Good value items

Noting that many of you still watch Gemporia, even though you may not purchase, have you seen anything that you consider good value - even if purchased some time ago? Alternatively, are there any items that you think don’t present any value?

I have two which i have purchased that have impressed me. Both emeralds. The earrings are large for emerald studs 5mmx7mm and are a lovely colour with reasonable clarity. Price is very good, even for midas silver. The pendant is also impressive and on sale. I’m waiting on one of the larger 1.7ct emerald rings in 9ct gold to arrive.

Personally, the items that don’t present value to me are any of the filled, coated or diffused gems, and the Lehrer carvings. Happy to be educated.

None of Lehrer's stuff is worth the money - he's a legend in his own mind.

The 'Lehrer' stuff in the jewellery is carved by his team in Jaipur rather than him, so you're paying over-the-top prices for dyed and coated stones that aren't even cut by him.

The stones on Gem Collector that sell in the thousands ARE cut by him - but you're literally paying for the fact they're cut by him. The stones themselves are not of superior grade. It baffles me how they think a carved Chalcedony or an opal with barely any play of colour is worth £4000.

As for the two example photos you've put up - I'd say the pendant is fairly priced, but the earrings seem expensive to me. I personally wouldn't pay $85.68 (which works out to around £76) for heavily included, oiled Emeralds in a VERY thin gold plating - particularly when, around 3 years ago, you'd have got them in actual gold for a similar price.

It's a tough question, JoJo, because it's all so subjective and depends on the context of the potential purchase. One example is in attached image of pendants in their Argentum 960 range. I have the Lapis one and bought a black Spinel version as a present.
I bought them at less than the price shown (there were larger reductions and one was last of stock in a Jeff hour) but, for the weight and design, they still seem VFM. Similar for their Britannia 958 Eden Cut range.

The thing I find is that 6, 7 or more years ago, most of what was offered in auction, sale or other promotion was VFM. They had a range that pleased so many tastes. Now it's like panning for gold in a raging torrent.

TheManWithNoName said:

None of Lehrer's stuff is worth the money - he's a legend in his own mind.

The 'Lehrer' stuff in the jewellery is carved by his team in Jaipur rather than him, so you're paying over-the-top prices for dyed and coated stones that aren't even cut by him.

The stones on Gem Collector that sell in the thousands ARE cut by him - but you're literally paying for the fact they're cut by him. The stones themselves are not of superior grade. It baffles me how they think a carved Chalcedony or an opal with barely any play of colour is worth £4000.

As for the two example photos you've put up - I'd say the pendant is fairly priced, but the earrings seem expensive to me. I personally wouldn't pay $85.68 (which works out to around £76) for heavily included, oiled Emeralds in a VERY thin gold plating - particularly when, around 3 years ago, you'd have got them in actual gold for a similar price.

Click to expand...

The price is in Aud $ so equiv to £43 for the earrings. I have taken a pic next to a smaller white gold pair i got from gemondo for x3 the price and a ring (brazilian rather than Zambian) to compare.

I think country of origin for the assembly of the jewelry would be good, not just the origin of the gem. A lapidary in USA or UK will be reflected in the price. Most gems are cut in Thailand and India, with the majority set in India and China. Lehrer’s cuts don’t seem to be used to improve the light play in precious gems, so i’m not sure what the point is of the quartz buttons.

This, on the other hand, is the sort of market stall bling that isn't worth more than a couple of quid. In my opinion it's Christmas cracker stuffing.

It's a 23mm drop (tiny - look how big the bail is), 1.07g 925 silver, with illusion set I3 1.1mm diamonds. The light box hides the off-white effect of the I3 clarity.

Feel a little awkward posting this because it sounds snobby and as if I am rich and dissing those with just a few pounds to spend. I really am not. I think that you could get a piece of lovely costume jewellery from, say, 1970s or 1980s that looks 100% better for less than whatever the price of this will be at 6pm.

AndyW said:

It's a tough question, JoJo, because it's all so subjective and depends on the context of the potential purchase. One example is in attached image of pendants in their Argentum 960 range. I have the Lapis one and bought a black Spinel version as a present. View attachment 29213
I bought them at less than the price shown (there were larger reductions and one was last of stock in a Jeff hour) but, for the weight and design, they still seem VFM. Similar for their Britannia 958 Eden Cut range.

The thing I find is that 6, 7 or more years ago, most of what was offered in auction, sale or other promotion was VFM. They had a range that pleased so many tastes. Now it's like panning for gold in a raging torrent.

Click to expand...

