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PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 12:29 am 
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Heat treated aquamarine will not change over time. It is stable.

I like emerald cuts and ovals for rings. They have a timeless quality.

The best colors are the most saturated tones without gray overtones.

You want a stone that is completely transparent without obvious internal characteristics.

Remember the quality of the cut is very important. You want the stone to be lively and bright, with excellent light return. No window!

Perhaps you should also be looking at some finished aquamarine jewelry. Some period pieces can be positively stunning!


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PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 1:08 am 
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i have :) i've got a few marked as cuteeee!!! :P i've been thinking of a design. i'm thinking of going square of some sort. with bordered diamonds, or just one diamond each on the side. but my question is what cut should i look into? the cuts are so beautiful i want them all :P


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PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 1:10 am 
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Well, there is no law that says a lady can only own ONE aquamarine. :wink:


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PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 9:33 am 
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I have purchased aquamarine from Nigeria in the past. This stone is from Nigeria, and has not been heated.

Image

Most of the Nigerian aqua when in the rough has a similar long pencil shape that a tourmaline crystal has. I have one large piece that was very clean, but with a green tone to it. I heated it for just to see what would happen, and the green did burn off, but the stone ended up with a large inclusion dead center.

Much of the Nigerian rough I have seen is pretty light, but I have seen a few with a deeper tone.

Mozambique has been producing some very nice colored aqua, but the past few years the cost of the rough has been too high, making it almost impossible to sell the cut stones.

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PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 12:54 pm 
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There's some material coming out of Pakistan (Gilgit region) that's that color and relatively clean as well.


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PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 5:50 pm 
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1. what kind of questions should i ask the seller when buying an aquamarine?
2. how do online sellers ship their gems?? anyone had problems with customs??? any canadian that can help me out here??????
3. i'm looking into buying an aquamarine between 1.5-2 carats so i was wondering what is the price range i should look into when purchasing a high quality aquamarine
4. what should i look for when buying in person?
thanks!!!


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PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 6:05 pm 
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The only questions that we haven't answered is the one on method of shipment and customs in Canada.

I think everything else has been addressed.

Online sellers have different preferred shippers.

Call your local customs and ask them what is involved with online gem sales.


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PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 6:41 pm 
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hi jennzy;

Just have your dealer send the gems USPS with the proper paperwork stuck on the envelope and your custom's border work will be taken care of free or at very little charge by Canada Post as long as the shipment is below 1,000$ CAD, anything above that must clear through a broker


If your shipment comes fedex or UPS be prepared for a whopping bill for custom clearance.

You will have to pay GST and Pst and what ever duty is applied
on the shipment (Canada Post will collect the money and pass it on)

If you have a PST certificate you can take the cost off your return when you send it in. GST requires a separate filling to recover the money if you have a GST licience (recovered as input cost on a special claim form)
Think that about covers it .. hope this helps

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PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 1:16 am 
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wolf wrote:
hi jennzy;

Just have your dealer send the gems USPS with the proper paperwork stuck on the envelope and your custom's border work will be taken care of free or at very little charge by Canada Post as long as the shipment is below 1,000$ CAD, anything above that must clear through a broker


If your shipment comes fedex or UPS be prepared for a whopping bill for custom clearance.

You will have to pay GST and Pst and what ever duty is applied
on the shipment (Canada Post will collect the money and pass it on)

If you have a PST certificate you can take the cost off your return when you send it in. GST requires a separate filling to recover the money if you have a GST licience (recovered as input cost on a special claim form)
Think that about covers it .. hope this helps


i think its more than the gst+pst. they charge like handling fees and everything. cuz i had to pay $120 on a $300 item that came from the states.
what's the diff between usps and ups? i thought they were the same thing. and what kind of proper paperwork is required? would they know if i just ask them to put the paper work inside?

are you from canda btw wolf?


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 2:53 am 
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Jennzy asked:
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what's the diff between usps and ups?


Hi jennzy .... USPS is the United States Postal Service (like Canada Post only cheaper :) )

UPS is the United Parcel Service .. like Fedex and very expensive altho Fedex has the most expensive custom's charges in the world..

