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All about feldspar (moonstone, labradorite, sunstone, etc.)

Bluegemz said:
Here are a long awaited set of moonstones, and a little story that goes with them. My mother brought these blue moonstones back from Sri Lanka and gave them to me 2 days ago. She mentioned that they were the best she could find there, and had described them as large, clear with a strong blue sheen.

I gave her a picture of my moonstone bracelet as a reference for finding matching stones. They are water clear with a strong, blue Schiller centered on top. I know it's hard to find stones like these, but I'm surprised that these are what she found. I'm not complaining by any means, but the situation surprised me.

First, the well known jewelry store denied having seen stones this blue and said that they must be a synthetic, (a big red flag, as they most certainly are the real thing. But also sometimes pictures translate the blue flashes in opals and moonstone well, in other words, in life, the blue of the bracelet doesn't have those bright spots of blue inside the blue...hard to describe) The store is accredited with a local union or gem association, and has an expensive looking, glossy catalogue. She then purchased these as the best which they had. The larger pair has a slight milkiness to them, but the smaller are more clear although not water clear. She also bought other stones from them as gifts, including a star ruby for my niece, and amazingly some smaller, water clear blue moonstones set in silver as pendants.

She gave me the papers that went with them, and I'm shocked at the price. Though she's not knowledgeable about jewels and not a bargainer, because she believes that people are being fair with stated prices, I'm still really surprised. Basically she paid over 1500 euros for these. That's a price which would for a pair of top blue blue moonstones, water clear with string, even blue and no inclusions or fractures.

This situation is the opposite of what I had hoped, finding great deals near the source. She found expensive stones near the source. Next time she goes, she told me she will go to the mines to negotiate with the miners.

Of course, I am super grateful and they are plenty beautiful enough for me. They do have a nice size and the blue is beautiful. Could it be that moonstones really are becoming this expensive and rare? Maybe she paid for the added expense of a high end store?

Here again is a picture of my bracelet and a picture of the new stones....I'm really grateful for these and will make them into a treasured earring set so that I finally have matching earrings for my 2 blue moonstone necklaces and one bracelet.

IMG_3983.JPG
IMG_3342.JPG
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What are the carat weights of the moonstones?
 
Ok one pair is 11.41 carats, and the other is 13.45 carats. The smaller ones have more height to them.
 
Bluegemz said:
Here are a long awaited set of moonstones, and a little story that goes with them. My mother brought these blue moonstones back from Sri Lanka and gave them to me 2 days ago. She mentioned that they were the best she could find there, and had described them as large, clear with a strong blue sheen.

I gave her a picture of my moonstone bracelet as a reference for finding matching stones. They are water clear with a strong, blue Schiller centered on top. I know it's hard to find stones like these, but I'm surprised that these are what she found. I'm not complaining by any means, but the situation surprised me.

First, the well known jewelry store denied having seen stones this blue and said that they must be a synthetic, (a big red flag, as they most certainly are the real thing. But also sometimes pictures do not translate the blue flashes in opals and moonstone well, in other words, in life, the blue of the bracelet doesn't have those bright spots of blue inside the blue...hard to describe. One can get a sense of how they are based on pics by knowing moonstone qualities. )

The store is accredited with a local union or gem association, and has an expensive looking, glossy catalogue. She then purchased these as the best which they had. The larger pair has a slight milkiness to them, but the smaller are more clear although not water clear. She also bought other stones from them as gifts, including a star ruby for my niece, and amazingly some smaller, water clear blue moonstones set in silver as pendants.

She gave me the papers that went with them, and I'm shocked at the price. Though she's not knowledgeable about jewels and not a bargainer, because she believes that people are being fair with stated prices, I'm still really surprised. Basically she paid over 1500 euros for these. I imagine that is a price range for a pair of top blue blue moonstones, water clear with strong, even blue and no inclusions or fractures, though likely considerably smaller than these.

This situation is the opposite of what I had hoped, finding great deals near the source. She found expensive stones near the source. Next time she goes, she told me she will go to the mines to negotiate with the miners.

Of course, I am super grateful and they are plenty beautiful to me. They have a nice size and the blue is beautiful. The milkiness is ethereal. Could it be that moonstones really are becoming this expensive and rare? Maybe she paid for the added expense of a high end store?

Here again is a picture of my bracelet and a picture of the new stones....I'm really grateful for these and will make them into a treasured earring set so that I finally have matching earrings for my 2 blue moonstone necklaces and one bracelet.

IMG_3983.JPG
IMG_3342.JPG
Click to expand...

Sadly that's just the way it works. At the source, they see tourists and their eyes get the big dollar symbols. Your mum sounds so lovely! It's probably a mix of it being a specific tourist shop and her being a tourist that explains the over payment.

It makes my eyes water when I think of how much I've been overcharged abroad at "source" places, then other friends or family tell me the prices they've paid (they have a lot more experience then me) and I realise I basically got taken.

But then I just browse high street prices back here at home and I feel much better :lol:
 
theredspinel said:
Sadly that's just the way it works. At the source, they see tourists and their eyes get the big dollar symbols. Your mum sounds so lovely! It's probably a mix of it being a specific tourist shop and her being a tourist that explains the over payment.

