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Looking at Ed's new stones...

Arkteia

Arkteia

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Nov 3, 2009
Messages
7,589
I must admit, some of them look very tempting. But I never bought from him; don't even know where the "expat" is located (I do have plans to look at some of pricier stones in person, I don't know if it would be possible to do with Ed, though). He has great pictures but I don't know how to interpret them. And since his prices seem somewhat higher than those of other vendors (but maybe the quality merits the prices?) I'd like to hear what other people think. Any advices?

I came to a conclusion that buying "cheaper" stones won't work for me unless I plan to sell them. Because three cheaper stones might as well equal one better stone from one of our esteemed lapidarists. But overheads differ as well. Hence the question.
 
I've never purchased from him but I love his site and his gems. He has demantoids to die for. Plus he has a interesting outlook on life.
 
Perhaps I should simply e-mail him and ask to cut/find something for me...Just as a trial.
 
If you read through his policies, you’ll see the reason why his prices are higher than most. He takes as much care as possible to only source stones from others who treat their workers well and practice environmentally conscious methods of mining. I do not think his prices are higher due to having better quality goods than some vendors. As I have never purchased from Ed, although I have certainly inquired, I cannot comment on the accuracy of his pictures.

ETA
Before I forget, I saw that you wrote about Ed cutting a stone. I don’t think Ed is a lapidary at all; he buys stones that are already cut. In fact, most of his inventory are made up of native cut stones ranging from poor to good. I only thought to mention this since you seem very particular about cut.
 
Thank you, Chrono! As usual, you are a great help and source of information. I shall definitely take it into account.

In fact, I was asking myself what stood behind attractively low prices of some vendors. I do not know much about cutting but I assume that inhaling stone dust is not healthy. It is possible that many native miners and cutters are not treated well.

Of course, this should not be the main reason for choosing a vendor. If someone states that he donates 1-2 % of revenue to charity funds but his prices are accordingly higher, then, in my view, it can not be called real charity.
 
crasru said:
I came to a conclusion that buying "cheaper" stones won't work for me unless I plan to sell them. Because three cheaper stones might as well equal one better stone from one of our esteemed lapidarists. But overheads differ as well. Hence the question.
Click to expand...

Crasru,
Cheaper stones do not always equate to lesser quality. Sometimes you can overpay for a meh gem too. Many vendors do charge a extremely enormous premium (I'm not saying Ed does, just a general statement) and I think there are some great values to be had if you shop around and ask the right questons and train your eye for color. I was looking at a gem box that hosted a bunch of my gems. In it, a 3 carat neon yellow green chrysoberyl, three Mahenge spinels of nice saturation and very clean averaging 1.1 to 1.6 carats, a 1.8 carat minty garnet of nice bluish green saturation. I calculated I paid around $700 for all those stones combined. That is the price of a more expensive and sometimes "meh" stone from someone else. You can get good values, but it takes practice, patience, a good eye, and understanding treatments and vendor photos. For people that don't want to bother with all that work, sometimes it is easier to just go through someone that charges higher prices, but for me, that's not an option. I hate overspending on gems, and I enjoy when I get good value for my money. Some gems are never cheap, like fine Burmese ruby or Kashmir sapphire, but you should never overpay in a market where some gems can run the gamut of prices. Just my two cents. I know others only think you get what you pay for, and I do think that is true of some gem material, but not all.
 
I just want to add that although I have not purchased from Ed yet. I have asked him a few questions about certain stones and he is very nice and answers promptly. He's on my list of vendors to purchase from once I save enough money!
 
I have purchased around quite a bit, but never from this vendor.
Honestly, and this is my opinion, the pics are very bad, the quality is very average and the prices are not correct (extremely high).
 
And I do not believe in Ecologically, friendly eco-system mining (now from him nor from any other companies)
 
TL, your advise is great but only for people who really know how to "read" the pictures. What I meant by cheaper was 5 smaller rhodolites from several ebay vendors vs one good precision-cut stone from one of our best vendors. I think their prices are fair. I quickly learned that many of Tan's stones are resold on the ebay so it makes sense to go through him.
 