I have seen the higher purity silver at Gemporia, does it tarnish? The second from the left looks like a Georg Jensen piece, check out the offspring collection. Great pricing if on during the sale

Jojo1 said:

The price is in Aud $ so equiv to £43 for the earrings.

Click to expand...

Ah that's more reasonable then (although I still wouldn't pay much Gemporia's plating because, speaking from past experience, their plating seems to last a month or so before it starts to wear off).

I assumed it was US Dollars.

Jojo1 said:

I have seen the higher purity silver at Gemporia, does it tarnish? The second from the left looks like a Georg Jensen piece, check out the offspring collection. Great pricing if on during the sale

Click to expand...

Even Fine silver will oxidise, just more slowly but there are loads of anti-tarnish bags, boxes and strips out there. Keeping silver jewellery in a box or bag will help slow the tarnishing. (The prices in my image are right now.)

AndyW said:

This, on the other hand, is the sort of market stall bling that isn't worth more than a couple of quid. In my opinion it's Christmas cracker stuffing.
View attachment 29214
It's a 23mm drop (tiny - look how big the bail is), 1.07g 925 silver, with illusion set I3 1.1mm diamonds. The light box hides the off-white effect of the I3 clarity.

Feel a little awkward posting this because it sounds snobby and as if I am rich and dissing those with just a few pounds to spend. I really am not. I think that you could get a piece of lovely costume jewellery from, say, 1970s or 1980s that looks 100% better for less than whatever the price of this will be at 6pm.

Click to expand...

I just don't understand why they used 'Halo Diamonds' in that design. It's as if they catered it towards customers that think that Diamonds are the holy grain in the jewellery world.

They could have made, and sold, it just as cheaply using full-sized, low-cost, colourless stones - such as Petalite or Quartz, or for slightly more, Zircon.

The metal discs look naff and make it look cheap - whereas replacing them with 'proper' stones would have made it look quite a nice design.

The bail is ridiculously big too. The chain going through it is probably 2 to 2.5mm in diameter - yet the hole in the bale for it to thread through is about 8 to 9 times bigger. Why? Completely pointless. Unless of course it was done on purpose to bump up the silver weight.............

Jojo1 said:

I have seen the higher purity silver at Gemporia, does it tarnish? The second from the left looks like a Georg Jensen piece, check out the offspring collection. Great pricing if on during the sale

Click to expand...

Yep, as Andy says, Silver will always tarnish. It's not indicative of the quality of Silver. It's just the nature of Silver.

Protect it from the air by keeping it in air-tight boxes, and replace anti-tarnish strips every 6 months, and that should result in little to no tarnishing.

It baffles me as to why Silver is classed as a precious metal. It scratches easily and tarnishes quickly too if left exposed to air. I'd rather have Stainless Steel to be honest.

This, at £10, looks so much better than the Pick at 6. You could buy 3 and thread 2 on some simple shepherd hooks for earrings. Smaller pendant in length but only by 3mm and at least the topaz will sparkle on its own!

I struggle a bit envisioning the sizes. I usually equate the size against presenters index fingernail. Usually they are tiny especially pendants and earrings. Of course this doesn’t apply when they have false talons.

AndyW said:

I think that you could get a piece of lovely costume jewellery from, say, 1970s or 1980s that looks 100% better for less than whatever the price of this will be at 6pm.

Click to expand...

So it ended up at £19.99 + £3.95 P&P (UK). Chain being sold separately. These two Gems TV items on eBay (UK) for £20 or less, chain included.

So, it just pays to look around for your purpose and budget when it comes to good value.

TheManWithNoName said:

I just don't understand why they used 'Halo Diamonds' in that design. It's as if they catered it towards customers that think that Diamonds are the holy grain in the jewellery world.

Click to expand...

In the way backs, I bought a halo diamond. Tiny but effective. I also bought a gold ring with diamonds that didn't have the halo setting and they looked even tinier: and they were the same size at the HD.

And regarding bargains, I suppose I could mention another way back. My first proper diamond piece. Off Mark, when he was there. A diamond cross for £29.99 in silver.

This blue zircon was just reduced to £899 in Jeff’s show. Pretty ****** good for 5cts! I personally prefer gems you can’t mistake for blue topaz but this colour is good.

Jojo1 said:

Noting that many of you still watch Gemporia, even though you may not purchase, have you seen anything that you consider good value - even if purchased some time ago? Alternatively, are there any items that you think don’t present any value?

I have two which i have purchased that have impressed me. Both emeralds. The earrings are large for emerald studs 5mmx7mm and are a lovely colour with reasonable clarity. Price is very good, even for midas silver. The pendant is also impressive and on sale. I’m waiting on one of the larger 1.7ct emerald rings in 9ct gold to arrive.

