Gem Collector Prices

[Qwerty123]

They are currently advertising a tanzanite for £189,932. Clearly it’s not going to finish at a price anything like that (if they actually want to sell it anyway) but you can literally buy a house for that amount in some areas and absolutely nobody who should be allowed access to money would spend even a fraction of that on a supposedly collectors item without seeing the item in question in person.

 

[Qwerty123]

So Emily is claiming that £189,932 is the recommended price whilst reducing it to £17,999 (plus p and p). Quite clearly if it was actually worth anything like £190,000 they wouldn’t be selling it for less than a tenth of that as they’d be able to sell it in the trade for multiples of what they are selling it for.
Even ignoring the true worth of the stones how many people even have access to a card that would process an unexpected transaction for £18,000 without it either being declined or above the credit limit.

 

[TheManWithNoName]

It's complete BS. And they claim these things are sent off for 'independent valuation'.

Gem Collector has been ruined. It used to be a good channel and completely different from the ***** that goes on on the other channels - but now they've started taking people for idiots on there too - and Emily is as bad as the rest for the hard sell.

There's no credibility amongst any of the channels now - and if they do go bust in the near future, they can 100% blame themselves for alienating and patronising their buyers.

 

[AndyW]

I don't know what all the fuss is about. You can get big, certified Tanzanite for around £20, also from the great cutting houses in India. See attached - stock up, I say

 

[AndyW]

Seriously though, for that money, I'd want an independent grading & assessment done. Like the EGL, TGGC is not truly unbiased; it's a commercial entity. Fine for normal, more workaday stones and jewellery where their certificates provide a bit more certainty than the mass-produced fakes out there, but when you're talking of truly investment grade prices, cold hard reality outside the "Gemporia bubble", to quote Emily, has to kick in. For example:

- Is it really "AAAA"? What's your own understanding of what that means? Is it the same as TGGC's? Personally, 4A can only be for truly trichroic Tanzanite; blue, purple and red, like top Uruguayan, Siberian or Zambian amethysts. Saturation and size/weight are not good enough. TGGC messed in their own back yard when they started qualifying their A grading of Tanzanite with the words "clarity" and "colour". At £20K - or even £7K - it has to be AAAA on every level, which leads me on to...

- Cutting. Here it makes all the difference. Can't stress how important this is for gems in this price bracket. A bog standard oval or pear brilliant won't cut it . You'd want to get the stone quality assessed by a master cutter/gem "doctor". One mis-aligned, inaccurate facet hidden away on the pavilion can affect the price massively.

As Qwerty123 said, not really sure you'd be spending that sort of money on Distance Selling Regulations and TGGC's T&Cs, unless you're eating fois gras and chips on a Friday night, followed by a big fat cigar of Bullseyes.

 

[Womanwithnoname]

Image attached of some variety of stone carving I bought for myself before Christmas on eBay.

Thank you for sharing Andy!

That is a very beautiful Pantera Sculpture! Unlike the ambiguous carvings of “Ming (ing) bird, crazy eyed seagulls, scary parrots and the “buffalo tigers” Gemporia sells.

Was it a “one off” item? i would love to acquire one if it wasn’t.

 

[TheManWithNoName]

Seriously though, for that money, I'd want an independent grading & assessment done. Like the EGL, TGGC is not truly unbiased; it's a commercial entity. Fine for normal, more workaday stones and jewellery where their certificates provide a bit more certainty than the mass-produced fakes out there, but when you're talking of truly investment grade prices, cold hard reality outside the "Gemporia bubble", to quote Emily, has to kick in. For example:

- Is it really "AAAA"? What's your own understanding of what that means? Is it the same as TGGC's? Personally, 4A can only be for truly trichroic Tanzanite; blue, purple and red, like top Uruguayan, Siberian or Zambian amethysts. Saturation and size/weight are not good enough. TGGC messed in their own back yard when they started qualifying their A grading of Tanzanite with the words "clarity" and "colour". At £20K - or even £7K - it has to be AAAA on every level, which leads me on to...

- Cutting. Here it makes all the difference. Can't stress how important this is for gems in this price bracket. A bog standard oval or pear brilliant won't cut it . You'd want to get the stone quality assessed by a master cutter/gem "doctor". One mis-aligned, inaccurate facet hidden away on the pavilion can affect the price massively.

As Qwerty123 said, not really sure you'd be spending that sort of money on Distance Selling Regulations and TGGC's T&Cs, unless you're eating fois gras and chips on a Friday night, followed by a big fat cigar of Bullseyes.

I totally agree. If I was spending that kind of money, I'd want nothing other than a GIA certificate of authenticity with it.

As for the AAAA system. All that eludes to is the strength of the blue. It was Gemporia that devised that system for Tanzanite I believe - but its irrelevent for anything other than colour grading.