I think some of the lapadaries have fair prices, like Gene and Barry for example, and some others that escape my mind right now. I do not think all the lapadaries have fair prices, and charge very high premiums on their cutting on very poor quality material, but I'm a bit afraid to name names, as I'm sure I'll get virtual tomatoes thrown at me. :oops: Therefore, even among the lapadaries, you should shop around.
 
Crasru,
This is why Pricescope is here; to assist anyone who wants to learn about gemstones and understanding the vendor's photography. I am in agreement that there's a reason a stone is cheaper and another is more expensive, but there are also many examples of a good priced stone and many overpriced ones as well, so cheaper isn't necessarily an indication of lower quality and more expensive isn't necessarily an good indication of fine quality. I, too, have seen overpriced stones from a few of the favourite PS lapidaries.
 
Who is Ed?
 
Edward "Ed" Bristol is the owner of Wildfishgems.com.
 
This new board is disorienting me very badly.

Anyway, re: going to see Ed's stones in person -- I don't think this is possible, as I don't believe he maintains an actual office anywhere. I asked about it a while ago (sometime last year? not sure, I'm terrible at timelines) but he told me that there's no physical location for the business and it was therefore impossible to do an in-person viewing of the gems.
 
I believe that Ed doesn't have a physical store because, like many stores today, it is a web-based shop. He does have a 7 day inspection period and a no-questions-asked return policy. It all seems fair and clear on his site.
 
Valentino said:
And I do not believe in Ecologically, friendly eco-system mining (now from him nor from any other companies)
Click to expand...


Valentino, it is very difficult for anyone to understand this statement, when you offer it with no context or exposition. do you mean that you dont believe it is possible to mine in an eco-friendly way or that you dont believe the claims of those who say they do conduct their mining in eco-friendly and worker friendly practices, or that as a value in general it is not worth pursuing?
Edward's personal and business values are directly challenged by your statement in this thread about his new stone listings. Certainly there are abuses in the mining industries now and throughout history. I believe that people can chose to act and mold their business practices on their concept of human values and fairness regardless of how divergent that is from historical or contemporary practice.
Would you take a few minutes to give some background to your statement? Perhaps cite some references.
 
Valentino said:
And I do not believe in Ecologically, friendly eco-system mining (now from him nor from any other companies)
Click to expand...

What about alluvial mining?
 
crasru said:
I must admit, some of them look very tempting. But I never bought from him; don't even know where the "expat" is located (I do have plans to look at some of pricier stones in person, I don't know if it would be possible to do with Ed, though). He has great pictures but I don't know how to interpret them. And since his prices seem somewhat higher than those of other vendors (but maybe the quality merits the prices?) I'd like to hear what other people think. Any advices?

I came to a conclusion that buying "cheaper" stones won't work for me unless I plan to sell them. Because three cheaper stones might as well equal one better stone from one of our esteemed lapidarists. But overheads differ as well. Hence the question.
Click to expand...

crasu, this makes me wonder if you are planning to or have already ventured into 'the business'. forgive me for being forward but it would seem to me that rather than relying on info here...and i say this based on questions you posed in this thread and other threads as well....that perhaps it is time for you to take a gemology course [even an online one]. you have an interest and seem poised to be doing more than buying for yourself personally. i think you genuinely are trying to learn and would encourage you to think about such a course....and then you could be in a position to help we mere consumers!

mz

eta: no offense meant: just a suggestion. i've actually thought about doing this myself....not for resale or entering the business but for more knowledge.
 
