Over the years,Gemstone jewellery lovers have been buying gemstones online, but the process has not been easy with the production of countless replicated stones in the market. The rise in the number of scammers and the production of fake gemstones have risked the quality of natural gemstones but created losses for certified gem suppliers.
Fake gemstones, made of ceramic, plastic, or glass, look so real that buyers get fooled easily. Many people end up losing their hard-earned money. If you are well-prepared in advance by being an intelligent buyer, you can buy the best authentic gemstone jewelry without getting hoodwinked.
Consider the following practices before buying gemstone jewelry in a local or online store of your choice.
Here are a few steps that will stop you from making the mistake of purchasing the wrong gemstone.
Be familiar with the names of the gemstones
Learning the names of the gems is imperative. The market has over fifteen gemstones. Some shopkeepers can try to fool you with the names. Many precious stones have double names like evening emerald which stands for peridot and Balsa ruby or red spinel. If you are intelligent enough and do your homework about the names, you won’t get cheated.
Recognize the gemstone
You may be eyeing a gemstone for a long time, but it can be natural, imitation, or synthetic. The synthetic ones are fashioned in a lab using similar properties to natural stone. On the other hand, the natural gemstone comes straight from nature. Be wary of imitations that look flawless, but are of low quality. You need to recognize the quality of natural gemstones.
Verify the color
Ensure the gemstone color is perfect and check it in different lights because light intensity differs throughout the day. Good quality colored gemstone will always look good no matter what lighting is present.
The cut matters
A gemstone gets its brilliance and attractiveness from the cut. The proportion of the cut should be such that light gets reflected in an even way, without leaving any dark areas. A not well-proportioned stone does not possess this quality. Thus, the brilliance of the stone gets comprised.
Learn about enhanced gemstones
You should know if the stone you are buying is enhanced or not. Ask your gemstone supplier about it before buying. As enhanced gemstones call for special attention, care, cleaning, and treatments, you should have previous knowledge that helps you be prepared regarding what to do and what not to.
You can ask your jeweler if any particular stone has been treated with oil or if a precious stone such as emerald has gone through diffusion treatment. It is worth the while to buy a gemstone you are familiar with.
Make comparisons and then shop around
It is an intelligent decision to invest time shopping around instead of buying from the first shop you stop at. In the jewelry market, you will find a number of gemstone stores. Compared to diamond shops, the ones that sell colored gemstones do not have any central marketing organization and are reasonably distributed. Pricing and grading are subjective when it comes to colored gemstones. Doing good research and shopping around can be helpful.
If you are buying a stone online, prepare your checklist accordingly. You should consider the return policy of the seller. It is significant to purchase from an online store with a decent return policy. Be wary of the color difference as you mostly don’t get what you see on the website. The color and brightness settings of the seller and buyer’s monitors are different, and hence the color variations occur. At times, the seller can enhance the photo of the stone while displaying and making it look like an entirely different object.
The jewelry seller should provide you with the correct gemstone details. These include the carat, color, cut, and clarity. The certificate by the gemstone laboratory can significantly raise the genuineness of the stone.
Customer feedback is significant
The more one stresses about it, it won’t be enough. Some say it is perhaps the factor one should be paying heed to while buying a gemstone online. You can get a good idea about the store and its contents by going through the customer review and feedback.
Read whatever people share about the services of the sellers, the delivery services, payment procedures, gemstone quality, and more. If it is likely, try to get in touch with those customers. You can search the stores online and get a chance to know about the connections of the company and even their social media accounts. It pays to be intelligent every time you intend to buy a good-quality gemstone.
