Spinels??

[pebbles]

Does anyone know anything about spinels? Are they valuable? They come in many colors; is one color more desireable than another?

[beekeeper]

On the JTV site, the red ones are the most expensive. The pink ones are my faves ... so pretty, and natural in color ... no enhancements!

[mystylady]

I love when they show Spinels! I have a hard time telling them from Garnets. Does anyone know how to tell?

[beekeeper]

Saw a pretty red spinel bracelet this morning on JTV ... in 10kgold ... DAMN!

No idea ... I don't think they can tell either. When they show those parcels ... they throw out a red stone ... it could be a garnet, it could be a spinel, it could be zircon, it could be a labradorite ... they are always so quick to say "this is a red labradorite".

Same with the amethysts ... it could be a purple fluorite ... they look identical to one another ...

Same with citrine ... there are so many yellow stones, how can they be so quick to say what they are ... I think half the time, they just guess ... it's not like we'll ever know if they are wrong!

[mystylady]

I remember when they had those really green (like Tsavorite green) Quartz's in their parcels about 2 years ago and Scott would pick one out and say "Whoa look at this Emerald!" I e-mailed him and told him he could get into trouble for false misrepresentation!

[beekeeper]

lol ... that would be funny to see. I don't know about you Mysty, but I yell at my tv all the time ... LIARS! THATS A LIE! Quit lieing Sharon ... lol ...

It kills me sometimes. They will be showing rubies ... pretty decent rubies ... Very clear, red and pretty pricey. Then they will do a parcel ... "well looky here, look at this big gorgeous ruby (cloudy, pink, little chip) ... gorgeous!

Paleez!

[francesca]

Amen Sister!!! :^ )

[pebbles]

Wouldn't it be considered false advertising if they misrepresented a stone? I think that every stone should be identified correctly. How do you know what you're buying?

[beekeeper]

I totally agree ... I've heard these hosts say themselves that it's hard to tell one stone from another ... you can't tell me that when they are doing the parcels and pointing out stones ... that they are always right. Like Mysty said above, she has seen them be flat out wrong at times ...

Maybe their little statements about "every parcel is different", this is just a representation of what you COULD get ... gets them out of any liability.

[mystylady]

Yes. Unfortunately. It's called CMA, or "Cover My Ass". It's true that no parcel can be identical because of the variety in the "barrel" and the "randomness of the scoop". That doesn't excuse the show hosts of being clueless, however. You would think that they would at least have to take a class or something, wouldn't you? Or that they would have LEARNED SOMETHING from all of the other gems they'd shown before? I swear, if I had the opportunities that they have, to learn so much, I'd be the "sponge of JTV". How some of them just seem to let it slip through their slippery fingers I'll never know.

[mystylady]

P.S.
A lot of the gems in the parcels are soft... a quartz will make mincemeat out of an Apatite, for example. If an Apatite "goes into the barrel" as a smooth clean gem, chances are it will come out looking like it's been "through the mill" or in this case "through the barrel".
When you get your parcel, say 200 carats, they're all in this teeny weeny little plastic envelope-bag. All scraping against each other saying "No, I'M harder on the Mohs! No I AM!!!"

[pebbles]

Great posts, Mysty. I guess it's what they used to call "a pig in a poke." You never know what you are going to get. My guess would be that the best stuff has been taken out. I'd rather use that money toward something good.

[mystylady]

Wasn't that a "box of chocolates, Forrest?"
I do think they "cherry pick" the parcels they show regardless of what they say. Even though I've been lucky with them, I've never been THAT lucky! I hate when they say "someone is going to get this very parcel". Yeah, the guy with the scoop, that's who!