt looks deep blue, and the next it looks light violet, well . . .

Also, how on EARTH are they able to snatch up (supoossedly) all the "best quality" AAAA (no such thing by the way, AAA is the top for any gemstone) tanzanite and have HUNDREDS of "perfectly cut, flawless" stones?

It would seem that there would be MORE Tanzanite floating around on store shelves if that much tanzanite were readily available. I don't disagree that their parent company might have a stake in one of the mines, but it's NOT the D-block mine they claim. And they DID claim they bought out this whole mine, which is privately owned by the way, and NOT by a shopping channel. The D block mine produces the best tanzanite out of all the mines with an electric blue color. I mentioned this in a product review once and it got them going on live TV how they bought the whole mine out, lol.

I guess I don't really understand, are there THAT many people out there who are fooled by their trickery?

Is their price fair? Sure. Is it the lowest possible for highest possible quality? HECK NO.

My husband actually bought $5,000 worth of Tanzanite stones and rings (our first purchase). So of course we marched to our local CERTIFIED GIA jeweler (the hosts also mentioned last night that there is NO such thing . . . seriously....). I didn't tell him what I paid, but his price estimation was slightly lower than what I paid, and when I showed him the appriasal sheet, he was shocked. he said no insurance company would EVER accept that estimate and I should send the stone and ring to be properly documented by the GIA institute.

As for the tanzanite, color was merely ok, but the CUT was TERRIBLE. Both stones were heavily chipped, and none of the cuts were symmetrical. Hence his LOWER price quote. The diamonds on the ring were broken too. It was a stunning ring, and to HAVE something like that made would have cost me MORE than buying it from shop LC. But what I bought was NOT close to investment grade.

ALSO,

Tanzanite needs to be over 5 carats to be really considered investment grade. I did end up getting a STUNNING Tanzanite stone online from a reptuable gem company. A 7 carat nice one for the SAME PRICE as the poorly cut 4 carat from shop LC.

But I do have to thank shop LC for introducing new stones to me, and forcing me to do heavy research on stones and what they REALLY are (Turkizite anyone? Pretty sure this is actually color changing glass as their info on it is FULLY FAKE. There is ONE mine in Turkey that produces Csarite and it's privately owned and ALL product is tracked and fully certified. THIS is the mine they claim to get "turkizite" from, which runs about $8,000 a carat (give or take).. look it up!)
I don’t know what to say! I have only succumbed to the Tanzanite siren song a couple of times. Neither the ring nor the stud earrings had the color saturation I was expecting, and the ring was very small in person. Returned them both and have watched a lot of Tanzanite being sold on ShopLC since, but have made no further purchases. I have seen Tanzanite at the Smithsonian, and this wasn’t it.

I became interested in Tanzanite in the 90’s, on TV. Wish I could remember the family name of the two brothers from NYC who introduced it on ShopAtHome…..nice designs, recall the color being nice, too. Couldn’t afford at the time. It is my recollection that the D block flooded out about 2000, maybe earlier, and was CLOSED, no further mining ever being allowed. Tell me I’m wrong….Now it is possible a lot of D block rough was bought up and hoarded at the time. However, the sheer amount of very large stones constantly being hawked on ShopLC always makes me say “Really???” There can’t be that much D block Tanzanite still on the market, especially at “bargain” prices like we are seeing. Something is fishy.

I did order the Asscher cut turkizite stud earrings last month. I found them to be totally without color of any kind and immediately returned them. They looked nothing like they did on TV, in any kind of light. Won’t fall for that again. I know what you mean about the color swatches, but observing Tanzanite or any other gemstone on TV as the host moves around and displays it from different angles will usually show its true color. And that doesn’t even speak to crappy cutting. I wouldn’t give you two cents for any of the GIA certificates. Pure fiction. That includes the one that came with the Morganite ring mentioned above I am still swooning over. Don’t care, I just may not have the fortitude to send that ring back. :shock:

I would love to see it in the Smithsonian!

I too first saw it ages ago on TV, back in the 2000 era. back then it was a blue purple color. Very vibrant, but blue purple.

From what I'm reading, D block has lots of privately run mines, along the lines of hundreds. I didn't see anything about it being closed (other than jewelry shops or gem sellers mentioning this), but did read that it's slowly down simply because they don't ahve the technology to dig deeper. C-block is run by tanzanite one and has a state of the art mining set-up to go down 800 meters. Right now it's a teetering balance between cost to operate vs. price of raw tanzanite.

I had read somewhere that even if the mines did dry up in 10 years, there are at least 20 years worth of raw material to sort through and cut that's already been pulled.

Also, there WAS (suppossedly) another mine in kenya that was discovered, but is being kept very quiet.

Tanzanite One (c-block) is the one that Shop LC and other channels have a stake in. Word on the street is the deeper they mine, the better quality stones they find.

Also, not sure if it's still law, but anything 5 carats or more MUST be cut in tanzania before being exported out of the country. That might explain why they sell so many stones just under 5 carats.


