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Please advise on blue sapphire?

Oh JD was also a good communicator. His written communications were truthful too.
 
My advice is to stay away from NSC.

Look at or contact:

Diamonds by lauren
Finewater gems
AJs gems
Contact Inken at enhoerning jewelry on Etsy

Many of them can source you stones.
 
dk168 said:
That is a nice stone!

DK :kiss2:
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I know. It’s gorgeous. I thought hard about it, but I’m upgrading my CBI currently and DH is worried about elective surgeries getting cancelled again in the fall.
 
@whitewave what are your thoughts on the NSC?
If I remember correctly didn't someone recently have a good result with sourcing a sapphire via Inken? Can't remember who!
 
whitewave said:
I know. It’s gorgeous. I thought hard about it, but I’m upgrading my CBI currently and DH is worried about elective surgeries getting cancelled again in the fall.
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I hope it will not get cancelled again, fingers crossed for you!

I was lucky with my minor surgery as it was considered as urgent, hence it went ahead during lockdown.

DK :))
 
For what it's worth, I am in agreement with @LilAlex. I don't like that they use a lightbox or whatever it is to take the picture. For most stones that they sell it probably is OK, but I've been disappointed with my purchase in February 2020.

1593197505060.png

This is the Etsy listing picture for a 0.97 ct Mahenge spinel that I bought from JD, and I trusted the pictures to be accurate based on @dk168 and others' recommendation of this vendor.

I usually take pictures of stones I receive, but I didn't even bother taking a picture of this one after I got it because it was so orange/brown in natural lighting that I couldn't even see any pink. It's still sitting in a drawer somewhere because instead of getting a really great deal, I got a stone that's not valuable enough to warrant the return process.

I'll try to find it this weekend because I left this stone at my parents' house. It only approaches the Etsy picture under VERY STRONG artificial lighting, such as when I use my phone as a flashlight to shine it directly on the gem.

I wouldn't have made the mistake, had I been shown what it looks like in sunlight. But that's on me too, because I didn't inquire to request additional pictures of this stone in natural light.
 
Niffler75 said:
@whitewave what are your thoughts on the NSC?
If I remember correctly didn't someone recently have a good result with sourcing a sapphire via Inken? Can't remember who!
Click to expand...

Wasn’t their CEO indicted for fraud?
 
Niffler75 said:
@whitewave what are your thoughts on the NSC?
If I remember correctly didn't someone recently have a good result with sourcing a sapphire via Inken? Can't remember who!
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Inken sourced me a beautiful emerald. I’m sure she could source a sapphire.
 
dk168 said:
Not UK/EU vendor though.

DK :((
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Well, I believe he does ship to U.K. I’m not 100% sure though. His photos closely match the real stone, and he sourced that beautiful yellow sapphire for me. My 3 stone sapphire and diamond ring has his sapphire in it. (I like medium blue).
 
@voce I could probably say the same about my supposingly Mahenge Spinel I got from Yvvone, in the colour looked good in her photos, however, the stone IRL was not as vibrant as I had hoped.

Therefore, JD is no alone in this, IMHO.

Mind you, as the Dan Stairs saga had illustrated, Spinels are difficult to photograph as they shift in different lighting conditions. Hey ho!

DK :))
 
whitewave said:
Well, I believe he does ship to U.K. I’m not 100% sure though. His photos closely match the real stone, and he sourced that beautiful yellow sapphire for me. My 3 stone sapphire and diamond ring has his sapphire in it. (I like medium blue).
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He certainly does, and I have bought from him before. ;) And if I have money to spare, I would buy his large Indicolite Tourmaline right away!

However, the OP is looking at buying from UK/EU based vendors for the time being.

DK :))
 
dk168 said:
@voce I could probably say the same about my supposingly Mahenge Spinel I got from Yvvone, in the colour looked good in her photos, however, the stone IRL was not as vibrant as I had hoped.

