3 replies to this topic

[xnyorkr]

They sure have some perty jewelry, and some interesting stones like Rhodochrosite or blue garnet. Their policy is that you pay in full upon purchase. Items are returnable less shipping and a hefty restocking fee (15%) or 100% store credit. Their web site is in no way connected to the TV shows so you can't track your order on line. Customer services is only available M-F 1-8PST (4-11EST). I am always wary when they say "This stone retails for $20,000 per carat, but we have $4,999 on it" and then they start selling for $500/stone. I wish no one would say "this stone retails for $20,000 per carat" because I don't think anyone sells for that price nor buys for that price. But that's another topic. Anyone have any experience with this merchant? Are their claims on the up and up?

[davidelevi]

No specific experience, but the idea of restocking fees and absurdities like inflated prices and huge "discounts" would be more than enough to keep me off. There's plenty of jewellery (and loose gems) on offer elsewhere that does not carry either penalty.

Incidentally, rhodochrosite is lovely to look at, but at 3.5/4 Mohs hardness, it is not something I would consider for any jewellery.

[LaurieH]

There are lots of pretty gemstones, and they look even better when you're shooting LED lights at them to make them sparkle 8 ways to Sunday, but they're not giving these huge discounts out of the goodness of their hearts. They're over-inflating prices DRASTICALLY, and then pulling them back to somewhat almost halfway apparently reasonable (apparently being the operative phrase) price per carat, and then try to SELL SELL SELL. Honestly, it's crazy. Even crazier when you know that some of the folks on these gem tv shows actually ARE graduate gemologists! (I know this for a fact--as of at least 3 yrs ago when I was going through my GIA lab courses, the instructors mentioned that recently one of the gem show networks sent all their on air people through GG training!) And talking about how RARE a purple Tanzanite is. My left pinky toe. You can find purple Tanzanite all day long. And then that return policy? Puh-Leez.

My thoughts are if you are looking for less commonly seen semi-precious gemstones, either go to gem shows that might tour through your area that are open to the public, or find a jeweler in your area who has a broader selection or is willing to take custom orders for things they don't normally carry. Then you're much more likely to get a fair market price for whatever you're looking for, and won't have to worry about that crazy restocking fee. I mean, really? it costs them 5 minutes of someone's time to log a return back into their system. They should charge a $5 restocking fee, not 15%.

Also, there are very few gemstones that would command 20k per carat, and I'd be hard-pressed to believe that one of these tv sellers would get near 'em with a 10 foot pole.

[denverappraiser]

ANY statement of value must contain an element of what something is worth, to whom, when, and under what circumstances to be of any use whatever. Context is everything. That's a basic concept of appraising anything from houses to cars to art to diamonds. $20k/ct? Fine. To whom, when and under what circumstances? The most expensive jeweler in Beverly Hills might be asking that much to custom cut a stone to your specs and sell it as part of a ring by their designer, so it's perhaps technically true in an FTC compliant sort of way, but so what? What does this have to do with YOU or with the deal at hand? If they could have sold it for $20k/ct, you can bet they would have already done so and we wouldn't be having this conversation so you know it's a lie and, more importantly, they know it's a lie. You already know that at least one of their claims is NOT on the up and up, what's left is to decide what other things they've told you may be up for debate. At least they didn't tell you it was 'wholesale', whatever that means. I'm with you, using this sort of deceptive advertising tells you nothing at all about the stone(s) and what it tells you about the dealer is all bad. It's up to you to decide if it's a deal killer but the return policy certainly should be.

In defense of the TV guys, most that I've seen have actually been pretty good about describing what they have, even if they play games about what things are 'worth', and prior to this conversation, most that I've heard of actually have pretty reasonable return policies. If this is some unrelated company that's playing off of the similar name of a TV jeweler, I'ld call that yet another reason to avoid them.

Edited by denverappraiser, 14 February 2011 - 10:12 AM.