I bought this stone......What do you guys think?

[Elvis]

Here is the link to the stones photo and descripiton. http://www.israel-diamonds.com/showitem.asp?product=9146 I plan to have it appraised as soon as it arrives. I would like to hear any feed back from you gym afficionados out there, and anybody who has bought from these guys before.

Elvis

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Hi Elvis. Pretty stone.

My first thought upon looking at it was "that isn''t a Burmese stone" (as it is labeled on the picture). Then I saw on the description they have it labeled as a Thai stone, which is what it looks like.

Although it looks to be a pleasing ruby, they are very liberal with the term "excellent" in the different categories, as well as "top quality".

I would definitely get an impartial opinion from an independent appraiser once you receive it.

 

[colormyworld]

Hi Elvis,
Looks like a great picture.
Please update us when the stone arrives.

 

[Elvis]

Thanks Richard,

I agree with you and intend to have a local lab here in NorthWest AR evaluate the stone. The main reason I purchased the stone loose was because I was concernded about the quality of the stone and how liberal they may be with their own evaluation. They have a 30 day return policy on the stone, but if you have it set the ring is custom and unreturnable. You would have to return it to them to remove the stone as well because if you have it done here then you face the possiblity of damage and then you own it like it or not. I also used a credit card to purchase, which gives me 90 days to dispute the charge if the quality isn''t up to what they stated and refuse to give me the refund as their policy states they will.

You speak as if you are familiar with them, do they have a rep for delivering less than what they purport the stone to be? I would appreciate any feedback. I inquired about them on this forum before I purchased but only one person replied with personal testimony. She said she bought three stones from them and was happy with them all. I hope my experience is the same, that is if that person was for real. You never know on the web.

Thanks again and I will post my own photo of the stone and the ring once it is made, assuming I don''t return the stone.

Elvis has left the building

 

[Richard Sherwood]

No, I have no experience with them.

Their description terminology though (if used as an appraiser would use it) would indicate a ruby more expensive than the price asked on this one.

That doesn''t mean there''s anything wrong with this one, and it might be a very pretty stone. It just means they might be a little over enthusiastic in their terminology.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

I saw a "mark" (for lack of a better term) on the upper LHS of the stone and subsequently used the click and drag feature provided to magnify what I saw--is that a "chip" in the stone or artifact in the photography?

cheers--Sharon

 

[Elvis]

We will find out when I get it. I am sure it is in the photo. If it had a chip they wouldn''t show it.

 

[Elvis]

Yeah I took it with a grain of salt. I mostly tried to look at alot of their stones and see how they rated them and how they priced them to get an idea of the quality of the stones relative to other stones they are selling. Comparing them to someone elses description is quite hard, it is only relative within that one companies stones. Do you see get what I am trying to say? For instance they have some small stones they rate very high vs. some of their other stones and in turn price them higher. One can only assume since in the picture it does look better and since they price it higher than some larger stones of their own which they rate lower using their own terminology that this is indeed one of their better stones within my budget. So I kind of got the hang of it, after much pouring over their site as well as others, how to tell what quality of stone I was really looking at, comparitively speaking. At least as much as one can from a picture and description from the seller. If a picture is a worth a thousand words, seeing it in person must be worth a trillion at least. The real truth will come out when I have it poured over at the lab. I am keeping my fingers crossed, but not holding my breath.

Thanks,

Elvis

 

[riogems]

Hi Elvis,

A lab might not give you the answers you''re looking for... unless you''re only concerned if it is a real ruby (which is not a bad thing to verify). Something tells me, you''re looking for information on market value too. Even if your lab does appraisals, this is going to be hard to do. For example, my dad showed me 5 rubies, all the same size. Each were approximately the same color, but the clarity improved very slightly between each of the 5 stones. If we called these stones, A, B, C, D, E, with E being the best (and A the worst), B was twice the price of A, C twice B, D twice C, and E twice D. (I gave approximates here -- and in actuality E came out 40 times the price of A.) What this meant to me, is that it is pretty hard to determine a price without having something you really know to compare it to.

 

[FireGoddess]

Looks very pretty, and I love the shape. I''d also love to see pics when you get it - I love to see how ''real'' pictures compare with the online vendor shots for colored stones.

 

[Elvis]

Actually I am more interested is it''s quality and origin, and I am most concerned with whether it has any fillers. I know it has been heat treated but they claim no fillers. As far as the value. I have seen other rubies. If it looks really pretty to me, clean, clear, etc. and most importantly too my wife, I will consider it worth the money paid. Particularly since it was fairly inexpensive compared to most other stones claimed to be of similar color and clarity from other vendors. We shall soon see if was really a good deal or just another of many rip offs available the world over.

Elvis

 

[colorchange]

... you always have to be concerned with fillers when you buy a ruby.

Take care in choosing your lab, fillers are not always easy to dicover !

 

[jleb]

frankly, I think you might have paid a bit much.. I don't know grading ruby's as well as I do diamonds.. For comparison, here is a .82 carat 5x7x2.5 oval antique pigeon blood natural burmese

This cost me $299.00 It was pulled from old jewelry that was going to be melted. The pavilion bottom has a set of small holes where the cavities in the stone broke through the facet rather than being filled as they are today..

Here's a shot..

here's the "glow" effect