Have you ever been cheated on a stone?

[pebbles]

A friend of mine went to India a few years ago. Without asking me first, she brought back 2 topazes for me, one a square cut and the other quite large one. I paid for both, and they were rather expensive but I thought they were a good deal. I had the smaller one set in a large nuggety ring setting and just kept the larger one unset, thinking I would make it into a pendant some day. The jeweler who set the ring never said anything about the stone to me. Years later, I wore the ring into a jewelry store and the jeweler took a look at it. He told me that the stone was a hunk of junk, a very poor quality topaz that had been dyed. Well, at least it wasn't glass, LOL.

[mystylady]

ugh that's too bad. What color Topaz was it? I guess you're like me in that we think just because we're honest we expect everyone else to be too, right? It sucks that people take advantage of other people like that. It makes you look at things from a whole different perspective.
Luckily I haven't been cheated on a stone although I've been unsatisfied a few times with items I ordered from JTV which I sent back. They're very good about returns and never make a fuss or ask questions, which I like. If you've ever had to arm wrestle over sending something back, you know what I mean!

[amber]

intresting info.

[amber]

thank you for sharing you.

[pebbles]

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mystylady:
ugh that's too bad. What color Topaz was it? I guess you're like me in that we think just because we're honest we expect everyone else to be too, right? It sucks that people take advantage of other people like that. It makes you look at things from a whole different perspective.
Luckily I haven't been cheated on a stone although I've been unsatisfied a few times with items I ordered from JTV which I sent back. They're very good about returns and never make a fuss or ask questions, which I like. If you've ever had to arm wrestle over sending something back, you know what I mean!
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It was supposed to be a smoky topaz and it turned out to be a poor quality quartz that had been dyed. I should put another stone in the ring but it is a large setting and I hate to spend that much. The unset stone is huge. I guess I could use it as a paper weight, LOL.

Does JTV have a website where you can order? I don't get that channel.

[amber]

Well that was alittle to much info don't ya think ?

[hellokitty]

Pebbles, I think this is the website for that shopping channel.

SPAMSPAMSPAMSPAMSPAMSPAMSPAMSPAMwww.jewelrytelevision.com/

In the wee early hours of the morning, there is a four hour chunk of time dedicated to the Gem and Jewelry Television. I'm wondering if it's the same JTV...

[pebbles]

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hellokitty:
Pebbles, I think this is the website for that shopping channel.

SPAMSPAMSPAMSPAMSPAMSPAMSPAMSPAMwww.jewelrytelevision.com/

In the wee early hours of the morning, there is a four hour chunk of time dedicated to the Gem and Jewelry Television. I'm wondering if it's the same JTV...
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They have some really nice things. Maybe it's just as well that I don't get this chanel, LOL.

[beekeeper]

Here in Denver, we get the channel 24 hours a day, with 1/2 hour chunks taken out for infomercials or local church programming. I'm sure it's different everywhere.

Pebbles, I'm sorry you had a bad experience, but it was very nice of your friend to bring them back for you. Topaz is a stone that is typically irradiated for color enhancement. So is Quartz ... so the jeweler calling it a hunk of junk seems a bit out of line to me. If YOU like the stones that you have, that's what matters IMO.

I've purchased many gems from JTV that have had to go back. But I think we will all be different. We all have different likes and dislikes ... some people like the super light pink kunzite, while others prefer the darker or even lavendar shades. Same with almost all stones.

I've kinda been watching Smokey Quartz lately ... it really does have a huge range of color that is acceptable. For me, I would probably have to buy several stones in the hopes to get one in the shade that I prefer.

[pebbles]

Beekeeper, at that time stones like quartz and zircon were considered almost on the level of glass. No one wanted them and to set in real gold was a waste of gold.

[beekeeper]

Boy ... things have sure changed! I saw a smoky quartz ring the other night on ShopNBC fo $799.

[mystylady]

Yeow that's WAYYY too much for Smoky Quartz! I have several loose stones that range from a Coca-Cola color to almost a light yellowish grey. They can even look greenish, which makes for some interesting guessing games when you're trying to figure out just what the hell it is that you've got! I am getting better at stone identification, but I'm still stumped on so many...

[beekeeper]

I'm all for gorgeous jewelry, but IMO ... ShopNBC is WAY high, most of the time with their prices. I know I know ... designer ... blah blah blah. A 14k gold ring with citrine is a 14k gold ring with citrine. I refuse to pay triple just because some loud mouthed designer puts his name behind something. IMO, the Ramses are the worst! Great styles, but their prices are outlandish! Just why they think they should garner Tiffany or Cartier prices is beyond me.

I'm also all for high end stuff ... but honestly, you don't have to pay high end prices for it! ONE of the many reasons I love JTV.

You really have to have good light when inspecting your gems. I have a couple moldavites that in the wrong light totally look like smoky quartz.

