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Anybody buy from Gemcove on ebay?

baby nurse

baby nurse

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jan 12, 2010
Messages
2,551
Good experience? Bad?
 
My experiences have been good. I have returned a stone (had a window) but I was promptly refunded. His photos are "glamour shots" which means that they show the stones in the best possible light, but he states that they aren't photoshopped, and I believe him. He uses a professional photographer to show the stones in the best light. I had him send me some IRL shots of the aquamarine stone I bought from him and they were not very good (the photos), so I understand why he has them professionally photographed - lol. He warned me that he's not very good with photos.

I do need to state that I have become somewhat of a "friend" of the owner over time, so I wanted to disclose that. I bought my beautiful aquamarines from him and I couldn't be more pleased.
 
colorluvr|1314487337|3002224 said:
My experiences have been good. I have returned a stone (had a window) but I was promptly refunded. His photos are "glamour shots" which means that they show the stones in the best possible light, but he states that they aren't photoshopped, and I believe him. He uses a professional photographer to show the stones in the best light. I had him send me some IRL shots of the aquamarine stone I bought from him and they were not very good (the photos), so I understand why he has them professionally photographed - lol. He warned me that he's not very good with photos.

I do need to state that I have become somewhat of a "friend" of the owner over time, so I wanted to disclose that. I bought my beautiful aquamarines from him and I couldn't be more pleased.
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To be honest, colorluvr, I'm asking about this seller because of your aquamarines! I emailed him twice asking if he thought he might get more and got no response. He has a spinel that I'm interested in but I wanted to double check what others thought of him before making a purchase.
 
I have heard mixed things about him on PS, but I, too, was impressed by your aquamarine and started looking at his stones again. I fell in love with a cuprian of his, asked him a question. He promptly responded saying he would provide additional photos, but despite several followup emails, he never did. I guess I attribute it to his new business that you mentioned Colorluvr :confused:
 
I bought the only three he had from that lot. He told me (a while back) shortly after I got mine that he had sent several back because they weren't as saturated. I'm definitely setting the big one in a pendant to match my ring (someday - sigh) but I'm not sure what I'm doing with the oval. I'd thought about a RHR (I probably wouldn't wear the EC on my right hand because I'm right handed and have a tendency to bang that hand) but I haven't decided.

I'm sorry that he hasn't answered you..... I can try to contact him and see if he has any more that are similar to mine. I've been pretty busy myself moving across the country, so I haven't been in touch with him lately - I do know that all of his auctions are now on his UK site and the US ebay site only has BIN stones.
 
minousbijoux|1314489175|3002322 said:
I have heard mixed things about him on PS, but I, too, was impressed by your aquamarine and started looking at his stones again. I fell in love with a cuprian of his, asked him a question. He promptly responded saying he would provide additional photos, but despite several followup emails, he never did. I guess I attribute it to his new business that you mentioned Colorluvr :confused:
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I'm sorry he didn't follow through..... like I said, I haven't had any contact with him for a while, but that's because I've been pretty busy packing/driving across the country/unpacking and putting together a house (except for a fun afternoon at an Intergem show :bigsmile: )
 
colorluvr|1314489550|3002347 said:
I bought the only three he had from that lot. He told me (a while back) shortly after I got mine that he had sent several back because they weren't as saturated. I'm definitely setting the big one in a pendant to match my ring (someday - sigh) but I'm not sure what I'm doing with the oval. I'd thought about a RHR (I probably wouldn't wear the EC on my right hand because I'm right handed and have a tendency to bang that hand) but I haven't decided.

I'm sorry that he hasn't answered you..... I can try to contact him and see if he has any more that are similar to mine. I've been pretty busy myself moving across the country, so I haven't been in touch with him lately - I do know that all of his auctions are now on his UK site and the US ebay site only has BIN stones.
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Thank you, colorluvr! It would be great if you could contact him. That color is so rare, I'd be surprised if he could get more but I'd definitely like to try! I'll contact him again also.

You were smart to buy what he had!
 
I bought a couple of smaller stones from him, a green tourmaline for a project that so far has not even morphed, and a spinel, and they were true to pictures and good for the price. Not the museum kind of stones, but inexpensive, so I consider him a safe vendor.
 
That's good to know. Thanks, crasru!
 
BN, I left Rich (Gemcove) a message via Skype last night (that is how I communicated with him during the aqua purchases). I explained about the emails and this is what he replied:

"I have had 2 questions regarding the Aqua's and have sent e-mails to their private accounts but then didnt get any replies. The Cuprian sold to another and I tried to locate a replacement but could not."

He is in the UK, so we seldom are on at the same time. I left him another message this morning, suggesting that he keep an eye out for a new email from you, so hopefully you can get in touch. It sounds like some of the messages weren't getting back and forth. I don't think he was able to get any more aquas like mine, or I think he would have told me. Good luck with the spinel!
 
Colorluvr, thank you! I'm really embarrassed to say that he did respond to my email questions. We've had problems with our computer and I wasn't getting my ebay messages but I found them today and emailed Rich. Thank you for being such a help :)) .
 
I bought a 3+ carat CC sapphire ring from them before. Not exactly a cheap ring. Advertised as Burmese and no enhancement. The ring even came with a GRS certificate stating the origin. After receiving the ring, I re-tested the stone by AGL, and found out dimensions of the sapphire are different from the cert., origin is Sri Lanka, not Burma. And the worst of all, the sapphire was clarity enhanced! This probably means the stone I received is not the same stone certified in the original GRS certificate.

I would probably steer away from this ebay seller..
 
I dealt with Richard a few year ago, I think, and then I gave up. First, I inquired about a pink spinel and he said it was the best pink color ever. Fortunately, and based on the advice here at PS (thank you), I asked for a cert and it came back as a tourmaline... Second time, I won a rubellite on auction and what I got looked nothing like the photo. It was dark and muddy, clearly the photo was enhanced beyond reason. So I returned the stone and had to e-mail twice to get my refund... And then some time later I asked him about some other stone (I think it was cuprian or something else that should have been tested). I asked how he knows that's what it is without a lab report. He said he sent another stone from the same crystal to a client in New York, who had it tested at a major lab, and therefore this stone is the same. A few weeks later, I asked the same question about a completely different stone, and got the same exact story. So that just didn't sound right, and I gave up and have not dealt with him since then... So that''s my story...
I think if I was purchasing something major from this store, I would send it to a lab myself and not trust stories or even a cert he gets... Sorry to be negative...
 
Rich is a friendly guy and spends some of his time in the UK and in Thailand(?).

His photos are definitely "glamour" shots and don't always live up to expectations. He's good at answering questions but I think he may be economical with his answers.

I'd probably buy from him again but would need the assurance of a swift refund if things weren't up to scratch.
 
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