[Jewelry making - Article 00531] - Re: [Orchid] Inflated appraisals

[jlh/nlh]

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Hi Donna,

    Your instinct is correct. The ebay dealer you bought these items
    from is one of many such dealers on ebay who grossly inflate the
    "value" of the items in order to entice buyers into thinking they got
    a fabulous deal. The real value of the items is somewhere in the
    neighborhood of what they actually sell for. I guess the true value
    of the "appraisal" you receive with these items is its usefulness as
    a birdcage liner or something equally utilitarian. Unfortunately
    this practice is not confined to ebay but has been used in the gem
    and jewelry trade probably since the trade existed. Back in the 1980s
    when the inflation rate was sky high and people were looking for
    tangible assets as a hedge against it, there were companies selling
    so called "investment" gems. These were natural gemstones as
    advertised, and were of the advertised weights and so forth but
    their "appraised value" was so far from reality as to be beyond
    ridiculous. They came neatly packaged in sealed plastic cards and
    carried the admonition that all guarantees were off if they were
    removed from these little containers. Occasionally I have been
    approached by someone who had purchased one of these hoping to cash
    in on their "investment". I am never happy to break the bad news to
    them. I'm sure some of them have gone away still believing in the
    inflated value and with the opinion that I was trying to steal the
    item. 

    Oh, and by the way, you mentioned you had purchased a lemon topaz
    faceted cabochon. If a stone is faceted it cannot be a cabochon since
    a cab is defined as a stone which has been cut to a convex shape and
    polished. 

Jerry in Kodiak
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