Personally, the items that don’t present value to me are any of the filled, coated or diffused gems, and the Lehrer carvings. Happy to be educated.

Click to expand...

Hi, I'm so glad you're pleased with your emerald pieces - I think if you really love a piece of jewellery and you can afford it, then that's all that matters, but I haven't bought from them for years because to me, the quality has gone down as the prices have been hiked up. Don't get me wrong, I know prices have generally gone up over the years and if I loved the piece and it was affordable, I'd be tempted to buy, but having had a couple of experiences where I bought, but the piece I received at home had nowhere near the clarity and quality of the piece shown on telly (think 'muddy' looking stones with no sparkle/poor colour, for example) I stopped buying. What didn't help was that they were not that quick to refund my money, and OK, slip-ups do happen in any business, but at that time this website began to show a lot of similar complaints from people waiting ages for a refund. So after two bad experiences I realised the Universe was sending me a warning!

I hasten to say I did get my refunds, but that wasn't the point. I would rather pay that bit more and be able to rely on what I hear and see on-screen. And I agree with you about the filled, coated or diffused gems and the Lehrer pieces - although I confess I do have a couple of Lehrer pieces (pendant and ring) bought for me back in 2012, both amethyst gemstones. But the prices of the newer pieces now are just off the wall. I'd add to your list of things not to like - cheesewire metal, whether silver or gold. I cannot see the point of buying a ring with a flimsy shank with a gram weight of about 1.9 gold - I'd be too worried to wear it, in case it bends or breaks if I catch it, so no point in buying.

historymystery said:

Hi, I'm so glad you're pleased with your emerald pieces - I think if you really love a piece of jewellery and you can afford it, then that's all that matters, ...

Click to expand...

100%. It's always heart-warming when there's a "result" like this. The colour of the emeralds in JoJo's silver pendant is lovely.

historymystery said:

but having had a couple of experiences where I bought, but the piece I received at home had nowhere near the clarity and quality of the piece shown on telly (think 'muddy' looking stones with no sparkle/poor colour, for example) I stopped buying. ...

Click to expand...

This happened to me on Gem Collector recently too, which woke me up. Thought I'd buy an amethyst, prasiolite and citrine as a little Christmas present. Nice sizes and different shapes & cuts. Only the amethyst had "Treatment' details - the other two had nothing at all, but the worst was the citrine. Lovely concave cut & yellow on screen but I got - basically - a white quartz with yellow banding.

historymystery said:

But the prices of the newer pieces now are just off the wall. I'd add to your list of things not to like - cheesewire metal, whether silver or gold. I cannot see the point of buying a ring with a flimsy shank with a gram weight of about 1.9 gold ...

Click to expand...

1.9g? Gosh, you'd be lucky

What do you think about these? Hard to say without seeing them in person. Baguette cuts usually need to be quite clear. Seem to have good reviews.

Jojo1 said:

1/4ct Diamond Sterling Silver Earrings

1/4ct Diamond Sterling Silver Earrings

www.gemporia.com

What do you think about these? Hard to say without seeing them in person. Baguette cuts usually need to be quite clear. Seem to have good reviews.

Click to expand...

Not really sure I'm the right person to give you an answer but this is what I'll say anyway...

- Priced at just £59.25, add on P&P (if only purchase on day) so call it £64.
- Just 1.5g of silver total, across the pair including push backs
- Declared as I3 clarity, H/I colour.
- Shape: baguette, Cut: Step

Because of the clarity and colour, I'm not sure you should assume too much by the baguette shape. Not even sure that the step cut will forgive those gradings. The most it will do is allow as much dispersion as possible for the areas of the stone that are clear but only if there is enough clarity across the stone for the light to find a path to return to your eyes.

Looking at the two videos on the product details page, as they spin round, you can see plenty of luster, with some dispersion. You can, though, also see that these are - effectively - diamond chips of different sizes, stacked into a channel setting.

That said, if it was me and I wanted specifically diamond earrings for everyday wear, with no claw prongs, I might think that £64 was OK - especially if the channel setting and the "Huggie" style is what I really wanted.

I bought this emerald ring after watching for years and always fancying one. I spotted a collection which had very clean stones which is what I like. I received it within 48 hours and I am very happy with it. It was £160 all in and the three emeralds are a beautiful bright green colour and there are no visible inclusions. The card said that there was 2.1 grams of gold but mine was 2.49 grams which is very slightly better I guess lol.It seems to be well made so I hope there’s longevity in it.I found it good value compared with anywhere else offering similar. Even though I don’t particularly like the addition of zircon to most of the designs the tiny size of these was ok. They don’t detract from it.