Is it worth it?

Hi all,

This is my first post! I've been following this forum since Gemporia's Lifestyle channel closed and I was searching to see what was going on. I've got lots of thoughts, similar to what's been said already, but will post on another thread.

For now, I want to take TMWNN on his kind offer that you guys can advise if things are worth buying/ keeping. There's a lot of tat and overpriced stuff. But there's some which looks worth buying/a bargain/ nice pieces/potentially investment (am I being naive?), so wanted to get people's thoughts.

This for example is a piece of Imperial pink/peach topaz on GC. In my limited knowledge natural pink topaz is worth a lot and this seemed like a really good deal?

Also, their bi colour (again natural according to the certificates) tanzanites seem like a good buy? Or golden tanzanites being rare according to what the presenters say.

I have found other stuff cheaper on AliExpress and Gem Select like people on here have said, but not things like the ones mentioned above.

Would appreciate your thoughts

Beware of buying gemstones for 'investment'. Gemporia, and mass sellers of gemstones in general, such as Gem Select, do not sell investment quality stones. They're commercial grade gemstones that you'll be lucky to even break even on. Don't fall for the Gemporia presenter spiel. I can think of only two gemstones that could be considered 'investable' since Gemporia launched - and that's the original Russian Alexandrite, and the Blue Garnet. At a push, possibly the Pink Diaspore that they've got a small parcel of at the moment. The day-to-day Kyanites, Grandidierites, Diamonds, Tanzanites, etc - they're nowhere near 'investment' quality.

At the end of the day, Gemporia are a business. If they had an 'investment' quality stone in their vault, they'd keep hold of it themselves and gain the rewards in a few years time. They wouldn't be offering it to Fred in Falkirk for a few hundred quid out of the goodness of their hearts if they new they could get thousands for it in a few years time.

Beware of what presenters say about "Golden Tanzanite" being rare too.

For starters, there is no such thing as "Golden Tanzanite." Tanzanite is the blue variety of the mineral 'Zoisite'. Any other colour should be referred to as Zoisite.

So why does Gemporia call it "Golden Tanzanite"? Marketing. People are familiar with the name Tanzanite, but very few know the name Zoisite. Tanzanite also has a perceived rarity, whereas Zoisite does not.

This is somewhat misleading. Calling it "Tanzanite" suggests it is only available in Tanzania. However, only the blue variety is unique to Tanzania - other colours of Zoisite can be mined in other countries.

That being said, Gemporia's Golden Tanzanite (Yellow Zoisite) is fairly priced in my opinion - so if you like it, go for it.

As for the Pink Topaz - I've bought Gemporia's Pink Topaz in the past - and returned it. In all honesty, I found it weak in colour compared to the photos - so much so that it was almost colourless. If you want to buy one, make sure you see it close-up on screen before you commit to buying it. Also make sure that the stone you see on screen is the exact one you're going to get. As for price? I'd say it's about £50 overpriced in my opinion. It's untreated, granted, which is rare these days (most Pink Topaz on the market is heated or irradiated) - so that pushes its price up - but I think you could get Pink Topaz of similar carat weight cheaper elsewhere (with possibly stronger colour too).

As for buying from other sources. Gem Select are great. Very reputable. Good quality stones. Generally well priced on most stones. Customer Service is exceptional too.

Etsy is a mixed bag - there are some dodgy sellers with fakes/synthetics - but there are also some great sellers too. There are some sellers of Pink Diaspore on there - and they're the real deal. They provide a GIA certificate of authenticity (one of the best labs in the world) - and they're cheaper than Gemporia's Pink Diaspore (and Gemporia's does not come with a GIA certificate!).

AliExpress and the Chinese sites such as Temu - proceed with caution. The Chinese are not the most trustworthy, and their certificates of authenticity are not worth the paper they're written on. A lot of the Chinese Jade is synthetic, the majority of so-called 'Baltic Amber' on Chinese websites is fake, their 'Tanzanite' is usually Iolite, and so-called Apatite, etc that they sell is usually dyed Quartzite.

Ebay - see Etsy. Some great sellers. Some REALLY poor sellers. If you're buying from auction sites or Chinese sites, make sure the stones come with certificates from reputable labs. If there's no certificate, or the certificate has an unknown lab logo, then run a mile.

That's just my 2 cents based on my opinion and experience.

