advices on benitoite, please?

[Arkteia]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWAX:IT

I am posting it here - even if it is the greatest stone on earth and someone snatches it, no big deal. But I just wanted to know if anyone ever dealt with this e-bay vendor and what was his/her opinion?

 

[movie zombie]

the actual company's website: http://capistranomining.com/

and a competitor http://www.steveperrygems.com/gems/benito.htm who has some of the smaller stones at a nice price.

as well as http://wsfgems.com/benito.html whose family did or still does own a mine. i've been to this shop and he does have some amazing benitoite....the really good stuff is really pricey.

to answer the original question, i haven't ordered from the ebayer.....but they appear to be legit from what i understand of the mining of this gem in california.

the other two have smaller sized stones for just as or more reasonable prices.

mz

 

[movie zombie]

case in point re the nicer ones being pricey:

http://capistranomining.com/index.php?a ... t&catId=14

see the bottom one: 1.75 carats for $5,999.00!!!!!!

mz

ps some nice smaller ones above it though.

 

[MarquiseGirl]

Hi Crasru,
I've ordered from him, his name is Wayne. I ordered a pair of Benitoites from him for earrings, and they are very nice. Nice guy, I would definitely order from him again.

 

[Arkteia]

Thank you, MZ and MG for your advices! I browsed Steve Perry'w website for a totally different reason today, and found his selection wide and prices reasonable. It is always good to add several decent vendors to your list!

 

[chrono]

I have not dealt with this particular vendor, but I do enjoy dealing with Steve Perry. Like everyone else, he has some nice stuff and not so nice stuff but his pricing seems fair.

 

[Barrett]

Thats Wayne Schrimp..another good friend of mine..100% trustworthy and the best to deal with..you need anything that has to do with benitoite he is the man..a little story he was telling me last time we spoke a little while ago..Wayne etches his own benitoite and had more unetched material than you can imagine..well about 6 monbths ago he had this little piece he was about to etch along with some others..well after looking at it he decided the natrolite couldn't be covering to much so probably not even worth it..was going to toss it in the junk pile or something..on second thought he said what the heck might as well..after etching what looked like the most uninteresting piece a little crystal started to show..well lo and behold this most uninteresting piece held a huge gem clean facetgrade benitoite..will have to go back and search my emails for size but it was a piece that would easily cut a 5ct+stone or larger if i remember..something ungodly in size..it wasn't the rich deep blue but a slightly lighter blue but the size and cleanliness of it was outstanding..all from this little junkie unetched piece..lol..he is also the guy I may have mentioned in the past that somneone sent him a 1-2ct benitoite..super fine stone..just dropped it in the envelope..no padding..no nothing..rollers at the PO crushed it into little bits...even though wasn't his stone still was pissed such a large ben had been destroyed due to stupidity

 

[Barrett]

oh forgot to add..yea wsfgems is good to..thats scott..he is the nephew of the owner..he has great stuff..been trying for a couple years to get some ammy rough from him
http://wsfgems.com/amethyst.html