Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:22 pm Posts: 21602 Location: San Francisco
If my math serves me correctly, that's around $6.65 per carat.
That seems a fair price to pay for coated "mystic" style topaz.
A 16ct, commercial quality, heated pink topaz should sell for about $100-$300 per carat Keystone, according to the Guide.
If it is comparable to Mystic Fire topaz, I got two 7 carat 14x10mm ovals with 14kt earring castings for $65, in 2004, from JTV, but I have none approaching that size to help you compare.
Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2006 1:20 am Posts: 2756 Location: Southern California, U.S.A.
Morning Dove wrote:
Hi ROM -- n the end, I decided to keep the 16+ carat coated stone. I had paid $105 plus shipping.
So ... how bad of a deal was that? This was about 3 years ago. Expensive lesson? I'll know better next time!
I went to their site and they claim to be gem experts. I can tell you this: no one who knows anything about gems could possibly make such a "mistake." A 16+ carat natural pink topaz would have a very high retail value. Non-heated fine and extra-fine qualities in that size easily command $1,500 - 3,000 or more per CARAT.
On the other hand you paid something in the range of $7 per carat plus shipping cost. Your comments indicate you enjoy the stone. My advice is don't worry it, and learn from the experience.
Bear in mind this supplier is in Bangkok and isn't bound by U. S. law or the FTC guidelines. It's strictly buyer beware!
Is this the stone with the selenium spectrum modo? I remember the original thread if it is....and you getting banned from gemorbit for being too clever to be one of their customers
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 4:25 pm Posts: 161 Location: Michigan, USA
Well, ROM, I did a little research and find the particular section I was remembering from "Code of Federal Regulations, title 16, section 23, 1996" was changed in 2001 to be just as you say -- it went from specific discussion of coating to a vague commentary on "treated" stones with no definition of treatment. Even the FTC consumer guidelines http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/pro ... ewelry.htm do not mention coating except for pearls (I guess "coating" does get dumped into the diffusion category), although it does give examples of treatments in general.
Joined: Thu Jun 15, 2006 3:21 am Posts: 426 Location: New York City
Hi,
Well, I've had specimens that were completely coated top to bottom . As fas as value they are not worth as much as blue topaz IMO.
For me they have no value at all. Beyond that I would not value them anymore than than white topaz. fifty cents a carat. maybe a dollar.
I'm trying to remember if the refractive index is thrown off, so you can check that. The stuff I've seen going back five years cannot be put in an ultrasonic.
Take a nail file to the culit and it comes off. The stones are often perfectly calibrated. A dead give away.
Irradiated sherry and red topaz has been on the scene for over 30 years by the way.
To test such an irradiated Topaz is easy. Mask half the stone with opaque material.
Leave in the sunlight for one day. Unmask the stone and look for the zoning. Simple.
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