greatgemthai seller on ebay

[colorluvr]

Have any of you had any dealings with greatgemthai on ebay? I know I haven't been on here much lately (been gone from home and use of the internet for four of the last six weeks due to family matters) and have a lot of catching up to do, but I'm looking at one of their stones and would appreciate any feedback asap.

Their feedback score is good and their toolhaus is ok, but they use two gem labs that I have never heard of: the first is SGS (school of gemological sciences) and TGL - Thailand Gemological Lab (not the Japanese based lab) in Bangkok. I emailed them about the first lab (SGS) and they responded: "The SGS Institute (Thailand) was established from the year 1991 by establishing schools licensed by the Ministry of Education. The school is the first institutions to be opened by the Thai people. Aims to provide knowledge of gems to the general public. Aims to teach and train those who want to learn about the gems." It has a website, but it is written in Thai.
http://www.sgs.ac.th/School/default.aspx

I can't find any info on the other lab. I have attached a photo of the cert from one of their auctions (not the stone I am interested in, just as an example). I noticed that the word "center" is spelled "certer" on the certificate, but I don't know if that is a typo (which may mean it is not legit) or it may be a legitimate spelling that I am not aware of.... thanks

 

[LD]

Hopefully Morecarats will pop in with an answer. Neither Lab spring to mind to be honest. I guess what I would want to know is whether they have all the equipment to really test for all the treatments on the market. Unfortunately, although you'd think they would, there are many labs who can only perform standard tests. For example, testing for BE diffusion needs specialised (and expensive) equipment and I believe that most Labs don't have this facility.

 

[colorluvr]

I highly doubt that they can test for BE treatment, but I am interested in a stone that is "unheated" and if I understand correctly, even the lesser labs should be able to determine if a stone has been heated... it is the heated stones that need further testing, but thanks for your response.

 

[T L]

I have never heard of this lab, and I struggle with using labs that are so unknown. If they do exist, how do we know their gemologists are capable of determining specific treatments? Some labs use student gemologists as well.

I found this list of reputable labs online. Some are more reputable than others, and some have more capabilities than others, but at least these are known labs.

AGS - American Gem Society Laboratories
Stone Group Labs
Adamas Gemological Laboratory
DGemG-Deutsche Gemmologische Gesselschaft
HKD - Diamond Laboratories Canada
GS - GemScan Laboratories of America. Located in Dallas, Toronto & Mumbai
EGL - European Gemological Laboratory
HRD - Antwerp Institute of Gemmology
CISGEM – Italy’s best known gemological lab
IGE – Instituto Gemológico Español – Spanish gemological institute
Gubelin Lab - Switzerland based gemmological laboratory
Institut Gemmologique de France – Lyon, France-based gemological institute
LabGem – Portuguese gem laboratory
SSEF - The Swiss Gemmological Institute, part of the Swiss Foundation for the Research of Gemstones
LFG - Laboratoire Français de Gemmologie (France)
GIT - The Gem and Jewelry Institute of Thailand
GII - Gemmological Institute of India
DCLA - Diamond Certification Laboratory of Australia
ADGL - Australian Diamond Grading Laboratory
AGL-American Gemological Laboratories
Burapha Gemological Lab
GRS-GemResearch Swiss Lab
AIGS-Asian Institute of Gemological Sciences
GIA-Gemological Institute of America
GEM-A-The Gemological Association of Great Britain
GEMLAB - Liechtenstein

There may be others, but I have never heard of TGL.

 

[Edward Bristol]

Add:

EMIL and Tokyo (both run by Japanese)

 

[chrono]

Unfortunately, I have never heard of this lab, therefore, I do not know how reputable they are. The paperwork said the stone is unheated, which should be easy enough to determine, but I also noticed that there is no notation about the clarity and/or filling.

 

[megeve]

colorluvr, I have also not heard of this lab. Sorry, I can't help you there but I hope some others can!

A slight threadjack:

AGS - American Gem Society Laboratories
Stone Group Labs
Adamas Gemological Laboratory
DGemG-Deutsche Gemmologische Gesselschaft
HKD - Diamond Laboratories Canada
GS - GemScan Laboratories of America. Located in Dallas, Toronto & Mumbai
EGL - European Gemological Laboratory
HRD - Antwerp Institute of Gemmology
CISGEM – Italy’s best known gemological lab
IGE – Instituto Gemológico Español – Spanish gemological institute
Gubelin Lab - Switzerland based gemmological laboratory
Institut Gemmologique de France – Lyon, France-based gemological institute
LabGem – Portuguese gem laboratory
SSEF - The Swiss Gemmological Institute, part of the Swiss Foundation for the Research of Gemstones
LFG - Laboratoire Français de Gemmologie (France)
GIT - The Gem and Jewelry Institute of Thailand
GII - Gemmological Institute of India
DCLA - Diamond Certification Laboratory of Australia
ADGL - Australian Diamond Grading Laboratory
AGL-American Gemological Laboratories
Burapha Gemological Lab
GRS-GemResearch Swiss Lab
AIGS-Asian Institute of Gemological Sciences
GIA-Gemological Institute of America
GEM-A-The Gemological Association of Great Britain
GEMLAB - Liechtenstein

TL, do you know more about this french lab which is now in yellow above? I have been trying to find out more about this lab. After our house move, I have found a lab report from LFG with 5 untreated pink sapphires of different sizes! I daren't ask DH about it, don't want to spoil his surprise!

end of threadjack!

