Tiffany Takes eBay to Court!

A lawyer for Tiffany & Co. accused eBay Inc. on Tuesday of allowing the sale of tens of thousands of pieces of counterfeit Tiffany jewelry on its Web site, The Associated Press reports. An eBay lawyer responded that Tiffany wasn't doing its share to protect customers.
The arguments in U.S. District Court in Manhattan came at the start of a trial to decide whether eBay can be blamed for the sales of silver Tiffany knockoffs on its Internet site since 2003.
James B. Swire, Tiffany's lawyer, said eBay "simply turned a blind eye" to the sales, the AP reports.
Bruce Rich, eBay's lawyer, reportedly said the site has suspended hundreds of thousands of sellers who broke its rules.
Rich blamed Tiffany for failing to protect its own trademarks by notifying eBay when it spots sales that seem suspicious, the AP reports. he said that when companies do so, eBay often stops the sales even before it can check whether they are legitimate..... to read more click here

consumers beware!

I am really surprised and perplexed at how jewellers after giving spurious and inferior quality goods to innocent people, go away un-challenged by anyone??? .That too in this 21 century ,where information is at finger tips for everyone.

Just look at the seal in this ring. It says 23C .

That means the gold used in this ring is 97.5%.975 parts pure gold in 1000 parts of total gold. Absolutely absurd! such intricacy in rings or for that matter any item cannot be made in higher Karatage. Its pure logic,higher Karatage of gold is softer and heavier to work with. (thats one of the main reasons why diamonds are set in 18 Kt or less gold, because of the strength and hardness of lesser karat gold) Next time if you find any delicately worked item, with such seal ,just go to any testing centre and check the purity of the gold. Its that simple.You`ll see the results yourself. These days testing centres are found everywhere and theres no damage also done to your item. You get x-ray analysis within 5 min for a mere Rs50- 100/-. All the best buyers!

P.S :I tested the ring and it turned out to be 82.65 purity (i.e 19.84 Kt).

Award winning design

Today morning after tea I was wondering if our art, designs and jewelery are dying a slow death. Looking at bulk made products everywhere, I was getting little frustrated.Creativity and art is rarely found in mass made products. But as it always happens with me ,I came across this fabulous piece of jewelery by Jeffrey Appling .After studying his jewelery I realised that he brings to his designs a meticulous craftsmanship that makes each individual piece both elegant and durable.Pearl Protrusion,(the ring in this photo) is made of platinum with faceted white and black pearls,and the set stones are tsavorite garnets and pink sapphires(other side).Just observe how neatly the pearls are faceted.

No doubt it bagged the first place in 2007 Jewelry Arts Awards by lapidary journal magazine.

Identifying gemstones with a microscope

All amateur gemologists would agree with me when I say that, at present the greatest challenge in the field of gemology is to identify heat treated and fractured filled gemstones. Especially rubies, sapphires and emeralds. Being the top three selling gemstones it becomes all the more important to detect the treatments in them.

The article "Under the Microscope" by Julie Nash and Arthur Skuratowicz from Manufacturing Jewelers & Suppliers of America (MJSA) gives us a wonderful insight in identifying the treatments like , laser drilled holes, fracture filling,HPHT and irradiation in diamonds,glass filled and heat treated rubies ,fracture filled emeralds,etc. There`s even a small article in how to handle a microscope.Even the self explaining microscope photos are worth a glance.



Herea a small para from the article...

"Preventing misidentification of gems is not just a case of identifying the variety and species of gemstone. In our current business climate, it's also important to identify the treatments that gems have undergone. Many of these treatments are considered routine in our industry, yet consumers are often shocked to discover that their emerald has been fracture filled, or their tanzanite heat-treated. Full disclosure of all gem treatments is necessary and often required by the Federal Trade Commission"....to read more click here

Gold to cross $850!!

There are some of the best links below which says gold is quite stable around 800$ and it will soon cross the $900 and $1000 mark!

