posted on May 8, 2008 09:39:17 AM new
There is a guy who is selling purported British India estate jewelry. I've been evaluating this seller for a possible feature on the front page of ClearanceClarence.com, but the more I read, the more alarm bells start ringing faintly in the distance.
Would you take a look at his auctions and tell me what you think?
The particulars that had me concerned:
1. Free-strung freshwater pearls on an "antique" 14k diamond turquoise ruby necklace (item 290227871674).
2. Comments in several auctions that the diamonds are "set in sterling silver" while other parts of the piece are gold.
3. Comments about "foil-backed diamonds" in several auctions.
And one general concern:
4. I am seeing a lot of pieces these days with mine-cut and rose-cut diamonds. It could be that folks are selling their heirlooms to raise cash but it could also be these are Chinese fakes coming on the market in a variety of types and styles. Calling it a mine-cut diamond would be one way to explain why it has little fire when in reality it could just be "frozen spit".
posted on May 8, 2008 10:00:50 AM new
Fluffy - I'd be very, very leery. That necklace does not look like an antique. It looks like what is typically coming out of India today. Check out www.exoticindia.com. I used to buy wholesale from that site and this stuff reminds me of what is sold there. I don't believe this jewelry is old at all.
posted on May 8, 2008 10:47:21 AM new
Cheryl,
Your exotic India link is not working.
I attended the local gem and jewelry show a few months ago and talked to some Indians selling ruby necklaces,most are heated and they said untreated large ruby is very hard to find now,even heat treated large ruby is getting hard to come by.
So why is he selling an antique 3 carat plus ruby ,assume back then they dont heat treat their ruby?
Indians are picky about their jewelry,they want gold 22k and up and just gold is not good enough,it has to be set with precious stones such as ruby,saphire ,emerald and that small pearls they like,so why are the Moghul using sterling silver mixed with gold?
The seller should invest in a better camera if he wants to sell high end jewelry and take some lessons in shooting jewelry.
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Lets all stop whining !
posted on May 8, 2008 11:00:47 AM new
Not an expert, not even close, but I do find it odd that a pair of antique earrings would have "deluxe butterfly backings."
posted on May 8, 2008 11:08:25 AM new
Zippy, in all fairness it is not unusual for an old pair of post-style earrings to have lost the old backs and have them replaced with new and probably more secure backs.
posted on May 8, 2008 11:11:34 AM new
I know and sometimes they are modified from genuine antique lever backs to post style too. I have a pair like that.
But one would think that a trustworthy, experienced high end jewelry dealer would certainly mention that the backings have been replaced.
posted on May 8, 2008 11:20:30 AM new
The upper class Indian women will spend a whole day in a jewelry store starting at 11 am ,have lunch brought into the store,laugh and talk and browse jewelry and left around 3 pm in the afternoon.
It is in their culture to wear the best-22k -24k gold with precious stones,no semi precious and they give pure gold as wedding gift.
BTW,some of the famous ruby in history turns out to be GARNET!
posted on May 8, 2008 11:26:40 AM new
Not to mention that an astounding number of antique rubies are synthetic:
"Synthetic ruby was invented more than 100 years ago. The quality was so good, so convincing that fine jewelers of the period mixed synthetic material in with real stones, as genuine mined ruby was hard to come by. This was actually an accepted practice, though most people don't realize it today. It can come as a shock to heirs or antique jewelry collectors when they take a piece in to have it appraised."
posted on May 8, 2008 12:16:25 PM new
Besides Lab grown ruby,the French were compressing smaller pieces of real ruby into big pieces 100 years ago .
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Lets all stop whining !