TheManWithNoName said:

Beware of buying gemstones for 'investment'. Gemporia, and mass sellers of gemstones in general, such as Gem Select, do not sell investment quality stones. They're commercial grade gemstones that you'll be lucky to even break even on. Don't fall for the Gemporia presenter spiel. I can think of only two gemstones that could be considered 'investable' since Gemporia launched - and that's the original Russian Alexandrite, and the Blue Garnet. At a push, possibly the Pink Diaspore that they've got a small parcel of at the moment. The day-to-day Kyanites, Grandidierites, Diamonds, Tanzanites, etc - they're nowhere near 'investment' quality.

At the end of the day, Gemporia are a business. If they had an 'investment' quality stone in their vault, they'd keep hold of it themselves and gain the rewards in a few years time. They wouldn't be offering it to Fred in Falkirk for a few hundred quid out of the goodness of their hearts if they new they could get thousands for it in a few years time.

Beware of what presenters say about "Golden Tanzanite" being rare too.

For starters, there is no such thing as "Golden Tanzanite." Tanzanite is the blue variety of the mineral 'Zoisite'. Any other colour should be referred to as Zoisite.

So why does Gemporia call it "Golden Tanzanite"? Marketing. People are familiar with the name Tanzanite, but very few know the name Zoisite. Tanzanite also has a perceived rarity, whereas Zoisite does not.

This is somewhat misleading. Calling it "Tanzanite" suggests it is only available in Tanzania. However, only the blue variety is unique to Tanzania - other colours of Zoisite can be mined in other countries.

That being said, Gemporia's Golden Tanzanite (Yellow Zoisite) is fairly priced in my opinion - so if you like it, go for it.

As for the Pink Topaz - I've bought Gemporia's Pink Topaz in the past - and returned it. In all honesty, I found it weak in colour compared to the photos - so much so that it was almost colourless. If you want to buy one, make sure you see it close-up on screen before you commit to buying it. Also make sure that the stone you see on screen is the exact one you're going to get. As for price? I'd say it's about £50 overpriced in my opinion. It's untreated, granted, which is rare these days (most Pink Topaz on the market is heated or irradiated) - so that pushes its price up - but I think you could get Pink Topaz of similar carat weight cheaper elsewhere (with possibly stronger colour too).

As for buying from other sources. Gem Select are great. Very reputable. Good quality stones. Generally well priced on most stones. Customer Service is exceptional too.

Etsy is a mixed bag - there are some dodgy sellers with fakes/synthetics - but there are also some great sellers too. There are some sellers of Pink Diaspore on there - and they're the real deal. They provide a GIA certificate of authenticity (one of the best labs in the world) - and they're cheaper than Gemporia's Pink Diaspore (and Gemporia's does not come with a GIA certificate!).

AliExpress and the Chinese sites such as Temu - proceed with caution. The Chinese are not the most trustworthy, and their certificates of authenticity are not worth the paper they're written on. A lot of the Chinese Jade is synthetic, the majority of so-called 'Baltic Amber' on Chinese websites is fake, their 'Tanzanite' is usually Iolite, and so-called Apatite, etc that they sell is usually dyed Quartzite.

Ebay - see Etsy. Some great sellers. Some REALLY poor sellers. If you're buying from auction sites or Chinese sites, make sure the stones come with certificates from reputable labs. If there's no certificate, or the certificate has an unknown lab logo, then run a mile.

That's just my 2 cents based on my opinion and experience.

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Is blue garnet the same as Bekily colour change garnet. I didn’t know that was so rare. Tjc used to have it. Haven’t seen it for ages.

No that'd a different one.

The Blue Garnet is genuinely rare and I only saw it in small carat weights (0.5 carats and below).

It had a blue body colour, and changed to pinkish-red in incandescent light.

From memory, the Bekily colour change is purplish-red and changes to green?

TheManWithNoName said:

No that'd a different one.

The Blue Garnet is genuinely rare and I only saw it in small carat weights (0.5 carats and below).

It had a blue body colour, and changed to pinkish-red in incandescent light.

From memory, the Bekily colour change is purplish-red and changes to green?

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Thank you for the info. I too have found the tips on this forum invaluable.

Thank you so much for the really useful information! I knew TMWNN would not disappoint.

Interesting point, I just assume that 'rare' gems are an investment, rather than realising they're selling commercial grade. This stone also has some inclusions, does that mean much with natural pink topaz?

Talking of not falling for the spiel, I was watching a rerun of Dave Troth and some white pearls yesterday, which did look nicer than most, but he was saying get two and you'll make your money back by selling one. Luckily I know freshwater pearls are not investment worthy!

Always Complaining, I was wondering that as well. I bought a really pricey blue color change garnet, hope it's the rare one lol. I also bought a bekily colour change garnet.

It's an addiction that's justified by thinking it's an investment. Some are pretty and I have bought pieces just for the design and because I like the stone.