[mystylady]

How right you are! I love looking at my gems in the bright sun coming into the window. Then again you get a whole 'nother perspective from incandescent bulbs & a different one still from fluorescent lights. I wish I had a ceiling full of the lights that they use at the jewelry store! Could you imagine?
How many gems do you have??? It sounds like you have a LOT! Are they loose stones, for the most part? What do you do when you want to make jewelry out of your stones? Do you take it to the jeweler or do you buy castings at JTV? A word of caution!!!! JTV'S STERLING SILVER SNAP TITES TARNISH HORRIBLY! At least their low-end castings & pendant chains do. Another thing to beware of is that once I bought a huge kit with 6 Mozambique Garnets, 6 SS pendant castings AND 6 SS chains. The problem? The chain loop end is too big for the bail on the casting :-P Ironically, THOSE ones DIDN'T tarnish! They just didn't fit! I've had crappy luck with castings for the most part.
Moldavite... is it nicer looking in person than it is on tv? What are ya gonna do with them???
Nothing like a long reply LOL!

[pebbles]

Someone asked me what color my smoky quartz is. It's a light greyish brown. The ring setting is really nice and heavy so I should swap it out. The problem is that the quartz is a large square stone and it would be very expensive to find a good gem in that size and shape.

[mystylady]

Not necessarily Pebbles. If you want to replace your so-so Smoky Quartz with a Gemmy one, they're really reasonable price-wise even in the bigger sizes. Now if you want a huge Tanzanite, you can pay the big buckaroos or you can get
<ta daaa!> an Iolite! When it's set it looks just like a gem quality Tanzanite! There's lots of stones that won't hurt your piggybank especially if you get them from JTV, it's the jeweler's fee I'm thinkin' about, to re-set the stone... is it expensive? I've only dabbled in snap tite castings and am not that great at it, so I can imagine that the complicated real deal must not come cheap. But I don't know, I've never gotten anything set before. I DID get my pearls restrung, or "individually hand re-knotted" and it was almost 40 bones! I can't understand how JTV can afford to sell a hand knotted pearl necklace for half of what I paid just to have mine re-tied!

[pebbles]

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mystylady:
Not necessarily Pebbles. If you want to replace your so-so Smoky Quartz with a Gemmy one, they're really reasonable price-wise even in the bigger sizes. Now if you want a huge Tanzanite, you can pay the big buckaroos or you can get
<ta daaa!> an Iolite! When it's set it looks just like a gem quality Tanzanite! There's lots of stones that won't hurt your piggybank especially if you get them from JTV, it's the jeweler's fee I'm thinkin' about, to re-set the stone... is it expensive? I've only dabbled in snap tite castings and am not that great at it, so I can imagine that the complicated real deal must not come cheap. But I don't know, I've never gotten anything set before. I DID get my pearls restrung, or "individually hand re-knotted" and it was almost 40 bones! I can't understand how JTV can afford to sell a hand knotted pearl necklace for half of what I paid just to have mine re-tied!
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Thanks for all that good, info, mysty. Jewelers around here are pricey. I would need to have some new prong work done and, of course, find a stone I like that fits. I am an admirer of iolites, too. On another thread, I mentioned that I have a 3 stone ring and a tennis bracelet with iolites. They are very close to tanzies. I think I would like an unusual garnet like a spessartite for this ring. It has a heavy nuggetty look, so I need some bright bling in there, I think. Ya got any big old spessartites that you wanna get rid of? ;-))

[mystylady]

I wish! I have a 6x4mm oval Mandarin Orange Spessertite that's SWEEEET but there's a chance that it could be a Sapphire because I noticed "rainbow colors" being dispersed from it and I'm pretty sure that Garnet doesn't disperse anything but degrees of the color that it is... I also have a very dark orange Spessertite in a 9x7 oval. I wish I could snap a shot of it to show ya. I've tried taking digital pics of my Tanzie but they always come out really blurry and dumb looking. :P
Hmmmm.... what size stone is it??? Do you have a MM gauge? If not, 1/2 an inch equals 13 millimeters, so 1/4 inch is 6 and 1/2 millimeters... (duh Trish! Oh that's my name BTW) Let me know the size & I'll look and see what I have in a Princess or Square cut stone. I don't have anything in orange or yellow in a good cut/color square. Blah. I do have some other stones in square/PS cuts but all different sizes.
What are some other alternatives to spessartine? Is it yellow gold?

[beekeeper]

It would be hard to tell a spessartite from an orange sapphire! Maybe those books they constantly talk about would help!