 

[T L]

Thank you for adding those Ed.

If someone else wants to add to the list above, please do. I think we should have a compilation of known and reputable gemological labs somewhere. It would be nice if the mods put this in a sticky or some place.

 

[colorluvr]

Update: I emailed greatgemthai and questioned them about this lab (TGL) , the misspelling (I think) on the cert, etc. and this is the response I got back:

"I am sorry. Normally, I use SGS, GIT, BGL and GIT lab. The TGL lab report, it come with the stone when I bought the stone from my dealer. I will check with my dealer and the lab again.
Thank you"

As you can see, they mentioned GIT twice, but I think they may have meant to add GIA instead of GIA because a few of their stones show GIA certs. Doesn't give me a lot of confidence in them or the lab! I'll let you know if I hear anything more from them.

I would still like to hear from anyone who may have heard about the SGS lab at the "School of Gemological Science".

Thanks to all who have contributed to the list of labs.

 

[T L]

Very smart of you to check on that. Many ebayers are straddled into a false sense of security in the fact that just because a stone comes with a piece of paper, that piece of paper is as good as gold. We not only need to do our homework on treatments, but on what reputable labs there are, and which ones to use for detection of specific types of treatment, and what type of information should be included on the report.

 

[colorluvr]

Very smart of you to check on that. Many ebayers are straddled into a false sense of security in the fact that just because a stone comes with a piece of paper, that piece of paper is as good as gold. We not only need to do our homework on treatments, but on what reputable labs there are, and which ones to use for detection of specific types of treatment, and what type of information should be included on the report.

I'm anxious to see if they respond back again and I'm also hopeful that someone on here has heard of the SGS lab and knows something about it.

 

[T L]

The color on that report, "vivid red," is a bit scary since the stone is anything but a vivid red if it's anything like the photo.

 

[T L]

Megeve,
I'm not familiar with the French lab, but I obtained the above list from a well known and reputable gemologist who specializes in colored gems.

 

[colorluvr]

The color on that report, "vivid red," is a bit scary since the stone is anything but a vivid red if it's anything like the photo.

I just picked that auction because it showed that "unknown" lab cert, that the seller wasn't even sure of

I'm still hoping some one on here has heard of the SGS lab, as they seem to use it for most of their stones. None of the complaints I saw on toolhaus said anything about synthetic stones, and they have only had two neutrals and no negatives that have been reported in the last two years, so perhaps the SGS lab might actually exist, but be a small lab that only does bare bones identifications.

I am curious now as a future reference more than anything because sometimes when one Thai seller starts using a lab, others are not far behind.

 

[T L]

If you can't find it online, I wouldn't bother. I think Arcadian bought a spinel recently from "GemsMystery Imperial" and they claimed it had a lab certificate, but it was unverifiable. They eventually admitted it was their own in house lab cert, which is really worthless IMHO.

 

[Arcadian]

If you can't find it online, I wouldn't bother. I think Arcadian bought a spinel recently from "GemsMystery Imperial" and they claimed it had a lab certificate, but it was unverifiable. They eventually admitted it was their own in house lab cert, which is really worthless IMHO.

Yes that would be me. They didn't bother answering my questions about the cert even though I sent them 3 messages about it until I gave them a neutral...how funny is that? then they had the nerve to ask me to remove it (I never change feedback)

All I can say is if the seller isn't helpful and, if you can't verify it online, its probably some in house thing.


-A

 

[chrono]

Arcadian,
What a novel idea to get a prompt response from the vendor if he/she’s ignoring your email inquiries. Just give a neutral feedback and viola! You’ll receive an email from the vendor the very next day.

 

[colorluvr]

If you can't find it online, I wouldn't bother.

Actually, the SGS school does have a website, but it is not in English so it's impossible for me to know what it says. The seller has been responsive to my questions about the two labs in two separate emails, so at least that's a positive. They linked me to the SGS school website (I quoted their response earlier) and then responded to my question about the TGL lab by admitting they didn't know that much about it, but would find out. I'll be sure to let you know if they get back to me.

 

[LD]

The problem is that even if you could read the website, it would be marketing blurb that might tell you what they want you to know, not necessarily what they do.

With established and well known labs they have a reputation to uphold and therefore their reports are more likely to be consistent. With an unknown lab you won't have that assurity OR that the gemmologists have the expertise and skills you would expect from a recognised lab.

The fact that you have a forum full of gem buyers (vendors and consumers) and nobody knows of the lab to me speaks volumes.

 

[bethay audrey]

HAVE ANYONE HEARD ABOUT THE LAB GFCO IN BANGKOK..FEW WEEKS BEFORE I MAKE 2 CERTIFICATE FROM THIS LABORATORY THEY GAVE SYNTHETIC STONE NATURAL.MANY SUPPLIERS FROM EBAY SELL WITH THERE CERTIFICATE BECAUSE THEY WRITE WHAT THE SUPPLIER SAY EVEN THEY WRITE HEATED STONE UNHEATED AND SYNTHETIC STONES NATURAL.SO PLS BE CAREFUL IF YOU ARE BUYING WITH THIS LABORATORY CERTIFICATE.I THINK WE SHOULD NOT BUY STONES IN EBAY FROM THIS CERTIFICATES.SO THAT THE SUPPLIERS STOP MAKING FAKE CERTIFICATES