I get e-mails from people who buy gemstones all the time. I am not a gemstone kinda guy…I just cringe when I think about my gem crystals being ground down! So, I don’t have many tips for you that haven’t been handed down to me from others.
If you are buying a rare gem stone and want to make sure that you are getting what you paid for, how about getting it cut yourself?
If you want good quality cut stones, why try and buy cheap stuff off eBay? Personally, I wouldn’t trust cheap gemstones for the sole reason, there is an entire market out there set about fooling you! Some person from Thailand isn’t really going to be too worried telling you that they are 100% honest, non-treated…when in that culture, it just doesn’t work that way. It doesn’t matter to them if they are lying to you. In fact, they just assume that they have to do that to get you to give them your trust. With the conusmerist programing we have had, we are all too willing to give our trust to someone right away when they tell us those buzzwords. The person with the screaming deals and the gemstones at stupid low prices have them that way because they DON’T know what they have.
Just deal with a reputable dealer(s) that you know on a face to face basis. If I was buying gemstones that is what I would do.
If I just wanted cheap brightly colored shiny baubbles, maybe eBay is the place to go.
Look at this crap. Faced green glass sold as faceted Moldavite. Yeah, Moldavite IS glass, so how are YOU going to prove him wrong? Sigh.