I'm very careful to keep my gems separated ... lol ... ONE time, I put them all together to weigh them to see if I had 100 carats (I did) but it took me forever to separate them out again. I think I still may have my red zircon mixed in with the mozambique garnets! :-(

[pebbles]

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mystylady:
I wish! I have a 6x4mm oval Mandarin Orange Spessertite that's SWEEEET but there's a chance that it could be a Sapphire because I noticed "rainbow colors" being dispersed from it and I'm pretty sure that Garnet doesn't disperse anything but degrees of the color that it is... I also have a very dark orange Spessertite in a 9x7 oval. I wish I could snap a shot of it to show ya. I've tried taking digital pics of my Tanzie but they always come out really blurry and dumb looking. :P
Hmmmm.... what size stone is it??? Do you have a MM gauge? If not, 1/2 an inch equals 13 millimeters, so 1/4 inch is 6 and 1/2 millimeters... (duh Trish! Oh that's my name BTW) Let me know the size & I'll look and see what I have in a Princess or Square cut stone. I don't have anything in orange or yellow in a good cut/color square. Blah. I do have some other stones in square/PS cuts but all different sizes.
What are some other alternatives to spessartine? Is it yellow gold?
www.tvtalkshows.com/board/showpost.php?p=1451142
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[pebbles]

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pebbles:
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mystylady:
I wish! I have a 6x4mm oval Mandarin Orange Spessertite that's SWEEEET but there's a chance that it could be a Sapphire because I noticed "rainbow colors" being dispersed from it and I'm pretty sure that Garnet doesn't disperse anything but degrees of the color that it is... I also have a very dark orange Spessertite in a 9x7 oval. I wish I could snap a shot of it to show ya. I've tried taking digital pics of my Tanzie but they always come out really blurry and dumb looking. :P
Hmmmm.... what size stone is it??? Do you have a MM gauge? If not, 1/2 an inch equals 13 millimeters, so 1/4 inch is 6 and 1/2 millimeters... (duh Trish! Oh that's my name BTW) Let me know the size & I'll look and see what I have in a Princess or Square cut stone. I don't have anything in orange or yellow in a good cut/color square. Blah. I do have some other stones in square/PS cuts but all different sizes.
What are some other alternatives to spessartine? Is it yellow gold?
www.tvtalkshows.com/board/showpost.php?p=1451142
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Yes, it's yellow gold. I have my eye on an imperial topaz right now. The stone I have is about 11 milimeters. I've never seen an orange sapphire but I'll bet they're gorgeous.

For some reason, I am most attracted to green stones. Maybe it's because my birthstone is a peridot and I have green eyes, lol. Anyway, as I mentioned before, my favorite ring is an emerald. It has 3 really good green stones slanting in one direction. There are diamonds in the setting too. It's hard to describe. I would love to have a good sized tzavorite but I don't think that will happen. Did you know that there are green amethysts?

[Valentina]

I've never been cheated on a stone, but I have been cheated on a metal. I have a hardcore nickel allergy, my class we paid for white gold. I had it on for a week when I started breaking out in hives. Turns out it was plated.

[mystylady]

Praisolite! I really like it but I don't like the "quantum cut" that JTV ALWAYS seems to have them in! Do you? I'd for once like to see just a regularly cut stone. It's weird how a gem can go from "never heard of it" to "all over the place", seemingly out of nowhere and overnight... which of course leads to "Better get 'em now folks cuz the mine is almost played out". What??? LOL

Valentina, I can so relate! Is there anything that itches worse than those stupid bumps from wearing cheap jewelry??? Maybe the time I had Chickenpox when I was 30... Horrible!

[beekeeper]

I DESPISE the quantum cut! HSN calls it the Etoille cut. Haven't seen it on ShopNBC or QVC yet ... I hope I never do.

I do have two prasiolites (without the quantum cut) ... LOVE the color.

[pebbles]

I took a good look at this ring. (The one with the dyed quartz in it.)The stone has gold sort of pressed up all around it. It's hard to decribe. No prongs or bezel. It's all part of the nuggety look. I think it wouldn't be too hard for a jeweler to take out the stone and replace it. Another problem is that the setting is closed from the bottom so no light comes through to the stone. I mentioned a laboradorite on another thread. That's one possibility to replace it. I could also get a garnet fairly reasonably.

[beekeeper]

Pebble, what do you think about the Chrome Diopside? Not sure what you want to spend, but they are gorgeous and not nearly as expensive as Tsavorite or Emerald.

Garnet would be pretty ... saw a garnet ring on ShopNBC last night that was spectacular!

[mystylady]

Duck! Here come's my 2 cents worth! lol
Chrome Diopside is a Beautiful Gem! The big thing is to get one that's not too dark. Sometimes they cut them with "too deep" of a Pavillion and that makes them opaque and dull looking, the same way some Blue Sapphires will tend to look (unless it's a Ceylon...)
It's a crap shoot but if you find one that's shown to be lighter in color and crisp, snap that baby up! They look like Top Gem Tsavorite! Oooh La La! You'll fall head-over-heels!

[beekeeper]

WHOA! You almost got me Mysty! ;-)

From her not posting, I think it's fair to say Pebbles doesn't like Chrome Diopside! :-( We tried!

I still think a mozambique garnet would be fantastic! I just love the deep rich red color ... and they aren't very expensive!

[mystylady]

I love Mozambique Garnets! I ordered a kit from JTV once that was 10 7x5mm oval Mozambiques, 10 SS pendant castings and 10 SS 22" pendant chains, all for $64.99! This was back in the Summer of 2004. I couldn't believe the Garnets! They'd practically knock your sox off they were so pretty! I still have some of them... wish I could make my digital camera behave so I could show ya sometime!