Tucson Review

Each year, I take a small number of my gem students (see Ted’s Tucson Tour NGI/ school section) to the world’s biggest gem and mineral show in Tucson, Arizona early February. This year our contingent researched gem prices, bought a little (some a lot) and made future contacts.
What’s Hot? After many years of speculation, Tanzanite has finally gotten a more solid base price - not as much from new material but the selling off of old stones at firmer prices. The future should be interesting, what with a push for more localized production, selling though a cartel style arrangement and price ”augmentation” to stratify the production into a wider range of qualities– we’ll see. And as prices for the best material approaches that of decent blue sapphire, why would one want a brittle, heat induced zoisite instead of durable sapphire, anyway? Maybe I will do an article on the tanzanite hype, next time.
Pink stuff is hotter than ever. Sapphires, tourmaline, topaz, spinel, etc. are still trendy. Last year’s Be-diffusion scare on sapphires seems to have subsided, but bear in mind it can take a pink sapphire to a 1/10th its apparent value. Be – ware. (Be means beryllium treatment, a diffusion process that induces color at a nearly undetectable rate and has made orange sapphire almost un-saleable). Because other colors can also be created the endorsement of
un-treated gems has gained increased marketability.
Pearls are more stable this year, with better management of Tahitian production and marketing, more controlled Chinese production and sale and higher end products available. Interesting multi-color strands of mixed regions (Tahitian, South Sea, Philippine, etc.) were more prevalent. Some had natural and treated colors and a few were guaranteed to be of natural coloration.
Next year’s Tucson class roster is already filling, and with the right gem course prerequisites, you could join us.

Lab notes...tales from the Lab-or-a-tory

Every hundred bridal sets or so, we get to appraise something really different. Here
are a few of the more interesting items encountered at the lab recently. 1) Opals. Lovely
black opals within an Art Nouveau necklace with pique-a-jour enamel and diamonds. A
magnificent piece of art. Unfortunately, some of the opals were crazed - meaning light
fractures within the stones - took away nearly all of their value. While those opals did not
contribute to the overall value, the piece was still worthy of significant auction interest. Apparently,
long storage in a safety deposit box was the culprit. 2) Synthetic Diamonds. Occasionally, a client brings in an item without prior information. Sometimes that brings about red flags. Especiallywhen the item happens to be a green diamond. Add a yellow one and a colorless one—all small stones, and our firstthought was either a collector with new specimens, or synthetics . With the colored diamonds being flawless, we got suspicious. When the colorless diamond showed black metallic looking characteristics, we were certain. When confronted, the client confessed we are viewing synthetics. She was a business reporter doing an article on a new synthetic diamond process. Her article highly quoted G.I.A. director Bill Boyajjan and noted the lab that detected the synthetics- us.
3) Pretty Big Diamond. Yeah, I know I speak flippantly of diamonds as merely crystallized carbon, maybe because I grade so many every day. We in the Seattle area do get the occasional big diamond (that would be over ten carats) and even I get impressed. A recent entry pegged in at our largest in a while at 11.45 carats. We placed the value at about 200G’s (the resale/wholesale gap gets very narrow at this level) and it was put up for an E-trade auction. Happy bidding.

What's Your Brand?and Laser-inscription: Help or Hype?

With the industry’s current attempt to enhance the
desirability of crystallized carbon through name branding via
laser-inscription it’s no wonder we see a more confused public
over the “value” of diamonds in the marketplace.
While certain “brands” may in fact be better from a
light-return standpoint or offer an identification benefit, simply adding a laser inscription to a diamond’s girdle in itself does nothing to enhance the stone’s beauty. Yet the simple procedure
may add perceived “value” to the public if well marketed by the seller.
As an appraiser, NGL basically reports what the consumer
pays for gemstones and jewelry and if one seller gets more for their product through a brand distinction, then so be it.
When a laser-inscription is applied to the girdle it does make identification easier with a jeweler’s loupe. An ID number, or a romantic saying visible at 10X allows the layperson to
readily identify their stone. It does not, however replace the need for a diagram of inclusions, which offers conclusive proof of your diamond’s identity. One can have a diamond re-polished or re-cut to remove surface treatments, but the internal characteristics remain. That is why NGL plots the center diamond as part of our appraisal.

Although rare, laser-inscription may be also detrimental to the diamond. A recent client had an internally flawless diamond sent in for inscription, which because of lack of inclusions seemed like a good idea. Everything went fine, and I updated his appraisal with the new inscription,
but a sloppy job as pictured here, would have actually lowered the clarity
grade! And, like a tattoo, your “To Sally, Love Snookums” inscription may hinder the diamond’s resale if Sally and Snookums ever part company.
The main reason for name branding is, of course marketing. Most Americans associate a higher value on similar items which are well-marketed, packaged or trendy — even crystallized carbon!