Huda said:

Some are pretty and I have bought pieces just for the design and because I like the stone.

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Me too. I have some lovely natural quartz, with colours right across the spectrum in my collection. I tried to go for large or fancy. They are not really rare, are probably not as large as you can probably get if you're truly in the gemstone industry and will never be anything other than pieces in which to lose myself on a quiet sunny, summer evening.

Always complaining said:

Thank you for the info. I too have found the tips on this forum invaluable.

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Me too

Huda said:

Interesting point, I just assume that 'rare' gems are an investment

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The problem is, many stones that people talk about being 'rare' are not rare at all. The industry talks about the 'rarity' of Diamonds - yet, on average, between 120 million to 130 million carats of diamonds are mined per year. If Diamonds are so rare, why does millions of married couples have Diamonds in their wedding rings?

A flawless, 13 carat, Trilliant cut, pure white Diamond would be rare. A cluster of 1mm heavily included off-white, almost grey, round brilliant cut diamonds are not rare at all.

Gemporia often give long drawn out speeches about the 'rarity' of Grandidierite. Yet they're selective in the information they give out to make it seem rare. They refer to outdated information referring to pre-2015 (someone cynical might say its deliberate) - when, at that point, Grandidierite was a genuinely rare gemstone (it was considered the 5th rarest gemstone prior to 2015) - however, in 2015, a large deposit was found in Madagascar - which resulted in LOTS of material flooding the market. It is no longer particularly rare. It certainly isn't in the top 5 rarest gemstones any more - however, if you listen to the spiel, they'll still tell you that its extremely rare, and they'll still refer to the article that says its the 5th rarest gemstone in the world.

It's all nonsense/BS.

Huda said:

This stone also has some inclusions, does that mean much with natural pink topaz?

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Colourless Topaz is generally quite clean, but coloured Topaz, particularly Pink, Yellow and Brown, and known for inclusions - so yes, inclusions should generally be expected with Pink Topaz (especially natural/unheated material).

Huda said:

Talking of not falling for the spiel, I was watching a rerun of Dave Troth and some white pearls yesterday, which did look nicer than most, but he was saying get two and you'll make your money back by selling one. Luckily I know freshwater pearls are not investment worthy!

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He's one of the biggest shysters in selly-telly. This is the same guy that claims that Jadeite is "one of the rarest gemstones on the planet". It's so rare, he's been flogging us the stuff on almost an daily basis for the past 3 or 4 years.


Basically, when it comes to 'rarity', if selly-telly channels can sell it day in, day out, for years, there's not a chance that it's rare. Tons of the stuff is coming out of the ground.

Unlike genuinely rare stones like Bixbite or Benitoite. Stones that hardly anyone knows because they're so rare. With the rarest gemstones, you'd be talking kilograms or even grams coming out of the ground - not tons.

I hope my last post made sense. Sausage finger syndrome appears to have stuck - and its too late to edit the errors out now

rubia said:

Me too

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When they r selling a new stone I’m always hoping for a discussion on here so I’ll get some idea of what others who know more about it than me will think. I don’t pay any attention to presenters anymore. People on this forum have no axe to grind. Don’t like to keep asking in case it’s an imposition.

Always complaining said:

Is blue garnet the same as Bekily colour change garnet. I didn’t know that was so rare. Tjc used to have it. Haven’t seen it for ages.

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I would say that all Tanzanite is Zoisite. But 99% of it is heat treated. Left unheated it will very, very rarely be a vivid blue. Most zoisite is a brownish yellow.
The only reason to heat a zoisite (tanzanite''s name for the mineral) is if the initial color (whatever the color) is not judged attractive. It is extremely, extremely, extremely rare, and unlikely to find tanzanite rough in gem quality colors without heating. Almost 99.5% is heat treated prior to cutting. Tanzanite is usually brownish before heating, blue and purple after. For something that claims to be unheated, I strongly recommend a lab report. A medium grade Tanzanite will appear lightish brown before heating and a medium pale blue/violet after heating. A top grade piece will be a deeply saturated brown before heating and a deep blue/violet after heating.
Just to add rarity in a gemstone does not always equal value. Diamonds are an example of one that is very expensive and not rare at all.

I wouldn't invest in Tanzanite because I still believe that one day, they will find it in another location.

There are quite a few Zoisite mines - and I think it's only a matter of time before Tanzanite is found in one of those mines.

Remember when the experts told us that Alexandrite could only be found in one location? Its been found in several locations since.

Remember when they told us that Garnet could be found in any colour except for blue? Then they discovered blue Garnet.