As you say, there is more to a stone than a grade of colour. Some of Gemporias cutting is poor - so I'd want to see that it's been cut to a high standard too. A AAAA Tanzanite with shoddy cutting could be worth considerably less than a paler blue AA grade stone with amazing cutting.

Again, this is where Gemporia are so confused about as to who their audience is. They sell, predominantly, mass cut, commercial grade stones to the masses with a bit of disposable income that are looking to spend double to triple figures on average.

There may be a few viewers looking to spend four figures on a really nice Lorique ring for special occasions.

NOBODY is tuning into Gemporia with spare tens of thousands of pounds in their bank on the off-chance of making a spontaneous 'investment' purchase on the back of Lynn Jinks telling them if they buy it, they'll never suffer from haemorrhoids again, or Ellis Ward spouting on about a game of trust. I'd certainly not spend tens of thousands of pounds from a presenter that giggles constantly as she's describing it and dropping the price (Emily).

It baffles me how they think that viewers that buy their £30 gold tone ***** would also be interested in these kind of pieces, and £250,000 'Arthur Ivy' necklaces.

 

[Always complaining]

I totally agree. If I was spending that kind of money, I'd want nothing other than a GIA certificate of authenticity with it.

As for the AAAA system. All that eludes to is the strength of the blue. It was Gemporia that devised that system for Tanzanite I believe - but its irrelevent for anything other than colour grading.

As you say, there is more to a stone than a grade of colour. Some of Gemporias cutting is poor - so I'd want to see that it's been cut to a high standard too. A AAAA Tanzanite with shoddy cutting could be worth considerably less than a paler blue AA grade stone with amazing cutting.

Again, this is where Gemporia are so confused about as to who their audience is. They sell, predominantly, mass cut, commercial grade stones to the masses with a bit of disposable income that are looking to spend double to triple figures on average.

There may be a few viewers looking to spend four figures on a really nice Lorique ring for special occasions.

NOBODY is tuning into Gemporia with spare tens of thousands of pounds in their bank on the off-chance of making a spontaneous 'investment' purchase on the back of Lynn Jinks telling them if they buy it, they'll never suffer from haemorrhoids again, or Ellis Ward spouting on about a game of trust. I'd certainly not spend tens of thousands of pounds from a presenter that giggles constantly as she's describing it and dropping the price (Emily).

It baffles me how they think that viewers that buy their £30 gold tone ***** would also be interested in these kind of pieces, and £250,000 'Arthur Ivy' necklaces.

 

[Always complaining]

What do people think of their Lorique diamond grades. Do you think they are more reliable than their coloured stones grades. It’s nice to have the opinion of the people here who certainly know a lot more about it than I do.

 

[AndyW]

What do people think of their Lorique diamond grades. Do you think they are more reliable than their coloured stones grades. It’s nice to have the opinion of the people here who certainly know a lot more about it than I do.

Gemporia uses the same codification for their grading of diamonds as the GIA, gets GIA training and uses GIA master sets for comparison. BUT the stones are still Gemporia's grading - not the GIA's. They used to send their diamond jewellery off to the London-based SGL and you'd get the certificate with the purchase. No longer.

I don't buy a lot of diamonds, so someone else may be better to comment, but I have a couple of pieces with nice, small accent stones, just not any larger ones in 18K or Platinum. I'd say treat Gemporia just like any other sales person. Go for best for your budget and - more importantly - the one you like. Don't be convinced by a sales person telling you what's the best diamond - they have exactly those to sell.

 

[Always complaining]

Gemporia uses the same codification for their grading of diamonds as the GIA, gets GIA training and uses GIA master sets for comparison. BUT the stones are still Gemporia's grading - not the GIA's. They used to send their diamond jewellery off to the London-based SGL and you'd get the certificate with the purchase. No longer.

I don't buy a lot of diamonds, so someone else may be better to comment, but I have a couple of pieces with nice, small accent stones, just not any larger ones in 18K or Platinum. I'd say treat Gemporia just like any other sales person. Go for best for your budget and - more importantly - the one you like. Don't be convinced by a sales person telling you what's the best diamond - they have exactly those to sell.

Thank you Andy. I didn’t know that at all. I assumed they were using the standard GIA grading.

 

[AndyW]

Thank you Andy. I didn’t know that at all. I assumed they were using the standard GIA grading.

Personally, even with diamonds set into jewellery, I say going for the one you like is more important than anything. You'll get bombarded with shrieking about D/IF diamonds being the "best" but warmer colours and softer cuts are sometimes far more beautiful and not so "in your face", something more valued in the antique jewellery world.

 

[Always complaining]

Personally, even with diamonds set into jewellery, I say going for the one you like is more important than anything. You'll get bombarded with shrieking about D/IF diamonds being the "best" but warmer colours and softer cuts are sometimes far more beautiful and not so "in your face", something more valued in the antique jewellery world.