Hey… I’ve been e-fleeced (op-ed with Ted)

Every week someone’s new internet “bargain” comes in
for appraisal and every week I shake my head over the blatant
misrepresentations out there on the web, particularly e-bay.
Much of the public thinks that any official-looking
“appraisal” validates an item’s authenticity and value. WRONG.
I routinely see fraudulent grading and value statements up to ten
times a realistic retail value. The money spent is often close to
my appraised value, meaning you got what you paid for but no
bargain.
There seems to be no end to the number of “labs” creating
paper for some unscrupulous jeweler (yes, most of the sellers
aren't individuals but within the trade). The “labs” ought to be
taken to task as well as the sellers who know the real value of
what they sell.
It really hit home a few months ago when I got a call from an individual who was buying something
on e-bay with an “NGL” certificate. Since I had not dealt with the stated jeweler and do not do “presale”
appraisals for the trade, I was obviously curious. Well, National Gemological Laboratory had provided
the document (I have seen several more since) and either I am losing my gemological bearing, or
they grade two to three grades higher than GIA standards!
But I can only look at one case at a time. There are several reputable dealers on the internet—
they have web sites (not just e-mail addresses), customer support, return privileges, etc. There are a
couple of old adages I would like to leave you with. “There’s one born every minute” and “If it’s too good
to be true….”

Ted

Around the World - Gem News

South Africa. The De Beers monopoly of 102 years has come to a close with the company's privatization. The new consortium held by the Oppenheimer family, Anglo America, plc (mining conglomerate) and Debswana (De Beers/Botswana joint-venture) will now compete in an ever-changing marketplace. First up is a plan to select those sightholders who can better market De Beers diamonds as a consumer brand, changing the traditional distribution channels.
The prospect of deals with producers (like Russia) and maintenance of stable rough pricing will be challenges facing the new company as well as their control of two-thirds of the world's diamond production.

China. With the new Chinese dominance of the cultured pearl market, the pricing of pearls has become trickier. Since the loss of native Japanese farm production, the Chinese have not only picked up the slack, but are producing huge quantities that now rival the original Japanese Akoya product. In fact, it is the same oyster being used in Chinese waters under the direction of Japanese experts. The pearls are grown at considerably less cost, then shipped to Japan for final processing where it becomes arguable who is the producing country.
So now, China is producing not only an assortment of freshwater pearls - from baroque to round, but saltwater pearls of all qualities, driving prices down as large quantities flood the market.

A Case for the consistent appraisal - or "What would GIA Do?"

I am getting really tired of seeing "certified" diamonds and pre-sell appraisals that don't stack up to the long established standards of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). Appraisers who advertise their Graduate Gemologists (G.G.) credentials should follow the rules they were taught, whether appraising for the manufacturer, jeweler or consumer.
Ideally, an appraisal is prepared for the owner of the jewelry, with accurate grading and a realistic value for insurance purposes. Nowadays though, jewelers - both traditional and internet, are relying more and more upon appraisals prepared in the interest of selling the item appraised.
These "pre-sale" appraisals are everywhere, even on modestly priced articles and are often supplied by the manufacturers. Don't get me wrong, I think up-front representation is great, (we started doing similar preliminary reports twenty years ago) but what I am seeing are reports which are more "jeweler friendly" than gemologically accurate. And the values attached tend to be consistently generous (at least compared to the values we follow).

Loose diamonds, too
The sale of loose diamonds on the other hand, usually involves no value - just grading, and that is where some very blatant misrepresentations have come into play.
Unfortunately, obtaining a pre-certified diamond doesn't guarantee you are getting what the paperwork says. We do a fair amount of appraisals involving verification of pre-existing reports where we check for authenticity and accuracy.
We have uncovered many instances of inaccurate grading if not downright fraud from world-recognized laboratories as well as look-alike "labs" offering bad reports on rice paper.
The remedy is to always have your purchase verified during the appraisal process. We examine the previous document and if discrepancies are found, point them out. In the case of GIA and AGS verification, we will reference the document on our appraisal.
In the event of significant discrepancies you do have recourse. Since the jeweler owes you the quality they represented (even if they didn't do the lab report) they must make good on your purchase. If you like the article but find it was misrepresented, you may elect to re-negotiate the sales price.
Either way, you don't have to live with a misinformed purchase. Jewelry is supposed to make you happy, isn't it?

Internet bargain or scam?

Yes. The problem is you don't know which until you check them out. We have had some very happy clients who purchased over the internet - and some very upset ones.
In one instance, the client received an appraisal which failed to clearly state that they were buying a clarity-enhanced (fracture-filled) diamond, and the value stated was three times higher than what was paid. The NGL appraisal placed the retail value close to what was paid with prominent disclosure of the enhancement process. On the other hand, we have verified many great purchases, especially when GIA or AGS was the certifying lab and everything checked out.
We have also seen a lot of misleading colored stone transactions on-line. The biggest area seems to be in the emerald market, where stones too light to pass as emerald are being sold as "Colombian emerald". True, they may be Colombian in origin, but cannot be gemologially classified as emerald if not at least medium-light in tone. On the other hand, many colored stones bought on-line price out significantly more than their transaction price - but remember, price is not the most important factor anyway. The best advice is to obtain a guaranteed refund if not satisfied.