Therefore, JD is no alone in this, IMHO.

Mind you, as the Dan Stairs saga had illustrated, Spinels are difficult to photograph as they shift in different lighting conditions. Hey ho!

DK :))
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I agree that JD is not alone in having gems turn out not as vibrant. I've had Mahenge spinels from Yvonne and from Desertrose turn out not as vibrant in person, but never this muddy brown as in JD's spinel.

I've bought second hand JD gems such as a tanzanite and tourmaline that were fantastic. So I'm not in it to blame JD or anything. It's quite possible the vendor has not seen the gem in strong sunlight as we get in California. I certainly can't complain about the cut. It just doesn't appear in my past of the world any color resembling the vendor picture on Etsy.

What I appreciate about Yvonne, is that she takes pictures in natural light, and I've had better experiences with her gems turning out nice and vibrant. I'm thinking that because you are in the UK where there's not strong sunlight compared to say, California, less of the UV fluorescence cones out. I find that for spinels and tourmalines, more of the mask and extinction agree visible under strong sunlight.

Sorry OP for the aside. JD has a lot of fans here, but I hope you will be able to see the gem in person with a UK vendor before deciding, not based off a couple of Etsy pictures.
 
caf said:
I have purchased from him. His photos of my stones were good and showed the stones accurately. What do you mean?
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He may be a great guy and may sell quality stuff. He may help little old ladies across the street and pay his taxes on time. But these photos are among the phoniest I've ever seen. Hilariously oversaturated and with the contrast and sharpening bumped "to 11." That's all I meant.

JD screenshot.jpg
 
@LilAlex may I ask if you have actually purchased any stones from him in order to substantiate your claim that his photos are phoney please?

DK :))
 
I am not sure of any past history with the NSC but there are loads of very positive reviews on UK Trustpilot website.
 
Niffler75 said:
I am not sure of any past history with the NSC but there are loads of very positive reviews on UK Trustpilot website.
Click to expand...

In a nutshell, the CEO of NSC forged court papers to get Google to remove negative reviews. He got sentenced to months in prison after the US government found out.
 
dk168 said:
@LilAlex may I ask if you have actually purchased any stones from him in order to substantiate your claim that his photos are phoney please?
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No -- good point.

My point, though, is that no stones look like that. If there were one or two, I'd think maybe. But every. single. one. From $200 to $5,000. All the most killer gems in the known universe. I think others here must see that, too (scroll up a little)?

For comparison, go to Lang or Berganza and look at their six-figure colored-stone rings. Unheated Burmese rubies and untreated Colombian emeralds and even some Kashmirs. They look like actual gems -- not an anime version of what a gem would be.

I don't want to re-litigate this whole thing. I got plenty of "good riddance!" after the last time I called out unscrupulous and, well, "semi-scrupulous" vendors. But I like your insights and I like your pretty gems and your good ideas. And I won't go out of my way to call someone out (my posts concealed the vendors' ID) -- but when someone asks specifically about a particular vendor, I expect people to say what they think.
 
@LilAlex thanks for the clarification.

My recommendation is based on objective evidence on the number of gemstones I had purchased from JD in the past, and not subjective opinion based on photos from his eBay listings alone.

DK :))
 
dk168 said:
As for vendors outside UK, my go to cutter is Jeff White of whitesgems.com.

I bought 3 stones this year from him this year, and had just emailed him about another 2.

He has a big gallery of sold gemstones, and some of mine are included.

Have fun browsing.

DK :))
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dk168 said:
Jeff D used to be based in Thailand when I started buying from him a few years ago.
I don't know exactly when he and his family moved back to UK, at least a year or so I'd say.
The first CS I purchased was a 1.6ct+ heart shaped heated Ruby, from a vendor that no longer exist, before I joined PS and dipped my toes in the CS section.
I was not able to find anything decent in that size for the same money.
Jewellery prices in UK is just crazy compare to what I can get from abroad, even with custom and import charges factored in.
I had been criticised in the past about not supporting local businesses.
However, it is a free world. I respect the choices others make, and expect the same curtesy in return.