I’m glad I found this group. I really know very little about gems.. I always have to like the item but you know the way it is. I don’t like to think I’ve been had. On the other hand I know enough not to pay any attention to their legacy nonsense and comparing their stuff to designer names where just the name would add enormously to the price tag. But I like to feel I’ve paid a fairly reasonable price and I helps to see the opinions of more knowledgeable people.

 

[AndyW]

I'm not suggesting at all that Gemporia is not grading their diamonds in the same way as the GIA, just that the certification isn't the GIA's - it's Gemporia's. This only makes a difference in two ways, that I can think of:

First, that diamonds that come with a GIA certificate are almost always at a premium price and the stones will be laser-inscribed to link the two together. All of that has a cost, so usually it's only done on stones to be set in jewellery or sold loose where the retailer can be confident about achieving their desired markup.

Secondly, on the positive, Gemporia doesn't stray from the GIA scale used by most reputable sellers but not all sellers don't. For example, if you see a diamond certified by the European Gemological Laboratory, treat it with caution. They use an SI3 grading and caused a bit of a rumpus because it, effectively, allowed them to bump up I grade diamonds into the SI category, with all the perceptions around SI stones and pricing. The GIA is a not-for-profit organisation but the EGL is a commercial enterprise.

That said, not all diamonds are graded or certified. Older or antique stones with less common cuts like rose, old European, old brilliant (pre-1950s) are still utterly beautiful. No surprise that the modern round brilliant was heavily marketed after WWII by...yep, De Beers.

 

[Always complaining]

I'm not suggesting at all that Gemporia is not grading their diamonds in the same way as the GIA, just that the certification isn't the GIA's - it's Gemporia's. This only makes a difference in two ways, that I can think of:

First, that diamonds that come with a GIA certificate are almost always at a premium price and the stones will be laser-inscribed to link the two together. All of that has a cost, so usually it's only done on stones to be set in jewellery or sold loose where the retailer can be confident about achieving their desired markup.

Secondly, on the positive, Gemporia doesn't stray from the GIA scale used by most reputable sellers but not all sellers don't. For example, if you see a diamond certified by the European Gemological Laboratory, treat it with caution. They use an SI3 grading and caused a bit of a rumpus because it, effectively, allowed them to bump up I grade diamonds into the SI category, with all the perceptions around SI stones and pricing. The GIA is a not-for-profit organisation but the EGL is a commercial enterprise.

That said, not all diamonds are graded or certified. Older or antique stones with less common cuts like rose, old European, old brilliant (pre-1950s) are still utterly beautiful. No surprise that the modern round brilliant was heavily marketed after WWII by...yep, De Beers.

Thanks again for all the info. I used to buy with confidence from gems but seeing the rubbish they talk particularly about jade has dented my confidence. That bit about the GIA v. EGL is particularly useful. One thing that they say is true though , when you go into a high street jewellers they very often have no info at all about what they are selling. I can only have an idea about what grade a diamond is if I have one I know about with me to compare. With no info about grades I have no idea if price is a rip off. With antiques it’s different somehow. It’s the whole piece and the age and somehow the grades seem less important.

 

[AndyW]

Hmm. There's a new one...Emily just showed an emerald. Square step cut, she quickly slipped in the words "...some people may call an Asscher cut.".

Some may, but they'd be wrong. Steps cuts both they may be but there are sufficient technical and visible differences in the layout and lengths of the matching number of facets to be able to differentiate them.

If not, why not sell it as an Asscher then? Maybe cos it ain't really?

 

[TheManWithNoName]

Hmm. There's a new one...Emily just showed an emerald. Square step cut, she quickly slipped in the words "...some people may call an Asscher cut.".

Some may, but they'd be wrong. Steps cuts both they may be but there are sufficient technical and visible differences in the layout and lengths of the matching number of facets to be able to differentiate them.

If not, why not sell it as an Asscher then? Maybe cos it ain't really?

Sounds like a typical 'emerald cut'?

 

[TheManWithNoName]

It's now 8.30pm - exactly half way through the 8pm until 9pm hour.

Emily has not sold one single item yet - she's giving a Troth-esque lecture on Hauyn.

So boring. They really have gone full 'Gems TV' on Gem Collector now.

RIP Gem Collector.

 

[rubia]

It's now 8.30pm - exactly half way through the 8pm until 9pm hour.

Emily has not sold one single item yet - she's giving a Troth-esque lecture on Hauyn.

So boring. They really have gone full 'Gems TV' on Gem Collector now.

RIP Gem Collector.

What type of stone is that please?

 

[TheManWithNoName]

What type of stone is that please?

It's a rare blue mineral that is part of the Sodalite group (but much nicer in gem quality specimens)