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This Beautiful 12 Gem Colored Stone Bracelet Ended Up on Ebay. So Curious on the Story Behind It

Lisa Loves Shiny

Lisa Loves Shiny

Ideal_Rock
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Joined
Nov 1, 2007
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4,913
Wow! Took five years to make, and must have been a labor of love. I'd love to know the story, too, given that it's on eBay after all that effort.
 
Interesting.....
 
Hmm, no original certificates for the gemstones?
and the workmanship ie bezels around the gems looks sub par to me.
and a seller with 14 feedback?
no.
nevertheless the bracelet is fascinating and those gemstones are a very interesting collection.
 
Bron357 said:
Hmm, no original certificates for the gemstones?
and the workmanship ie bezels around the gems looks sub par to me.
and a seller with 14 feedback?
no.
nevertheless the bracelet is fascinating and those gemstones are a very interesting collection.
Click to expand...

That’s what I was thinking too.
 
GIA dosen't do appriasals. I wonder if they meant something different?

And considering the cost and size of the stones, I would want each one looked at by an independent lab.

It could be real, it could be fake, I have no idea but if I was interested I would check to make sure.
 
If those gems are as stated, they most likely have grading reports for them. If it was possible to get them with the grading reports it would be worth it....
 
For those of you who know these gemstones well, is that price reasonable?
 
Arcadian said:
GIA dosen't do appriasals. I wonder if they meant something different?
Click to expand...
Maybe that the appraser put “GIA Alumni Association” on their papers?

I wouldn’t drop 15k on an ebay buy without lab reports! (Heck, even with them I probably would still be wary, given ebay..)
 
lala646 said:
For those of you who know these gemstones well, is that price reasonable?
Click to expand...

IF the gems are as stated, I think the Paraiba is yuk, then $15,000 is a reasonable price I guess but nearly all gems are under 1 carat. So without a “on wrist” photo it’s hard to visualise size.
But without individual certificates it’s impossible to know if the gems are natural / their treatment status.
im an eBay veteran, 17 years now, I would not buy such a valuable piece from a seller with just 14 feedback, none of which is recent, none of which is for selling.
 
The bracelet looks like it was worn a lot, perhaps every day, and beat to heck. I wish I knew the story behind it as well, particularly as the appraisal seems to indicate it was worn by a man, but I don't think its worth what they are asking. I think all the stones would have to be repolished too.
 
Maybe a few decent stones -- hard to tell. Odd mixture of semiprecious and precious and of varying hardness. Not a very sensible way to make a bracelet. (Like my Moh's hardness bracelet that goes from talc to diamond :cool2:) All die-struck (so it says) and not handmade and not very elegant or attractive, imo, for either sex.

Agree with @Bron357 vis-a-vis seller's history. Should not even be able to sell a $15K item with that track record...
 
I couldn't help myself and asked about any certifications for the gems and received this reply:

"Thank you for visiting our post. Please read the “description” to understand the purpose for our unique bracelet design and what it represents.

The bracelet was drawn and designed by me, a diamond and natural gem retailer from New York in 2005. As for a “certificate” — The gemstones were from my dear friend Ben Kho’s original collection, therefore cut by Ben Kho himself from their original roughs, except for the Colombian emerald and the Russian Demantoid Garnet stones, which he validated and acquired from his gemologist partner.

For these reasons there are no individual “certificates” for the individual stones as they were certified by Ben himself many years prior, a GIA gemologist and highly prized AGTA (American Gemstone Trade Association) Spectrum Award Winning Gemstone Cutter and 24+ Winner. Also, I personally inspected the stones. “Superior Color, Cut and Clarity” was my meticulous request of Ben. And color treatment or enhancement was NOT an option..."
 
^ Something just doesn't quite add up IMO.
 
Nope, wouldn't touch it with a 10 ft pole. Ben Kho is just one of many good lapidaries. However, he is not a lab, nor highly discriminating in my opinion based on the fact that he was the chief cutter for the Gem Shopping Network for years, and made some questionable moves, like using his name to hawk mediocre gems as "top gem world class" or some such bs term they chose to use for stones they were actively pushing. So without lab reports, quality is questionable (and should be questioned) at best.
 
lmyracle said:
I couldn't help myself and asked about any certifications for the gems and received this reply:

"Thank you for visiting our post. Please read the “description” to understand the purpose for our unique bracelet design and what it represents.

The bracelet was drawn and designed by me, a diamond and natural gem retailer from New York in 2005. As for a “certificate” — The gemstones were from my dear friend Ben Kho’s original collection, therefore cut by Ben Kho himself from their original roughs, except for the Colombian emerald and the Russian Demantoid Garnet stones, which he validated and acquired from his gemologist partner.

For these reasons there are no individual “certificates” for the individual stones as they were certified by Ben himself many years prior, a GIA gemologist and highly prized AGTA (American Gemstone Trade Association) Spectrum Award Winning Gemstone Cutter and 24+ Winner. Also, I personally inspected the stones. “Superior Color, Cut and Clarity” was my meticulous request of Ben. And color treatment or enhancement was NOT an option..."
Click to expand...

That satisfies my curiosity. :) The story I imagined was much more interesting though. lol
 
Polyhex said:
The bracelet looks like it was worn a lot, perhaps every day, and beat to heck. I wish I knew the story behind it as well, particularly as the appraisal seems to indicate it was worn by a man, but I don't think its worth what they are asking. I think all the stones would have to be repolished too.
Click to expand...
I think the seller is hoping for a Nellie NoIdea to come along and go “wow, that’s aMAZing and soooooo cheap”.
No sensible buyer buys coloured gemstones without certification.
No sensible buyer relies on a 10 year old appraisal from
“American Gem & Jewelry Lab, Inc” that doesn’t/ no longer has a website and a name search finds absolutely nothing plus GIA does not and never has allowed their “graduates“ to provide appraisals.
 
I guess I missed the second half of his message that I got today. I can’t even fathom a reply so will let this one die.


New message from: jacboa-98 (14Yellow Star)​

Continued...
Ben and I have been loyal friends with a remarkable trust in each other. So, when he showed me these stones from his old collection, I knew their value. And that value continues to increase with time. You can’t even find a few of these gemstones today.

A GIA Appraisal was prepared May/June 2010, with a resale value of the gemstones of $34,465.00 USD at that time – not counting the 18 KT white/yellow gold weight, nor the 1 carat worth of top color baguette diamonds.

We hope this satisfies your question and more. We are thankful that you visited our post, though we thought we took it down​

 
Soooo many red flags!
From the eBay listing the “document pages” don‘t actually use the word Appraisal anywhere, only that the document for the “item” was “prepared by” -insert name here-. And this person supposedly has completed GIA studies.
And the document does specify the diamonds and the gold weight / assay in the details listed so those are presumably included in the ”total estimated retail replacement value” given as $34,465 US.
And I wonder which of the gemstones can’t even be found today? As far as I know, no gemstone group has become extinct / vaporized en mass between 2010 and 2020. I mean 2020 has been a &@&@ of a year but still, no entire gemstone species has vanished.
And of course a random stranger selling a $15,000 bracelet with a 10 year old piece of paper issued by a Gem lab (?) that no longer exists and prepared by Leanne who may or may not have GIA credentials is 1000% trustworthy. The buyer can be totally reassured because the seller and Ben, the reputed cutter, are loyal friends and these gems are from an “old collection” and the seller knows their value, which is, of course, increasing what with some gems being not found anymore and all that.
sigh.
no wonder people think eBay is &@&@.
 
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