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GIA Bangkok losing a sapphire

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ChaiK

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jun 8, 2018
Messages
1,152
A vendor had a sapphire at 10.5 carats. It has a certificate by Lotus. I thought to have it certified by GIA.

GIA Bangkok has now said they have misplaced the stone. They are sorry and that is it for now. They will revert.

Is that possible? I have not paid for the gem, of course.

The vendor is beside himself with worry.

I should have just stuck with the Lotus cert. Even if others have mentioned that Lotus can be lax about the colours, at least Lotus has stated that it is a sapphire and heated only. And it is a blue and lively gem, as identified so by Lotus. And Lotus did not misplace the stone. And wow, I am still super shocked GIA Bangkok can misplace a gem. Let's see what they say.
 
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Well if they don't find it, common sense says the vendor should be reimbursed the value of the stone. Also, at this point in time you and the vendor want to move from verbal to written communication with the lab - emails, in case you haven't done so already. Have things in writing, as written statements can't be disputed or refuted as easily as "well we never said that, what stone, we never had such a stone here".
 
Ionysis said:
What a nightmare! Have the lab suggested what their next course of action is? Do they acknowledge they received it? Do they have appropriate insurance?
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They are sorry. They have no further information for now. They will revert later on. How late? They have an investigation going on. And that's it. No further information and I suppose vendor will be informed of the process.

I will update. I thought it interesting to post this. Let's see how GIA Bangkok deals with it.

I have no time to tell the vendor what to do. He can sort this out.

I can only relay information here and am interested in how GIA Bangkok will resolve it.
 
Oh my goodness! This is my worst (gem) nightmare!! I always worry about them in transit, but now I have to worry about the lab "misplacing" them? All it takes is one bad employee, I suppose. Well at least you're able to document that you actually sent the stone to the GIA, and they're taking responsibility for it with regard to the vendor. That aside, I'm so sorry!!
 
Ionysis said:
What a nightmare! Have the lab suggested what their next course of action is? Do they acknowledge they received it? Do they have appropriate insurance?
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These were my first thoughts too. If OP hasn't done so already, I would immediately attempt to have the lab acknowledge receipt of the stone itself in writing, because I would want no part of this mess. I assume OP has a tracking number with a "delivered" status, which is a start. But I just wouldn't want them to pull any funny business in the future by saying the stone wasn't in the delivered package, etc. Scary!

Avondale said:
Well if they don't find it, common sense says the vendor should be reimbursed the value of the stone. Also, at this point in time you and the vendor want to move from verbal to written communication with the lab - emails, in case you haven't done so already. Have things in writing, as written statements can't be disputed or refuted as easily as "well we never said that, what stone, we never had such a stone here".
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Absolutely. :???:
 
How do you “lose” a 10 carat sapphire?
It doesn’t fall off the bench and into the rubbish.
No sure what their chain of process is but you would have to assume they can follow through to find out where it has “fallen through”.
 
Agree wholeheartedly with Bron357. This seems like the sort of thing any business would want to investigate thoroughly. Possibly with the help of a private investigator. Because I would imagine their insurance company will have a number of very pointed questions about how all this came about.
 
LilAlex said:
A high-enough-value stone in a low-income environment can lead to bad behavior -- the benefit of theft can far outweigh the "value" of the ongoing employment.
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Thats so sad
in fact when i really think about it, its the saddest thing ive read all day

years ago i used to be the cashier at my work
I would be sending 20K in cash off to the bank on an average day

we would look at it stacked on my desk and say - nah - my job is worth more than that
 
Daisys and Diamonds said:
Thats so sad
in fact when i really think about it, its the saddest thing ive read all day
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Sorry! I hope I am wrong!

I recently had to insure a package and chose a (very low) valuation that was high enough that a missing package would certainly raise eyebrows but not so high that it would warrant jeopardizing the federal employment of anyone in the chain of custody. That may have been a silly miscalculation -- maybe I should have just sent it uninsured -- but the recipient is in a small town almost off the grid and gets some high-value shipments.
 
I'd like to think they'll find it. If not, they must have insurance to compensate, given they handle a lot of valuable stones. Maybe it's just buried in a pile underneath something, or in the wrong drawer or...I don't know. Fingers crossed they find it :pray:
 
Recent turmoils with a certain swiss lab reminded me of this case, so I'm next in line to ask if there's been any development with the situation.
 
Avondale said:
Recent turmoils with a certain swiss lab reminded me of this case, so I'm next in line to ask if there's been any development with the situation.
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Too funny... I thought the same exact thing!
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Nothing that dramatic.

I got my refund for certification costs, vendor got his refund plus the agreed sale price.

GIA asked for proof of the agreed purchase price, vendor showed our WhatsApp messages and that was the end of it.
 
ChaiK said:
Nothing that dramatic.

I got my refund for certification costs, vendor got his refund plus the agreed sale price.

GIA asked for proof of the agreed purchase price, vendor showed our WhatsApp messages and that was the end of it.
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Well that's no fun. Jokes aside, I'm so glad it came to such an amicable solution. Kudos to GIA for making everyone whole. Sucks that a beautiful gem is gone though.
 
AnastasiaBeaverhausen said:
Well that's no fun. Jokes aside, I'm so glad it came to such an amicable solution. Kudos to GIA for making everyone whole. Sucks that a beautiful gem is gone though.
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Yeah, I was hoping it had been found too. Some stones are just irreplaceable, you know? So it still makes me nervous that the GIA was either careless or has a thief among them. :???: But I'm relieved for @ChaiK (and the vendor) that they were made whole!
 
Autumn in New England said:
Yeah, I was hoping it had been found too. Some stones are just irreplaceable, you know? So it still makes me nervous that the GIA was either careless or has a thief among them. :???: But I'm relieved for @ChaiK (and the vendor) that they were made whole!
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I think this is part of operational risk, but I cannot imagine that they lose more than 1 stone every 10’000-20’000 or they would not be in business. Still sucks, of course!
 
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