Unfortunately, the jewelry business is vulnerable to unscrupulous opportunists who want to take advantage of consumer ignorance. You've heard of black market knock-offs of Rolex(tm)
We have built our success on providing clients the information and education you need to make the best purchasing decision for the purpose at hand. Our gemologist and gift consultants are specially trained to assist you in making the right choice for you.
Purchasing gemstones and jewelry while traveling overseas is a very tempting, cost savings idea. If you do your homework, you could theoretically get a good buy, again if you do your homework. What usually happens is a traveler is lured into a jewelry store by an unsavory cab driver or someone paid by a jewelry store to get travelers into their store. Many of the scams seem to be reported coming from countries such as India and Thailand, and Bangkok, but the scam could occur anywhere.
The scam continues by you being enticed by being told you can purchase "gemstones" at very low prices by being taken directly to the manufacturer of the jewelry, or the person who supplies the jewelry stores in the tourist areas. Once you arrive at the location you are taken into a room where you observe precious stones being polished and made into jewelry. At that point you are taken into a room where you are shown various precious stones or jewelry pieces containing precious stones. The prices seem outstanding and you make a purchase of a few "Oriental Emeralds" When you arrive home, you show your new jewelry to your friends, and everything ends happily ever after, until you take the jewelry into the local jeweler to have it cleaned or to have the loose precious stones mounted. That's when you find out your "Oriental Emeralds" are actually "Green Sapphires" worth about one quarter of what a true emerald is worth. What you really purchased was in fact a fake, phony gemstones, synthetics, glass imitations, natural substitutes, enhanced (treated) gemstone, or "reconstituted gems." No mater what you called them, you were ripped off.
Within the United States, it's a violation of Federal Trade Commission guidelines to use names of gemstones which mislead buyers as to the identity of what they are buying. This is often not the case abroad. When shopping overseas you might be tempted to purchase stones from a jewelry store and not know in reality that your are buying a worthless stone. If you wish more information email me for a partial list of misleading gemstone names encountered abroad, but represented as expensive gems.
It is not my intent to imply that these practices are widespread in Central Pennsylvania or elsewhere in the world. In fact, my personal belief is that they are not. I am aware of a few cases locally, of over grading diamonds, and selling laser drilled stones without proper disclosure, but these are the exception, not the rule!
However, as a consumer, you should be aware of things that are happening in the world from time to time, and know that while they are rare, they can happen. Education is your protection against fraud and deception. Central Pennsylvania is fortunate to have many fine jewelers with trained staff to help you in your selection of fine jewelry. Of course, I hope that you will allow The Prospector Jeweler's to answer any questions you may have regarding diamonds, colored gemstones, and jewelry, but that is your choice to make.