DK :))
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Thank you for the explanation, and the extra tip! Jeff D. says he doesn't have anything suitable in rough or coming in, so I'll take a look at Jeff White too. =)2
 
voce said:
I think that for high priced colored stones, you should have access to an independent lab to verify extend of treatment (i.e. a colored diamond is not the result of irradiation, and the sapphire or ruby hasn't undergone heating or diffusion or clarity treatments). These labs need to have specific equipment, not just expert knowledge and a handheld loupe.

These independent gem labs are accessible in places like the US (AGL and GIA), Canada (GIA), Thailand (Lotus, AIGL), Hong Kong (GRS), Switzerland (GRS, Dungaire) and Germany (SSEF). There simply isn't anything like that in the UK or Australia or anywhere in the Commonwealth apart from a GIA in Canada. This is probably due to lack of sufficient demand, as it's the higher end stuff that gets sold at auction houses in Geneva, New York, Hong Kong, and exchanged between wholesalers in Bangkok that really really need the independent lab certification. It seems as though a lot of British vendors are not willing to deal with the VAT both ways to send their stones across borders for certification, and since Brexit I imagine it would be even more so.

I really feel for serious CS lovers in the UK.
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That's really interesting thank you, it hadn't occurred to me about the lack of gem labs here. A real shame for us!
 
whitewave said:
It’s only a 2.06 but I thought a beautiful color. I would contact him about the process of finding you a stone.

https://www.facebook.com/679891778796806/posts/3122392664546693

Also check AJs in Bangkok. I bought a matched pair from them and had them set into studs and they are beautiful.
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Thank you so much for hunting that down for me! It is a bit small for me I think, but his stones really do look lovely. Unfortunately he says he doesn't have anything fitting my specifications in rough or expected to come in, but I've asked if he could let me know if anything does turn up.
I'll take a look at AJs too, thank you!
 
whitewave said:
My advice is to stay away from NSC.

Look at or contact:

Diamonds by lauren
Finewater gems
AJs gems
Contact Inken at enhoerning jewelry on Etsy

Many of them can source you stones.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for the suggestions, I'll look into all of those!
Re the NSC, do you have any negative information about them concerning quality of stones? Or is it just that the prices are high and the CEO behaved badly in the past? I'm just a bit uncertain as some people seem to think well of them, so I'd like to get a better picture. =)2
 
whitewave said:
I know. It’s gorgeous. I thought hard about it, but I’m upgrading my CBI currently and DH is worried about elective surgeries getting cancelled again in the fall.
Click to expand...

Good luck with your surgery, I hope all goes really well for you.
 
voce said:
For what it's worth, I am in agreement with @LilAlex. I don't like that they use a lightbox or whatever it is to take the picture. For most stones that they sell it probably is OK, but I've been disappointed with my purchase in February 2020.

1593197505060.png

This is the Etsy listing picture for a 0.97 ct Mahenge spinel that I bought from JD, and I trusted the pictures to be accurate based on @dk168 and others' recommendation of this vendor.

I usually take pictures of stones I receive, but I didn't even bother taking a picture of this one after I got it because it was so orange/brown in natural lighting that I couldn't even see any pink. It's still sitting in a drawer somewhere because instead of getting a really great deal, I got a stone that's not valuable enough to warrant the return process.

I'll try to find it this weekend because I left this stone at my parents' house. It only approaches the Etsy picture under VERY STRONG artificial lighting, such as when I use my phone as a flashlight to shine it directly on the gem.

I wouldn't have made the mistake, had I been shown what it looks like in sunlight. But that's on me too, because I didn't inquire to request additional pictures of this stone in natural light.
Click to expand...

This is good to know, thank you.
 
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