Musia
Brilliant_Rock
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2020
- Messages
- 1,073
Hello! 
I wanted to get briefs from AGL for my Russian Demantoids and some other stones that I bought from Russian vendor who is located in Russia. But the lab is still closed (or already reopened?) and it is not the greatest time to send stones away by mail. One of the stones, the yellowish-greenish and the biggest one, belonged to my mother. She gave it to me many years ago and didn't really know what it was, just called it "green garnet from Ural mountains". Also explained that green garnet is not as good as red garnet, it didn't have enough time to get to the right condition and become red. Just like cherries, strawberries or tomatoes. But it was sparkly so I happily accepted the gift. Don't remember what she said about the source of her stone. But she clearly believed it wasn't valuable, just a little better than glass in her opinion. She also had a silver ring with 3 little green garnets, she didn't give it to me and I don't know what happened to it after she passed in 2017.
I did my research, figured out how great the green garnet from Ural actually is and wanted to get many more of them! After a long search I found one gentleman from Russia with whom I decided to start doing business. I bought an inexpensive pair of demantoids to match the mom's stone first. Then I bought several more stones one by one. Then I wanted to have an opinion from someone qualified so my daughter stops thinking I am crazy and being fooled by dishonest Russian. I did research here on PS and found out from an earlier thread that for those who live in the SF Bay area "Richard Sherwood recommended Nancy Stacy". I contacted Nancy as soon as businesses started reopening but she has retired. She recommended the appraiser whom she personally trained from Walnut Creek also. She said the lady is an even better gemologist and will do a great job checking on the stones. So I contacted Jane E. Carleton, MA, GG-GIA who owns J.E. Carleton Appraisals and visited her with my little treasures. She loved my demantoids and she was pleased with the nice color, cut and clarity of my untreated emerald (we both agreed it looks close to green beryl but it is beautiful). I believe that my bad English muted by facial mask prevented her from understanding that my aqua came already heated from Earth, that it wasn't heated after it was mined. She recommended getting my stones certified, she said that the GIA lab in Carlsbad does a great job on certifying colored stones. And she stated that insurance companies usually don't insure loose stones, only the ones already set in jewelry. That's why I don't have any papers to prove that I am writing the truth here. I just want to recommend to anyone who lives in the SF Bay area and wants to get an appraisal, consultation or guidance before buying/selling jewelry/stones, to give Jane a call and make an appointment.
I wanted to get briefs from AGL for my Russian Demantoids and some other stones that I bought from Russian vendor who is located in Russia. But the lab is still closed (or already reopened?) and it is not the greatest time to send stones away by mail. One of the stones, the yellowish-greenish and the biggest one, belonged to my mother. She gave it to me many years ago and didn't really know what it was, just called it "green garnet from Ural mountains". Also explained that green garnet is not as good as red garnet, it didn't have enough time to get to the right condition and become red. Just like cherries, strawberries or tomatoes. But it was sparkly so I happily accepted the gift. Don't remember what she said about the source of her stone. But she clearly believed it wasn't valuable, just a little better than glass in her opinion. She also had a silver ring with 3 little green garnets, she didn't give it to me and I don't know what happened to it after she passed in 2017.I did my research, figured out how great the green garnet from Ural actually is and wanted to get many more of them! After a long search I found one gentleman from Russia with whom I decided to start doing business. I bought an inexpensive pair of demantoids to match the mom's stone first. Then I bought several more stones one by one. Then I wanted to have an opinion from someone qualified so my daughter stops thinking I am crazy and being fooled by dishonest Russian. I did research here on PS and found out from an earlier thread that for those who live in the SF Bay area "Richard Sherwood recommended Nancy Stacy". I contacted Nancy as soon as businesses started reopening but she has retired. She recommended the appraiser whom she personally trained from Walnut Creek also. She said the lady is an even better gemologist and will do a great job checking on the stones. So I contacted Jane E. Carleton, MA, GG-GIA who owns J.E. Carleton Appraisals and visited her with my little treasures. She loved my demantoids and she was pleased with the nice color, cut and clarity of my untreated emerald (we both agreed it looks close to green beryl but it is beautiful). I believe that my bad English muted by facial mask prevented her from understanding that my aqua came already heated from Earth, that it wasn't heated after it was mined. She recommended getting my stones certified, she said that the GIA lab in Carlsbad does a great job on certifying colored stones. And she stated that insurance companies usually don't insure loose stones, only the ones already set in jewelry. That's why I don't have any papers to prove that I am writing the truth here. I just want to recommend to anyone who lives in the SF Bay area and wants to get an appraisal, consultation or guidance before buying/selling jewelry/stones, to give Jane a call and make an appointment.
. I have a 14K gold ring my daughter bought many years ago on Overstock.com for maybe $60. It also has a red garnet in it and before I joined PS in late March of 2020 I believed it was an extremely valuable ring worth $$$. I was sure that all garnets are coming in only 2 forms: well done red and severely undercooked green.
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