That's a bummer on the Turkizite. It does look pretty. I bought a narspam alexandrite ring (got it under $30 at auction) and it did NOT change color whatsoever. And was VERY broken. BUT . . . it's my step daughter's birthstone, so I was fine paying $30 for it. Interestingly, narsipam alexandrite comes from INDIA, AND usually it's VERY EXCELLENT quality! Turns a beautiful bright blue under light. I'm not sure what trash pile ShopLC got THEIRS from, but they are NOT worth much money. Only the clear color changing ones have value.

The morganite and Kunzite also look very pretty. but I will never again buy anything over $100 from here because there is TOO MUCH deception.

NOR do I like risking my money blowing away in my mailbox . . . my $5,000 worth of tanzanite took 7 days to be delivered (2nd air air? sure. It SAT for 5 days!), and was sitting in MY MAILBOX. That NEEDS TO BE HAND DELIVERED, like my stone from Thailand . . . that arrived in 4 days and delivered signed to my hand.
2 x

Lacy
Posts: 435
Joined: 3 years ago

Re: Today's TLV, it's pretty but..

Post by Lacy » 1 year ago

Has anyone noticed the desks are black now too. They used to be white. Now it will be really hard to tell the actual color of the gemstones.
2 x

Spooky
Posts: 563
Joined: 4 years ago

Re: Today's TLV, it's pretty but..

Post by Spooky » 1 year ago

Lacy wrote:
1 year ago
Has anyone noticed the desks are black now too. They used to be white. Now it will be really hard to tell the actual color of the gemstones.
Yes I’ve noticed this too
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jeanne
Posts: 22
Joined: 4 years ago

Re: Today's TLV, it's pretty but..

Post by jeanne » 1 year ago

I heard what the host said about the GIA appraiser. What she said was that there wasn't a GIA certified jewelry appraiser or words to that effect. She was right. The GIA has several "degrees" . The host in question actually has a G.G. (Graduate Gemologist) which is what an appraiser should be. The GIA does have other degrees (https://www.gia.edu/gem-education/programs-courses) also but the one the host referenced is not one of them. The title the "appraiser" gave seemed like it was one of those where someone is trying to pad their resume.

The tanzanite ratings system is ambiguous at best. The GIA has a system but it is so complicated it is almost impossible to translate into real world data. There are a bunch of other ones too with varying reliability. One of the things that makes me crazy is that some of the hosts misspeak about the certifications. At least one keeps saying GIA when it is IGI. IGI is ok but not as reputable as GIA.

I have gotten several loose stones from shop LC and been very happy with them. I am very skeptical of the tanzanite since it is such a high cost. I have gotten most of my stones from a well respected gem cutter within the US. He is always a source of information and fun facts. One of them is that blue zircon is always cut in the country in which it is mined. He recuts them before he sells them. Maybe it is the same for Tanzanite.

Funny thing - I was watching one of the other shopping channels and the hosts were rhapsodizing over their tanzanite. They kept saying "the color!, the color!. I had to laugh because the color looked like light amethyst. So I think the oversell is a function of TV shopping in general.
1 x

DiamondGoddess
Posts: 114
Joined: 2 years ago

Re: Today's TLV, it's pretty but..

Post by DiamondGoddess » 1 year ago

jeanne wrote:
1 year ago
I heard what the host said about the GIA appraiser. What she said was that there wasn't a GIA certified jewelry appraiser or words to that effect. She was right. The GIA has several "degrees" . The host in question actually has a G.G. (Graduate Gemologist) which is what an appraiser should be. The GIA does have other degrees (https://www.gia.edu/gem-education/programs-courses) also but the one the host referenced is not one of them. The title the "appraiser" gave seemed like it was one of those where someone is trying to pad their resume.

The tanzanite ratings system is ambiguous at best. The GIA has a system but it is so complicated it is almost impossible to translate into real world data. There are a bunch of other ones too with varying reliability. One of the things that makes me crazy is that some of the hosts misspeak about the certifications. At least one keeps saying GIA when it is IGI. IGI is ok but not as reputable as GIA.

I have gotten several loose stones from shop LC and been very happy with them. I am very skeptical of the tanzanite since it is such a high cost. I have gotten most of my stones from a well respected gem cutter within the US. He is always a source of information and fun facts. One of them is that blue zircon is always cut in the country in which it is mined. He recuts them before he sells them. Maybe it is the same for Tanzanite.

Funny thing - I was watching one of the other shopping channels and the hosts were rhapsodizing over their tanzanite. They kept saying "the color!, the color!. I had to laugh because the color looked like light amethyst. So I think the oversell is a function of TV shopping in general.
Excellent info!

I think they gas their customers up as "collectors " while hoping no one really knows anything and will fall for their sales techniques.

I like that term "oversell".

Not everything is fabulous but you wouldn't know that watching shopping channels!

:lol:
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