It makes my eyes water when I think of how much I've been overcharged abroad at "source" places, then other friends or family tell me the prices they've paid (they have a lot more experience then me) and I realise I basically got taken.

But then I just browse high street prices back here at home and I feel much better :lol:
Click to expand...

This is true, as I recently saw a pair of earrings with similar, smaller moonstones and one small sapphire attached on each. maybe the sapphires were 3mm. Those were around 3k. It definitely could have been worse. The other strange thing is that she bought 3 moonstone pendants, with water clear transparency, no inclusions and a nice blue Schiller. Those were from the same store and relatively inexpensive. Makes me wonder if the vendors in Sri Lanka have a different aesthetic of what top moonstones should look like? Could it be that some milkiness is preferred? Maybe it's just the sizes that are so much more expensive...

You are also right on about my mother. She is a very decent person, truly interested in others. Due to her humanistic kindness, she has many friends all over the world. I personally would not be able to stand not negotiating! She made a friendly business bond with the owner and have been communicating via email to purchase more. I haven't told her that she overpaid, but did mention that she must ask questions and should negotiate. At that point she asked me to take over that part.
 
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Bluegemz said:
This is true, as I recently saw a pair of earrings with similar, smaller moonstones and one small sapphire attached on each. maybe the sapphires were 3mm. Those were around 3k. It definitely could have been worse. The other strange thing is that she bought 3 moonstone pendants, with water clear transparency, no inclusions and a nice blue Schiller. Those were from the same store and relatively inexpensive. Makes me wonder if the vendors in Sri Lanka have a different aesthetic of what top moonstones should look like? Could it be that some milkiness is preferred? Maybe it's just the sizes that are so much more expensive...

You are also right on about my mother. She is a very decent person, truly interested in others. Due to her humanistic kindness, she has many friends all over the world. I personally would not be able to stand not negotiating! She made a friendly business bond with the owner and have been communicating via email to purchase more. I haven't told her that she overpaid, but did mention that she must ask questions and should negotiate. At that point she asked me to take over that part.
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Awww your mother sounds so delightful. She certainly sounds like a decent humanistic human :) don't you just love the simplicity of people like that! Simple in the most awesome way. No "stuff" to navigate in your interactions with people like that. Lovely =)2

You're right about differing parameters of "perfect" in other cultures. Many times size does trump clarity or intensity of colour etc.
 
In many of such countries, they still hold on to large is good and should be more expensive. I guess in part because many of the locals not in the gem business go for such sizes. Sometimes over quality. You will not believe the number fractured or stones with bad zoning I've seen here asking for the sky because"they are big and such size hard to find".

My dad used to travel to Sri Lanka for work on a regular basis 1-2+ decades ago and was brought to many workshops and gem stores by his local colleagues. Most of the so called loose sapphires bought then, turned out to be *drumroll*... Glass. Yes, me, the CS nut, brought them to be tested last year. Even the blue stoned pendants bought at gem shops at the Hilton and sold as sapphires were actually irradiated topaz. Some of the so called 18k 20k gold he had set his stones in there also tested for way less content.

Take Yangon for example. Our embassy folks frequent this lady that has 2 shops. They have been doing so for YEARS, because she has a bank account overseas in our country that payments can be made to since not everyone carries bundles of USD$ out and about in a foreign land. As one of her shoos is in a private house, she could also arrange private viewings outside work hours. My organisation had a board retreat here in 2013 where our board members were brought to the same woman because our embassy recommended her. Guess what the majority came away with? Heat treated rubies, treated jade and inferior or non Mogok stones. Which they only knew after they sent them for testing back home. They demanded refunds or partial refunds. Some of our board members are who's-who types and were buying these for their families and spouses. Imagine the top dollar spent for bottom drawer quality. Sad to say, she's still used for such viewings because the embassy is comfortable with her. I've been to her shop and most of what's available are low commercial grade or overshadowed by plenty of small diamonds to obscure flaws. She even blatantly lied to me that her pearls are from monthly auctions (only held 2x a year for locals) and tried to overcharge badly for uneven badly cut small spinels. She also used the common line that oh if I want to see better stones they are all at home and she has to bring them a few days later (they rely on traders for such stock hence mark ups). And that she has plenty of sapphire rough and can cut to match any colour shape and size desired :cool2:. She also gives an "extra 10%" off for embassy folks, as many other shops do here. But that doesn't mean anything as the negotiated price is higher anyhow.

Sad to say, most foreigners to them are just cash cows to be milked. Part of the game.

When my colleague based in Johannesburg tells me about how she gets her stones from a private trader that other expats use, I had warning bells going off in my head.
 
What a story! I'm afraid that is often the case, that places with good presentation can be all show with low Quality gems or even fakes. That lady with the 2 shops... How outrageous ! And the glass and irradiated topaz . Hearing this, I am starting to consider myself lucky that these are at least real moonstones. I'll recommend that my mother have the star ruby sent in for testing. What a racket!
 
