Natural and Artificial Gemstones
In this article, I will talk about the various ways in which you may stand to lose in a transaction on account of fraud or some other kind of malpractice in Jewelry Stores. Let me tell you here and now that on the whole, jewelers happen to be honest and defend their reputation with their lives. So, fraudulent practices are not as high as you might expect. However, because of the very science involved, transactions in colored stones happen to be more risky than in diamonds.
To check such practices, institutes have been set up to authenticate gems. All you need to do is to take their help - be particular to seek verification when buying a gem. A gem without proper documentation acknowledging it so must be equal to rubble for you! Like I told you for diamonds, tricking someone is a work of art, and so is the act of preventing oneself from being tricked. Misrepresentation may be intentional or, in some cases, unintentional. Either way, you need to guard yourself against it.
Misrepresenting Synthetics as Natural:
We have been developing synthetic rubies and sapphires for more than a century and emeralds for more than sixty years now. The earlier ones were really colorful and overly fabulous. They had this too-good-to-be-true look about them so they could be told from a natural gem. But these days, better techniques have been developed that can create synthetics that look just like originals. Even the most skilled gemologists may mistake them for the real ones. Just buying a gem from the most reputed firm will not guarantee its authenticity. When buying these fine specimens of rubies, sapphires or emeralds, that risk is always there. So since you are spending big bucks buying the thing anyway, put in a little more to engage the best gemologist you can find - better safe than sorry!
When we talk about misrepresentation of origin of the stone, other than the obvious substitution of the original stone with a synthetic, we have to consider two very common practices-
- Fakes: Stones are simply replaced by their imitations made of inexpensive material such as glass or even plastic. Other than looking just like the original, these are no good, and if you end up on the disadvantageous end of such a bargain, be assured that all the money you have put on it is lost.
- Look-alikes: This one might be a little less harmful (note that I used the word might). The color and quality grades are misrepresented in such a case in order to pass a common and relatively inexpensive stone for a really rare and exotic one.
So we see that with increasing knowledge of methodologies of artificially creating gems and also faking them, men have found new ways of tricking each other. Following the precautions I have given you will go a long way in helping you guard yourself against such malpractices. Fraud and treachery have been in this world since the birth of civilization, and so have reputation and accountability, the difference being that the latter comes at a premium – the choice is yours!
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Have I missed something? The author writes this:–
“Following the precautions I have given”
I actually don’t see any advice on precautions. Are they in another article? Please advise.