Canada Post will clear that $300 shipment for GST $18.00 6% Now
After the new year its 5% or 15.00
PST 24,00
Duty will depend on country of origin ... china is 6% on manufactured goods the USA for the most part is 0% on gems If you buy from a US cutter explain to him that if the rough is cut in the states the country of origin is the US for custom's purposes because the item (the rough ) has been "substantually changed by the cutting" and therefore takes on the origin where the cutting is done :) nice EH!?
Clearance charges on my last order were $8.00 *shrug* that was on a $200 order.

UPS would be a lot higher the GST PST and duty would be the same but clearance would be much higher .. it is a basic charge then line charges (a charge for each item cleared )

The paperwork goes on the outside of the envelope or parcel ... that way it is accessible to customs and canada post. The parcel is hardly ever opened unless somebody gets a bad feeling about it (read custom officer has an intuition that it is not what it seems ) then they will open and inspect .. *shrug* same as they would at the border.

:) yes jennzy I am Canadian. I also spent 8 years as a custom broker at the border clearing commercial shipments :)

Hope this helps explain it and is helpful

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PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 3:03 am 
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We have a few customers in Canada and have found that airmail from Australia to Canada is extremely slow and the delay appears to happen at the Canadian entry point - much faster into the USA. Also we cannot insure airmail parcels to Canada so this is another little problem - we self-insure all our parcels but we always request insurance so that parcels are held at the post office for signature instead of being delivered to a possibly unattended mailbox - cannot do this into Canada because of some weird thing with the Canadian postal service. Our regular customers are now requesting Fedex into Canada instead because their post is so slow.

Might be a lot easier from USA to Canada but this has been our experience from Australia.

cheers

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PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 3:12 am 
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Hi Andrew:

All my shipments are held at the post office for signature *chuckle* and of course payment of GST PST clearance and custom fees. Can't understand why a shipment from Australia would be treated any differently. I think your postal clerks need a quick course in how to do it. The only difference between Canada and the states as far as mail shipments are concerned is that the states collects nothing on a value of up to $400 only requiring payment and clearance on items over $400. that is why fedex makes like gang busters on low value shipments because they charge for something that doesn't need to be done *shrug*

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PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 9:27 am 
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I ship into Canada all the time, and use USPS (United States Postal Service). What I do, is send the invoice and certificates in a separate mailing, then mark the stone package as "mineral sample", and send it by registered mail. The customer doesn't end up paying any duties or taxes that I am aware of.
The first stone I ever sent to Canada went by FedEx and they ended up paying about 40% in taxes on it.

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PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:07 am 
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jennzy,

Listen to Wolf.

The same advice applies to items coming into the USA, in that if UPS or Fedex bring it into the country, you pay them for the 'service' they provide getting the package through customs. If you use the mail service, say registered mail from Thailand to the USA, the article sails through if the value is under a cutoff.

The difference in cost can be large. AJSgems.com knows all this and will help you out. They are good folks and honest. So is Multicoulor.com (note the extra u in the name to get the right website.)

Frankly, I would look at these two websites and read their descriptions and set their pricing as probably the best that would be available.

Now, as to cutting, Precision Gems likely cares more about the cut than most other places, and, if I remember correctly, is in or near Buffalo, New York. Perhaps you feel an overwhelming urge to see Niagara Falls?

A great color stone can be lifeless with poor cutting or poor polish. A dear friend and neighbor has a 10 carat Santa Maria aqua in a ring that her now deceased husband gave her not too long ago. Big stone, great color, totally dull.

I borrowed the ring and cleaned it with alcohol and windex but it wasn't until I polished the (large) table that the stone came to life. She was a bit taken aback for a moment as visible color was much more intense and vibrant. I had the impression that the table had been cut with maybe 1200 and never polished. It made a large difference.

If you look at a stone or ring in a store, be aware that the lighting is designed to make the stone look it's best and you should also examine the stone in daylight and incandescent light to see what it will look like outside of the store and at home.

Have fun shopping!

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PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:44 am 
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Jennzy,

I haven't read all posts so perhaps someone has already added Mozambique to the list of countries producting nice aquas.
These can be blue without any trace of greens nor yellows - and hence do not need any heating. The bigger ones are usually darker. Fortunately, some are very dark and beautiful ;-) And clean.

If you do have the opportunity, darker aquamarines are considered nicer.

Good luck.

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visit us at www.swalagemtraders.com


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