You make a good point morecarats. I suspected as much from some of the other comments by this new poster
 
I normally do not mind when someone fairly criticizes a vendor based on their experience with them, or what they perceive to be issues with that vendor, like photo quality, or that sort of thing. Sometimes information needs to be backed up of course, and it should be done in a courteous manner. I have no idea if the above person is a troll, he's just stating an opinon. It would be nice if he expanded on the issues he has with Ed's ecological mining.
 
movie zombie said:
crasru said:
I must admit, some of them look very tempting. But I never bought from him; don't even know where the "expat" is located (I do have plans to look at some of pricier stones in person, I don't know if it would be possible to do with Ed, though). He has great pictures but I don't know how to interpret them. And since his prices seem somewhat higher than those of other vendors (but maybe the quality merits the prices?) I'd like to hear what other people think. Any advices?

I came to a conclusion that buying "cheaper" stones won't work for me unless I plan to sell them. Because three cheaper stones might as well equal one better stone from one of our esteemed lapidarists. But overheads differ as well. Hence the question.
Click to expand...

crasu, this makes me wonder if you are planning to or have already ventured into 'the business'. forgive me for being forward but it would seem to me that rather than relying on info here...and i say this based on questions you posed in this thread and other threads as well....that perhaps it is time for you to take a gemology course [even an online one]. you have an interest and seem poised to be doing more than buying for yourself personally. i think you genuinely are trying to learn and would encourage you to think about such a course....and then you could be in a position to help we mere consumers!

mz

eta: no offense meant: just a suggestion. i've actually thought about doing this myself....not for resale or entering the business but for more knowledge.
Click to expand...

You know, MZ, it is funny... I have thought of it but never went anywhere far. Not even an ebay store. For two simple reasons, a) an hour of my office work would probably be the same as my net revenue for the whole first year of "jewelry trade", and, b) exactly for the reason you have mentioned - that I did not take gemology course. I can do it only online... but even this will be a lot. I just need to finish one personal task completely unrelated to gems or jewelry and then I shall probably be ready to take the classes. I am keenly monitoring the progress of RockHugger - I think she is taking the classes and look how she has grown over the time that I have joined the PS (mid-autumn of 2009 I presume).

Not having a formal training is exactly the reason why I never bought a single diamond during my "stay" at the PS. You can make a mistake and buy a crappy citrine but a mistake with a diamond is way more costly.

I wish GIA had DVD courses! Watching DVDs works best for me.

P.S. And when I mentioned "resale" I just meant that buying an $ 5.00 amethyst, not liking it and selling it on ebay at 7.50 is one thing. But an expensive stone you can never sell even at the price you paid, it is always going to be a loss, so I'd rather consider all aspects before I buy a stone for myself. Hence so many questions.
 
A pity! I was actually hoping on some qualified discussion.

The topic is so difficult and there are a gazillion problems and many impossible missions. Think of the task to get ecology up into the mountain mines of Afghanistan. Geez.
 
Crasru,
Believe it or not, diamond buying is a snap compared to coloured gemstones. There are far less variables to consider!
 
Hi Crasru,

I have been wondering myself what exactly do you need to buy a stone? You seemed happy with your spessertine and had it set in a lovely piece.

This business of photos being able to show you exactly what the stone looks like may be carried too far by some of us. As much as I would like to think the photo represents the stone, I realize the only way I can know if I like the stone and its price is if I call it in to see it. Yes, I may have to send it back, but that is the price of buying on the internet. I have modified my expectations somewhat. As TL says , you ask questions before you pull the trigger, but you can't keep asking yourself, are the photos good or thinking I can't read them. I try "to read them " and have only had minor success. You have to see the gem.

I have asked for a gem brief with the new stone I ordered, and if I have to send it back, I'll send the gem brief with it. It will help the next buyer.

If you like a stone you have to ask the right questions and then see it in person. Send it back if you don't like it.
Its the way of the internet.

Thanks,
Annette
 
Chrono said:
Crasru,
Believe it or not, diamond buying is a snap compared to coloured gemstones. There are far less variables to consider!
Click to expand...

that's an understatement!

mz
 
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