Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2008 1:52 pm Posts: 1 Location: Virginia
I have a question....I recall when JTV first began to sell Andesine-Labradorite. They first thought it was Labradorite, then received a call from a purchaser that it was not...but Andesine. Upon sending the material to several labs, it was determined that some of it, but not all, contained the properties of both andesine and labradorite. They did, in fact, urge caution to all buyers until the material could be thoroughly examined....marketing ploy?.....possibly. As far as being treated or diffused, I recall buying some early stones that possessed a "shower" effect. Later, I ordered another green and a red stone and saw that the color seemed to be darker....with the green being darned nigh opaque. The red was saturated with a vivid red color....and beautiful. My question is...Is it possible that JTV's vendors pulled a bait and switch at some point, with JTV accepting their word that "nothing has changed" in the stone's status? I am not a jeweler nor am I a gemologist....just wondering how any jeweler can stay in business today, just trying to cover ALL bases, ALL the time. Your thoughts?
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:22 pm Posts: 21602 Location: San Francisco
Hi Annabeth.
Welcome to the forum.
If you do a search on the forum for andesine/laboradorite you'll see that we have been covering this topic for years.
The difference between andesine and labradorite is relatively minimal physically and chemically.
We suspect that it is probable that some of this material (plagioclase) has been treated.
The specifics are still speculative, but the scientific community is closer to sorting out this mystery with ongoing research.
The upcoming Gems & Gemology should feature an article that should provide some clarification.
one of the buyers of stones from gemboss told me that he doesn't know much and is thinking that he'd better buy his stones from tv. i don't know if he meant this specific company but i sent him an email warning him that he will be in just as much peril. told him to come to this forum and read about some of the scams. this person bought what was advertised as tanzanite from D block - it seems to me there is more tanzanite from D block on ebay than all the tanzanite that was ever mined.
and while we are on that point, why is all the current "tanzanite" so blue? where are the lilac overtones?
Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2008 4:40 pm Posts: 2667 Location: South Dakota
I have 415gemboss under my blocked bidders/buyers on ebay..I don't remember why though..was this the iolite guy or something..or the paraiba turns out to be glass guy
_________________ MrAmethystguy ~ Some jokes just fluorite over my head!
blue,
hey, here's a link to the GIA website on color-coated tanzanite:
i think most of the coated stones are small and the treatment is not permanent, which i think is the case with most color-coated stones, such as "tuttifrutti" topaz (lol, made that up) or "mystic" topaz.
hopefully, this will answer you questions about tanzanite, blue!
I purchased quite a few of the JTV tanzanites. I put a couple under the microscope and yep, at the cutlet and along the facets the "coating" is coming off. Does anyone know of any remedy short of filing a lawsuit?
Joined: Mon Dec 01, 2008 6:43 pm Posts: 615 Location: St. Paul, Minnesota
How about contacting them and getting a refund? So long as coating wasn't disclosed (and you can prove they are coated), you should be eligible for a refund.
Have any of you guys heard about the lawsuit that's been filed against DSN, Direct Shopping Network?
Last week I received a letter about a class action lawsuit against them. I got it because I purchased an Andesine from them about 2 yrs ago.
I just read the info about the class action against JTV which I was surprised to see because I had also purchased Andesine from them as well but never heard anything about the suit. Odd.
Any info you can give me about both would be greatly appreciated!!
I looked for the "chicken and the roost" thread but wasn't able to find it....
So happy to be back here!! It's been a while and now that my password issue has been dealt with, I'll be coming back more often!! Such great info on here and people as well.....
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