I recall the first time I bought an item of jewelry with my
own earnings. Actually, my siblings and I pooled our money together to buy our
mother what we called a “real” piece of jewelry. Like most kids, up until then,
jewelry was a combination of macaroni necklaces and trinkets that could be
bought at the mall’s corner store. I will always remember the feeling I had
when I walked in there; it was almost like walking into a crystal shop. Nothing
had ever been so shiny or so lit up! So of course I bee-lined towards the “sparkliest”
section of the store and meekly observed all of the shapes and sizes of diamonds
set into piles of gold and silver. When I came across two similar items, I was
surprised to see such a difference between their prices. “How come they were
charging so little for this and so much for that?” I wondered. When I asked,
the clerk quickly dismissed my question by concluding that they were simply different. In the end, my older siblings
chose a modest gold pendant for our mother; but the lack of disclosure and
openness of this clerk regarding his product is a feeling that I remember quite
well.
As I gained knowledge in gemology and spoke to more people
regarding their experiences shopping for jewelry, it occurred to me that I was
not alone in thinking that it would be great if more information could be
available to the buyer so that they could understand exactly what they were
purchasing. Particularly in our time of increased conscious consumerism, it
seems evermore important to inquire about the item at hand. Of course, I don’t
propose that we all become gemologists, but I feel, that the best way to buy,
is to be as armed as possible with knowledge regarding the product you’re
buying.
My name is Gen. I’m a gemologist, certified appraiser and
co-owner of Bergamot Gems. My partner and I are committed to providing our
clients with boldly colorful and exquisite gemstones as well as offering appraisal
services. With this blog, our aim is to empower our readers by writing about
various topics, such as: the basics of buying, what to look for in certain
gemstones, treatments and synthetics and the occasional oddity. If we haven’t
covered it in the following entries, feel free to write us with questions or
recommendations on what you’d like us to talk about.
Happy Reading!
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