Are pieces worth the prices

[Always complaining]

What does anyone think of the Tajikistan spinel pieces. They r quite expensive they look nice but I know nothing about the stone and not sure if they are worth price.

 

[AndyW]

I hadn't really noticed these so my answer is triggered by your question and, of course, I'm no expert - this is just my instant response, ramble & opinion .

Take these first three 18K pieces on the website (attached images). There are others, I just picked these as examples. There is a wide range of saturation and each piece has a different clarity rating, (the second one, for example, is deeply saturated but included). Assuming that pink is your colour (I can take it or leave it, although I'm a sucker for a precision or fancy cut Rose de France amethyst!) I think the first ring is actually quite elegant. The stone is a good size, even saturation and SI clarity. The pendant is neither here nor there.

Spinel is far more durable than, say, a kunzite and the colour won't fade as quickly in sunlight. But it's not as rare as Gemporia presentations want you to believe. Here's a range of stones, different locations, sizes (dimensions, not weight) and colours:

https://www.1stdibs.com/buy/tajikistan-spinel/

The Gemporia stone weights (not dimensions) are quite small compared to some of these examples on 1stDibs, especially for the price (take off the gold & diamond cost). Gemporia also likes to put a premium on a distinct location but I can't see that there's anything different to this location to Myanmar or Ceylon. See image 4 - larger stone, arguably more interesting colour - and I come back to it - colour is only one but a key factor to a value of a gemstone.

To your real question about worth and cost, I think it's possible that these are standard or high prices - I assume that you've seen what the live auction price is normally - about 10-20% lower than the web price? Even then, I don't think they're particularly competitively priced. If you do a search for 18K spinel rings, a few non-Gemporia ones come up but they seem to be either silly money (Pragnells) or about the same. I've noticed that Gemporia adds a hefty premium based on a fraction of gold weight difference between designs and how many of their melee size SI diamonds that they squeeze into the design. The silver and 9K ones are the usual Gemporia fare - included, pale, wishy-washy cluster designs of small stones, probably badly cut and comparatively over-priced. I'm not being snooty about these because "I only do 18K jewellery" - looking at their website, the difference in quality of stone set in cheaper metals is quite stark. Gemporia likes to claim that the quality is no different in silver or the ranges of gold. Either that's sadly true or it's BS and, looking at the Tajik examples in silver/9K I feel it's BS.

That's enough rambling but hope it helps.

 

[AndyW]

In auction, with 8 minutes remaining of the hour, this small pendant at £199 for an 8x6 stone in 0.48g of gold (the 4 1mm zircons are almost worthless) seems expensive to me.

 

[Always complaining]

In auction, with 8 minutes remaining of the hour, this small pendant at £199 for an 8x6 stone in 0.48g of gold (the 4 1mm zircons are almost worthless) seems expensive to me.
View attachment 31742

Thank you for going to all that trouble. It’s been a big help. What struck me when they showed Tajikistan spinel was its vivid colour. Of course they don’t always live up to expectations. Their camera people usually make stones look much better than the reality. I don’t know anything about spinel . It’s not a stone that’s seen all that often so it’s difficult to have much of an idea of price.I’ve also noticed that some of their items have taken a really big jump in price over the last month I cant see any reason for this as they’re not new stock.

 

[TheManWithNoName]

Based on the items Andy has posted, I’d say they are way overpriced.

I’d also be wary of buying Spinel items that don’t specify exactly what colour you’re getting. I’ve fallen for this on Gem Collector in the past - on screen, they showed one of the rarer and/or more vivid stones, but what I actually received was either an undesirable greyish colour or a windowed, washed-out stone with barely any colour.

Only buy Spinel that is specifically listed as "Red Spinel" or "Pink Spinel." Descriptions like "Spinel" or "Multi-Colour Spinel" are far too vague for the prices they’re asking and will highly likely result in you getting a stone that is not as desirable or valuable.

At the prices Gemporia/Gem Collector charge these days, you should be getting exactly what is shown - not just a representation of what you could receive.

