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I have over the last few weeks, for the first time bid and won quite a few stones on ebay, and to date I have been astonished by the apparent quality/cost of the stones. Some very unusual pieces and some which I never thought I would be in the market for buying.
Of course, I am no gemmologist and they may all be glass, but I am pretty sure they are not
Has anybody else tried buying stones on ebay and if so what have been your experiences?
Hi Kwant,
I've not pursued this route and I'm not sure who you've purchased from, but I'm fairly sure James (Goldsmith) has recommended Channel Island Gems on ebay.
Wouldn't mind a look at a few of your goodies!! :-)
Tabby
Yes I have seen mention of Channel Island Gems and indeed have seen some of their stuff on ebay, it was not there I bought from. I did however only buy from folks who had 100%, or as near as damnit, feedback ratings, and so far so good. I will post a pic shortly, but as the daylight has gone for me now I might wait till tomorrow.
Well here you go Tabby the colours on these pics do not do them justice but I do not think I could take better pictures with the camera I am using.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12340604@N02/5582588061/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12340604@N02/5583178072/
The citrine is IF, the quartz with dendritic inclusions is just delightful, the milky opal is impressive though I am unsure if it is really an opal still it is an interesting piece and will be used. The amethysts top to bottom are a Rose de France IF, a palish VVS and a matched pair of VVS ovals (one is very slightly lighter than the other but not so you would really notice when it comes to setting as earrings which is what I intend. The oval aquamarine is IF and is really very nice, the rubellite is VS1 and for the money was exceptional value, the garnet I think was VVS and a lovely colour, peridot IF and again a good colour and cut. The largish rutilated quartz oval is pretty and quite sparkly with its inclusions. I love the natural aquamarine crystals and as you can see have already mounted one making it look like an old fashioned fuse. The emerald cabs are opaque but just what I wanted. Never had any dealings with chrome diopside and they are much nicer in real life than the pics I saw which were a little on the garish side. The green tourmaline which I have already set was such a nice colour and suited me. The iolite was stunning but does not show well in the photos. The funny quartz fish tank thing I just had to have and it is irregular and was a bugger to set might have to do it again. The big tourmaline is well just that a big tourmaline. The little bi colour tourmaline is an amazing split colour with a natural flaw which to me adds to the charm of it . The little emerald cut ruulated quartz is just fab, coppery coloured inclusions which have a fire of their own.
Thank you Kwant, always nice to see!! (and drool!!). You have some nice looking stones there, I look forwards to seeing what you do with some of them. I'm struggling with etting square stones still.
ooooh! I like the chrome diopsides! I have what is supposed to be an emerald which looks suspiciously like those!
I love that fluorite pendant.
Thank you so much for sharing Kwant.and well done! Any chance we could have the name of the sellers? Thanks
One of them was called grandgemstones, who has a very varied stock and lots of it, good high feedback ratings and his postage fees are reasonable when buying more than one item and to date everything has arrived with no problems from Thailand to France. Another was luckygemsworld who it appears currently has nothing for sale, and the other, my favourite seller who has much less stock, I will keep to myself, as I, for obvious reasons do not want the world and his dog bidding against me :0)