Gold dipped but held firm above $800 an ounce on Monday because of surging oil and prices and a weak U.S. dollar and dealers said strong fundamentals could help the metal retest a record high of $850 soon....to read more click here

What has been interesting over the past few weeks is that each retreat by gold has been a tiny one, and almost immediately reversed by another upward surge of much greater size. This is in stark contrast to the experiences of the past three or four years. read more here

The next target for some is $850 and others are already preparing for $900. Kotak Commodity Services Ltd, for instance, says gold can easily top $900 soon... more

Victorian Influences in Indian Jewellery Design

The Victorian influence in India can be traced back to 1876 when Queen Victoria was crowned Empress of India (1876), thereby encouraging trade between the two continents.

The Indian exotic woods, bright-coloured silks, enamelled and gem encrusted Mughul jewellery, had a profound effect on the jewellery and decorative arts produced in England then. The Indian rose-cut garnet encrusted jewels and cloisonné enamels worked their way into English design. Likewise, Indian jewellery designs too borrowed from the Victorian.

Infact, even today, long after India got its independence, the inimitable touch of the Victorian can be found in the Indian Jewellery Industry. Both the exclusive designers & the big jewellery design houses in India, have been churning out Victorian jewellery collections year after relentless year. But, what the buyer gets is sometimes far from the traditional Victorian fare and can only be labelled ' Victorian-Style INDIAN' jewellery. The delicate and curvy Victorian motifs combined with Indian motifs are very popular in wedding and festive diamond jewellery today.

Listed below are a few design elements that are characteristic of the jewellery of the Victorian era (1837-1901):

1) Jewellery was mostly made in18 to 22 karat gold & whenever diamonds were to be set, they were invariably white metal would be used to enhance their intrinsic beauty.

2) Natural elements like flowers, trees, and birds were predominant in the design. Commonly used motifs were serpents (a symbol of eternity), love and song birds, love knots, clasped hands and miniatures.

3) Two of the most popular design techniques were 'CANNATILLE' and 'REPOUSSE'. Cannatille jewellery used twisted strands of gold wire wound into elaborate designs giving it a delicate look, while Repousse typically had solid forms with raised and fluted edges.

4) Besides Cannatille and Repousse, the other techniques used were 'Filigree', Die rolling and Engraving which gave the illusion of mass and size, while only using a minimum amount of precious metal.

5) The jewellery was often accented with seed pearls, turquoise and pink coral. Other gemstones used include blue zircon, "pinked" or heat treated topaz, amethyst, peridot, citrine, aquamarine, garnet, ruby, sapphire and emerald.

6) Natural materials such as tortoise shell, lava, ivory and vulcanite too were popular choices, especially for carved pieces, miniatures and cameos.

See pictures of Victorian Jewellery here

You can pick a piece of precious history this Diwali, a Victorian style necklace or earrings maybe!

Art of gemstone buying!

There are lots of points to be kept in mind before investing in gemstones. The popular belief that diamonds are forever and it gets up to 75% resale value, but coloured stones have no resale value is absolutely wrong. On the contrary investing in gemstones can be a profitable business if not just a hobby. For E.g.: A 3 carat Burmese (old Burma) Ruby which could be bought for around Rs.10000 per carat, now costs more than Rs.50000 Per carat. Simple reason: demand in increasing continuously but production is very limited. Nature’s resources are fast depleting. And the resources are also very scarce. All the good quality gemstones are already mined.

And moreover because of the improving technology, the treatments done on the new gemstones are getting more and more difficult to detect. As a result the natural untreated material is becoming rarer.

One should keep in mind the following points before investing in gemstones:

1) Learn to love gems for their beauty, portability, and privacy. Align yourself with a knowledgeable expert. This can be a dealer, a wholesaler, or a retail jeweler.
2) Do not buy a colored stone without a reputed gemological laboratory certificate. For amateur collectors, this is critical. Especially if the gemstone is of more value.
3) Try to get as much information as possible of a particular gemstone which you are going to buy.
4) Always go in for un-treated gemstones. Gemstones close to their natural state will be very rare in future.
5) Always buy from a reputed dealer or trusted source. Ask for a money-back guarantee for a initial period i.e. say 15 days. So that one can show the piece to some other expert and cross verify.

Happy buying!!

Gemological Institute of India have given a good article about how to buy a coloured gemstone. Must read for new shoppers!!