sotovoce48
Rough_Rock
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2006
- Messages
- 1
Most of us do our homework and know a good peridot color (cut & clarity aside) from the average department store variety. Here is another to watch for: on a recent trip to Williamsburg, VA, I took some time to wander through an out of the way jewelry store in a small cluster of shops just off the interstate. Being a huge fan of tsavorite, and REALLY good peridot, naming a ''green'' or two, I spotted among a display of green stud earrings a particularly lovely pair. The display contained what looked to me like Arizona peridot (among the more common color types) of various sizes, and another I could not easily identify. I was told it was "rare green obsidian", inclusion free and approximately 5 X 7mm (ovals). I thanked her for showing them and decided to do a bit of research before I considered the $375. purchase. I had never known, nor had I heard of obsidian having a crystalline quality -- it is in appearance rather (so far as concerns the green) far more like an agate in appearance, completely opaque and commonly filled with striations of texture and color. After intense research I am satisfied there is no such legitimately known gemstone to the industry, and that the stones were quite likely -- based upon color and price -- fluorite. Unfortunately this wasn''t the only discrepancy I noted visiting this retailer. I wanted to share this to remind us to all be careful. Since it is very unlikely this jeweler could have as excuse being so uninformed, all I can say is there thankfully exist honest others to do business with -- still sadly a few trying to slip things by.
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