"Peter W.. Rowe," <rec.crafts.jewelry@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:h5rbn39v7uch0a8jbfnv3hkqj5eijbcjij@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> On Fri, 28 Dec 2007 22:21:37 -0800, in rec.crafts.jewelry Abrasha
> <abrasha@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
>>>
>>>I wanted to send you a personal reply, but your email address is a
fake.
>>> Since I find this very rude, I don't really want to give you my
>>>professional opinion. So I'll give you the redacted version.
>
> Chuckle. As usual, Abrasha, concise and to the point. Entertaining
too,
> this
> time.
Yeah, funny guy. I seriously doubt I'm missing much.
Sorry, didn't realize no address was so im****tant.
Here's one for me: d.gee24@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Second, the link you show is an emerald ring, not a ruby.
Yeah it does. I copied and pasted the URL *FOR* the ruby
picture, but it does give the emerald when you click it.....
> Clicking the rubies
> on the page may change the picture, but doesn't change the text, price,
or
> description. In short, this is a poorly written page indeed. That
seems
> somehow consistent with the quality I suspect exists in the jewelry.
> Junk.
I didn't really see any problem with the web page; no reason to change the
text or price, since the price is the same for both stones, but...maybe it
is a bad buy as you suggest. I just don't know. There's a lot of
nebulosity around jewelry for most of us people not in the know, which
is the vast majority of people in society I'd suspect.
> Third. 7 hundred dollars for a 14K ring with a decently large genuine
> ruby? Who
> are they kidding? Same for the emerald. Both these stones, if they are
> of any
> quality at all, should have at least one more decimal place in the price
> of the
> gem alone, not just the whole ring. If these are "real" gems, they've
got
> to be
> garbage. While the public often hears about high markups on jewelry or
> other
> merchandise (you think jewelry is high, look at clothing, furnature, or
> many
> other consumer items...), the truth is there's no magic way for these
> guys, or
> any other manufacturer, to buy good quality gems at a totally insanely
> lower
> price than anyone else. The market in rare gems like ruby or emerald is
a
> sellers market. Fine gems always command decent prices, and these are
too
> low.
> The only way these could be sold for the price listed is if they are not
> what
> the site implies, ie reasonaly good quality. Certainly, if they look
as
> good
> as the photos, there's something fishy going on. Either some form of
> major
> enhancing treatment, beyond what's normal, or these are synthetics of
some
> sort.
> Now the price might be right if this was listed as a good quality Gilson
> or
> Chatham synthetic, but not a good quality natural ruby. Not unless some
> fool
> has gone out of their head and is giving the things away for less than
the
> wholesale market, which is unlikely indeed.
>
> Then finely, get out any decent piece of jewelry you own in the size
class
> and
> metal of this ring. put it on a gram scale. Compare the weight of your
> ring
> with what they say this thing weighs. The site said something like 3
3/4
> grams.
> Guy, that's next to nothing for a design like this. Perhaps OK for a
> small
> delicate ladies ring, but the only way this ring can weigh that little
is
> if
> it's hollowed out inside to a very large degree.
Could be. They say "3.73 grams of 14k solid gold." I guess this could
be a deceptive bit of wording, meaning of course that the gold *that is
there* is 14k solid gold, but not that the *ring* itself is solid. I'm
glad
you pointed this out.
A lot of really cheap jewelry
> is made that way, but it's just that, cheap junk. You really aren't
> getting a
> good buy when you get metal that's little more than foil thin. It won't
> hold up
> at all. Gold, when pure, is currently selling for over 800 dollars an
> ounce,
> and scrap jewelry can be sold back to refiners for only a few percent
less
> than
> this any instant a dealer wishes to scrap in their old metal at these
high
> price
> levels. 800 an ounce translates to a raw materials cost of about 16
> dollars per
> gram for just the 14K gold raw material, and it takes a little more
than
> the
> final weight to make the ring. So the manufacturer has at least 65
> dollars
> invested in just the raw metal, plus other manufacturing costs. By the
> time
> you're done with that, the ring mounting alone should be costing maybe a
> hundred
> fifty or more, leaving even less of the purchase price for the gemstone,
> and
> that's assuming a foil thin crappy peice of cheap junk jewelry. Take
> away the
> stone, and the price might be reasonable for a well made, commercially
> made
> (custom work costs more) gold ring with no stones, or nothing
especially
> costly. It could be about right for an also well made commercial ring
> looking
> like this IF it's sold as being set with a decent synthetic gem (which
> might
> indeed be an attractive ring, just not valuable for a rare natural
> gemstone.).
>
> Anyway, as usual, I'm rambling. Sorry 'bout that.
No, interesting reading.
> But just remember. You get what you pay for. This is a really cheap
> price. The
> most you could buy for a cheap price is a really cheap ring. And
chances
> are,
> there can be more fishy stuff to a site like this, unconnected as it is
> with any
> recognizable decent manufacturer or seller with any decent history, than
> you
> expect. Getting exactly the cheap ring this seems to be is likely the
> best you
> can get. it could be worse by far. The site does have a New York
> contact
> address listed for returns, but that's about it. I'd worry about that
> quite a
> bit if it were my 700 bucks on the like...
I think they give 30 days or something similar for returns, and according
to some reviewers, they honor this pretty well. One would think this
might lend them some respectability, as I would think some customers
would go get their stuff appraised after receiving it, but then again,
most probably don't. My dad gave me his ruby ring many years
ago. One day while in college, I took it off to wash my hands in
the restroom, and absent-mindedly left it on the sink. Some
member of the general public, being the honorable lot they often
are, was nice enough to lift it before I realized what I'd done.
Likely the very first guy in there stole it. I left notices in the
RR, but nothing ever turned up.
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