Another Sapphire Question, what do you think of this stone?

[LD]

Re: Another Sapphire Question, what do you think of this sto

This is Harshil Zaveri from StarRuby.in replying.

Just to clarify... we are not affiliated to the ebay vendor starjewelry.in in any way whatsoever. Infact, we have already filed a complaint with eBay because this seller is illegally using a username identical to our domain name (which is against eBay policies in the first place). The domain name http://www.starjewelry.in belongs to us but the eBay id starjewelry.in does not. I have had this problem with many customers confusing that seller with my store. It is quite clear from the discussion in this thread that the vendor is misrepresenting gemstones, and to make it worse he is using our reputation to do so (infact if you see the pictures he takes with the stone in his hand, it is very identical to our pictures style).

Speaking of IGITL, I would not trust their reports because from all we know the person signing the certificates might not even be a qualified gemologists. I have come across a couple of synthetic sapphires that had IGITL certificates stating "Natural Sapphire - Indications of Heating" but seeing under a microscope, one could clearly make out they were lab grown sapphires.

@Arcadian & Justin_Cutter - Thanks for the heads up!

Thanks & regards,
Harshil Zaveri

Thank you Harshil for the clarification and the warning about IGITL.

Harshil I wholeheartedly apologise for confusing your company with this other one. As you say, the problem is that the two names are very similar and if you haven't personally dealt with one or other, in all likelihood you will confuse the two (just as I have done).

Thank you VERY much for the great information. It is incredibly helpful to have the information you have provided. Many people believe a "gemologist" can issue a lab report and we know from experience that that's not the case and in fact, as you've said, more frighteningly, some "gemologists" are not even qualified. Interestingly, when I saw the photo that was posted that opened this thread, my first thought was "synthetic" but because it had a lab report, I questionned myself. In reality, a sapphire of this colour and clarity would have a very high selling price on Ebay so I would now assume this to be synthetic (my opinion only).

Thank you again and please accept my apologies.

 

[harshilzaveri]

Re: Another Sapphire Question, what do you think of this sto

Just some further info about the gem labs in India. The only gem-labs that, in my opinion, have "decent" testing standards in India are the following (in no particular order):

International Gemological Institute (IGI) - Mumbai
Gemological Institute of India (GII) - Mumbai
Gem Testing Laboratory (GTL) - Jaipur

There might be some other small labs that may have decent standards but they are not as recognized as the above three in the trade.

However, when purchasing a stone of a significant value, say $5K+, it is always preferable to have certificates from one of the "top league" labs: GIA, GRS, SSEF, Gubelin, AGL (my personal favorite is GIA because they have very consistent standards and international acceptability).

Regards,
Harshil

 

[harshilzaveri]

Re: Another Sapphire Question, what do you think of this sto

Harshil I wholeheartedly apologise for confusing your company with this other one. As you say, the problem is that the two names are very similar and if you haven't personally dealt with one or other, in all likelihood you will confuse the two (just as I have done).

Thank you VERY much for the great information. It is incredibly helpful to have the information you have provided. Many people believe a "gemologist" can issue a lab report and we know from experience that that's not the case and in fact, as you've said, more frighteningly, some "gemologists" are not even qualified. Interestingly, when I saw the photo that was posted that opened this thread, my first thought was "synthetic" but because it had a lab report, I questionned myself. In reality, a sapphire of this colour and clarity would have a very high selling price on Ebay so I would now assume this to be synthetic (my opinion only).

Thank you again and please accept my apologies.

Thanks for the feedback. I know the names are very similar which is why I am having a problem and have taken it up with eBay. Knowing the eBay "red-tape" it might be some while before the matter is looked into by them and resolved.

These days so many gem-testing labs have cropped up all around the world that for an amateur in the gem industry, it becomes too difficult to filter out the good from the bad.

Regards,
Harshil