In any case it was a sweet gesture from your mom. :)

In Rarnapura, people tried to sell to me very included sapphire for a few hundred dollars and mud-colored chrysoberyls as alexandrites. I did get deals out of Sri Lanka but many are way overpriced.

On another note, I saw a Chinese couple at a shop asking the shop owner of their finds from another shop. I was asked to chime in and what they purchased were some amber beads which turned out to be plastic, and some Lodolite/landscape quartz pendants which turned out to be glass, and epoxied at the back are colored sand (green and red). I can't imagine even colorless, included quartzes and now being faked!
 
Burmesedaze said:
In many of such countries, they still hold on to large is good and should be more expensive. I guess in part because many of the locals not in the gem business go for such sizes. Sometimes over quality. You will not believe the number fractured or stones with bad zoning I've seen here asking for the sky because"they are big and such size hard to find".

My dad used to travel to Sri Lanka for work on a regular basis 1-2+ decades ago and was brought to many workshops and gem stores by his local colleagues. Most of the so called loose sapphires bought then, turned out to be *drumroll*... Glass. Yes, me, the CS nut, brought them to be tested last year. Even the blue stoned pendants bought at gem shops at the Hilton and sold as sapphires were actually irradiated topaz. Some of the so called 18k 20k gold he had set his stones in there also tested for way less content.

Take Yangon for example. Our embassy folks frequent this lady that has 2 shops. They have been doing so for YEARS, because she has a bank account overseas in our country that payments can be made to since not everyone carries bundles of USD$ out and about in a foreign land. As one of her shoos is in a private house, she could also arrange private viewings outside work hours. My organisation had a board retreat here in 2013 where our board members were brought to the same woman because our embassy recommended her. Guess what the majority came away with? Heat treated rubies, treated jade and inferior or non Mogok stones. Which they only knew after they sent them for testing back home. They demanded refunds or partial refunds. Some of our board members are who's-who types and were buying these for their families and spouses. Imagine the top dollar spent for bottom drawer quality. Sad to say, she's still used for such viewings because the embassy is comfortable with her. I've been to her shop and most of what's available are low commercial grade or overshadowed by plenty of small diamonds to obscure flaws. She even blatantly lied to me that her pearls are from monthly auctions (only held 2x a year for locals) and tried to overcharge badly for uneven badly cut small spinels. She also used the common line that oh if I want to see better stones they are all at home and she has to bring them a few days later (they rely on traders for such stock hence mark ups). And that she has plenty of sapphire rough and can cut to match any colour shape and size desired :cool2:. She also gives an "extra 10%" off for embassy folks, as many other shops do here. But that doesn't mean anything as the negotiated price is higher anyhow.

Sad to say, most foreigners to them are just cash cows to be milked. Part of the game.

When my colleague based in Johannesburg tells me about how she gets her stones from a private trader that other expats use, I had warning bells going off in my head.
Click to expand...

Last time I went past the land border, I took the tour. I was taken to a shop that sold all glass and CZ and some utility jades.
 
Seaglow said:
In any case it was a sweet gesture from your mom. :)

In Rarnapura, people tried to sell to me very included sapphire for a few hundred dollars and mud-colored chrysoberyls as alexandrites. I did get deals out of Sri Lanka but many are way overpriced.

On another note, I saw a Chinese couple at a shop asking the shop owner of their finds from another shop. I was asked to chime in and what they purchased were some amber beads which turned out to be plastic, and some Lodolite/landscape quartz pendants which turned out to be glass, and epoxied at the back are colored sand (green and red). I can't imagine even colorless, included quartzes and now being faked!
Click to expand...

Speaking of amber, my jeweller's local friends showed them some yellow stuff that they had bought as amber from another local jeweller. They loved the colour and wanted to get more. My jeweller brought along the uv light torch and real amber to show them the difference between the yellow plasticky stuff that they had purchased as amber and real amber. Nuff said!
 
Seaglow said:
Last time I went past the land border, I took the tour. I was taken to a shop that sold all glass and CZ and some utility jades.
Click to expand...

I hope they didn't lock the tour group in the shop till purchases were made. They do that to many tour groups in China.
 
Burmesedaze said:
I hope they didn't lock the tour group in the shop till purchases were made. They do that to many tour groups in China.
Click to expand...
Now that's extreme! I can't even imagine! :-o
 
Seaglow said:
In any case it was a sweet gesture from your mom. :)

In Rarnapura, people tried to sell to me very included sapphire for a few hundred dollars and mud-colored chrysoberyls as alexandrites. I did get deals out of Sri Lanka but many are way overpriced.

On another note, I saw a Chinese couple at a shop asking the shop owner of their finds from another shop. I was asked to chime in and what they purchased were some amber beads which turned out to be plastic, and some Lodolite/landscape quartz pendants which turned out to be glass, and epoxied at the back are colored sand (green and red). I can't imagine even colorless, included quartzes and now being faked!
Click to expand...

How disappointing for those people! In some European countries, especially Italy, they believe that if one is too uninformed, one deserves to get ripped off. It's almost like a national sport. This happens on so many levels, and especially in real estate and in jewelry purchases.

I have a hard time accepting that semi precious stones are now being faked too.
 
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