As Andy said, they also try to imply that certain locations add value to a stone. In reality, location rarely increases a gem’s worth unless it’s something genuinely rare - such as original Russian Alexandrite, which was generally superior in quality to the Indian material discovered later (the Indian material is typically very heavily included and has a hazy, foggy appearance).

I’ve also noticed another misleading sales tactic recently, where Gemporia claims that certain gemstones are “almost depleted” to pressure buyers. For example, Kate McCarthy recently sold Tanzanian Tsavorite Garnet and repeatedly stated that "the mine is now closed - so this is your last chance to get this material." In my opinion, the wording was deliberately chosen to make it sound as if Tsavorite Garnet as a whole would no longer be available, which is not the case. Tsavorite is not exclusive to Tanzania - it can still be obtained from other mines.

Gemporia has also used this tactic with harder-to-find colours of Spinel, such as blue or yellow. While some mines have closed, plenty of Spinel mines are still operating.

They’re doing the same with "Yellow/Golden Tanzanite," claiming it’s ultra-rare and only found in one Tanzanite block. However, Yellow/Golden Zoisite (which is what it actually is) is not exclusive to Tanzania - unlike the blue variety, which is only found there. Not only is that claim misleading, but so is the use of the name Tanzanite. The term Tanzanite should only be used for the blue material - every other colour should be referred to as Zoisite.

 

[Always complaining]

Based on the items Andy has posted, I’d say they are way overpriced.

I’d also be wary of buying Spinel items that don’t specify exactly what colour you’re getting. I’ve fallen for this on Gem Collector in the past - on screen, they showed one of the rarer and/or more vivid stones, but what I actually received was either an undesirable greyish colour or a windowed, washed-out stone with barely any colour.

Only buy Spinel that is specifically listed as "Red Spinel" or "Pink Spinel." Descriptions like "Spinel" or "Multi-Colour Spinel" are far too vague for the prices they’re asking and will highly likely result in you getting a stone that is not as desirable or valuable.

At the prices Gemporia/Gem Collector charge these days, you should be getting exactly what is shown - not just a representation of what you could receive.

As Andy said, they also try to imply that certain locations add value to a stone. In reality, location rarely increases a gem’s worth unless it’s something genuinely rare - such as original Russian Alexandrite, which was generally superior in quality to the Indian material discovered later (the Indian material is typically very heavily included and has a hazy, foggy appearance).

I’ve also noticed another misleading sales tactic recently, where Gemporia claims that certain gemstones are “almost depleted” to pressure buyers. For example, Kate McCarthy recently sold Tanzanian Tsavorite Garnet and repeatedly stated that "the mine is now closed - so this is your last chance to get this material." In my opinion, the wording was deliberately chosen to make it sound as if Tsavorite Garnet as a whole would no longer be available, which is not the case. Tsavorite is not exclusive to Tanzania - it can still be obtained from other mines.

Gemporia has also used this tactic with harder-to-find colours of Spinel, such as blue or yellow. While some mines have closed, plenty of Spinel mines are still operating.

They’re doing the same with "Yellow/Golden Tanzanite," claiming it’s ultra-rare and only found in one Tanzanite block. However, Yellow/Golden Zoisite (which is what it actually is) is not exclusive to Tanzania - unlike the blue variety, which is only found there. Not only is that claim misleading, but so is the use of the name Tanzanite. The term Tanzanite should only be used for the blue material - every other colour should be referred to as Zoisite.

Thank you TMWNN. This site is very helpful. For the stones seen everywhere it’s not too difficult to have a good idea of prices but for more unusual ones it’s not so easy. Another thing about Gems is the scarcity of reviews. They get a lot of returns and it would be very helpful to know why they were returned. The reason I was looking for something at this time is I got a voucher for 25% off. Without that I’d consider the prices too high. I’ve noticed even Jeff is not giving the discounts he used to give however he’s still the best bet. Another thing I’ve noticed lately is the diamond accents they are using are absolutely tiny. Most under 1point. Definitely gone downhill as a good value way to buy jewellery.