Tanzanite, rubelite etc ... what are they?

[nkf]

Am idly watching some shopping channel and these gemstones keep coming up. Are they rare? Are they crap? Have they always been around but people have just started buying them? Also, does anyone seriously buy jewellery from the TV?

I am no expert but I like it - it feeds in to the trend for stacking rings and (as has been said further up thread I think) zircon isn't the artificial cubic zirconia, it's a great stone in its own right.

It's worth ordering - the most you can lose is PandP both ways - so about £8 - and don't forget, you'll get a free book that you won't have to return. My top tip if buying straight from their website is to email them and ask them what their best price would be (they don't tend to do it if you are buying from the sale section but on regular pieces they almost always come back to you with a substantial discount).

What an interesting thread. I love jeary.
I hankered after a peice of Tanzanite for years. Dh finally bought me a ring for our 10th wedding anniversary. It is a very good quality deep purple 1carat oval stone with a quarter carat diamond on each side.
It is a stunning ring and so many people comment on it.

jeary I mean jewellary

If you lose a stone from that nkf, no jeweller in their right mind would try to fix it! (It's one of those rings that if you try to solder part of it the rest falls to bits.)

That said, it's nice and if you're not wearing it every day it should be fine as a dress ring.

I'm going to get it. I just need to work out my ring size.

I love the idea of a dress ring. I wouldn't wear a ring every day anyway. Not one with a stone. I'd be scared of losing it. MrsC, you're the expert. What do you think of it?

I think it was only available in a 5 (size j-k in gemstv work but I would say their 5 is more j than k - a tad snug!) and MrsC, correct me if I'm wrong, probably isn't the best ring to get resized.

I'm no expert but if you like it then there's not a lot to lose in ordering it and trying it on. It would be impossible to resize-stones popping out all over the place so if it's not a good fit- don't settle- try the next size.

A few years ago I saw a beautiful obsidian ring, a lovely sea watery colour. Now all I can find are black ones. Wished I'd bought the ring but was it obsidian?

It could have been rainbow obsidian? Obsidian is essentially a natural glass formed by volcanic activity - It is usually black or black and white (which is snowflake obsidian). Ocassionally you can get clear obsidian but it is pretty rare.

If it was clear obsidian,by price, it probably was, would it have held it's value?
Very interested to read about the rarity of gems holding down their values. I'm a green lover and would buy tsavorite. Would my local jewellers be able to value anything with that gem?

TIA

To be honest I don't know an awful lot about obsidian in the rarer forms - the black and snowflake varieties are very common and cheap. Likewise I'm not too sure about the value of tsavorite garnet - obviously it is generally more expensive than the typical red garnet, yet it isn't as rare as mawi garnet (which is like a sphene colour, slightly greeny yellow). Demantoid garnet is green and is rarer still. but to be honest - if you love green and tsavorite green in particular just go for it. You buy all sorts of things in your life that depriciate in value but it doesn't matter because you derive enjoyment from them. And with jewellery it can always be passed down. Do some research, find a design and price you are happy with, and ENJOY it. :o

MrsM Thank you so much for your post. I should buy what I can afford and enjoy the items I like.I think you've driven (?) it home that buying jewellery should be like buying art work:buy what you like. Not really my problem,value wise,if I love it for the rest of my life.

You don't need to worry about gems holding down their values. So long as what you buy isn't overpriced it will always be worth what you paid for it.

exactly - it is good to have an idea of value so that you don't get ripped off when you buy your piece(s) but once you have it and you love it you aren't going to want to sell it. But I really would shop around abit and look at a variety of sources - I do purchase from gems.tv alot but also look at jewellers and other online sources and try to find some info on the gem that you want and the properties it has so that you know what to look for (eg with tanzanite you want to see several colours, with kunzite you want it to glow etc). Happy Shopping :o

Taken a note of gems.tv and will continue to educate myself with other sites.
Thank you for all of your help.

I think MrsM mentioned a stone with phosphorescence which would glow in the dark after being in light? That has made me think about flappers and the 1920s for some reason. Any thoughts about other gems which have that kind of property or other, unexpected, properties?

Kunzite. Named after Fred Kunz. I am doing my resarch. Apparently it glows in the dark.

If I don't own a ring (poor me), how do I work out my size?

string theory

got a bit of string?

Alternatively go into a jewellers and ask if they can size your finger for you. They shouldnt have an issue doing this as it takes about 30 seconds.

Had to stop myself sniggering at mr Kunz, but will have a look at that. I got a ring measurer for 99p off amazon or ebay (similar principle to the piece of string though I think!). That worked well (I wanted a ring for my little finger so had one made by someone on etsy which required me sizing my finger).

I'm afraid I did snigger.

Hey plucking - colour change gems can be pretty cool - you can get sapphires and garnets most commonly or alexandrite - they appear different colours in candescent and incandescent light. Or one of my favourites are star gems - star sapphire in black is gorgeous.

www.gemtradenet.com/Education/blackstar_sapphire.aspx

fluorite is another gem that has a colour change variety (and is cheaper than the sapphires/garnets)