Newbie questions after my first purchases on eBay

[Lachinoiserie]

Hi,
With my chase for the perfect e-ring, I have developed an attraction to gems, but I am the perfect newbie and I do not want to spend a lot to start a tiny collection.
I have purchased a few things on eBay. Some looks legitimate to my eyes and some don’t.
I will share with you pictures of stones I have no confidence in. I won’t post the obviously fake stones I bought. (Dyed tourmalines for example) unless you are interested.
Feel free to write everything you think about the following pictures, I already have my doubts about them and ultimately I only paid 1-2$ a piece.
I just want to be more educated.

#1 & 2 are supposed to be natural heated Zambian emeralds:



#3 is supposed to be a heated natural sapphire from Sri Lanka:


#4 is supposed to be an untreated natural kunzite (I read that kunziye is supposed tu be fluorescent, but this « one » is not) :



#5 is supposed to be a natural sapphire:



#6 is supposed to be a natural untreated spinel:


(To be continued in a following post bc I cannot add more than 10 pix)

 

[Lachinoiserie]

# 7 & 8 are supposed to be natural opals:




And finally # 9, 10 & 11, are supposed to be lab created melee diamonds:



What are your verdicts? Fakes, bad specimens?

Thanks!

 

[ExoticGems]

The emeralds are basically fake, they are dyed beryl or quartz. the sapphires and kunzite also look fake, the spinel looks like it is Real. the opals look real also.

 

[Bron357]

Unfortunately 99% of the gems offered on ebay are either highly treated (dyed, glass filled), fake or poor quality. Even the expensive items can be beryllium treated which isn’t “natural” or worthy of the price they want.
If you’re paying just a few dollars or like the look, fair enough, but you usually aren’t buying anything worthy of setting (in some cases setting the stone with heat or using jewelers pickle will destroy the stone).
The opals look like pale Ethiopian Welo opals, and the lab diamonds are just plain cheap CZ.
There are reputable sellers on eBay and their prices, sale history, comments and length of time selling on eBay usually reflects the quality of their gems. Most Indian and Asian sellers aren’t selling quality gemstones.
And most “certificates” from those countries isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.

 

[Lachinoiserie]

Thank you to both of you.

Do you know reputable and trustworthy sellers but not expensive, to buy beginner gems from?

 

[T L]

For those that think simulated or synthetic emeralds are always super clean, the ones above are great examples of fakes with inclusions.

 

[dk168]

There is a sticky with a list of trusted vendors in the CS forum.
For me personally, I would go to the eBay shop of Jeff Davis (sorry, can't do links).

DK

 

[T L]

There is a sticky with a list of trusted vendors in the CS forum.
For me personally, I would go to the eBay shop of Jeff Davis (sorry, can't do links).

DK

You mean Jeff Davies?

 

[dk168]

Yup, apologies for mis-spelling his surname.
DK

 

[Lachinoiserie]

You mean Jeff Davies?

I bought 3 gems from him, and I am waiting for them to arrive. I will show them to you once they are arrived.

In the other hand I’ve received what are supposed to be turquoises. I found them very colourful, like almost too saturated. And there is white on a side like a piece of ceramic painted in a blue glaze.

What do you think? It looks natural with all the cracks, but counterfeiters are so good nowadays...