Smart Shopping School

Green Beryl vs. Emerald: The Color “Emerald has many special qualities, but colored stone professionals generally agree that emeralds are, most of all, about color. Emerald has been the standard for green among colored stones for thousands of years”, as the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) puts it. Indeed, the subject matter of “green beryl vs. emerald” is all about color. And about value, of course. Emeralds are praised for their green color, whereas green beryls lack this crucial component. Both, emerald…

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Recently I came across an auction website called Auctionet (auctionet.com). The abundance of lead glass-filled rubies (composite rubies) at this auction website grabbed my attention immediately. So, I decided to dig a bit deeper. One of the first things I noticed was that all these composite rubies are heavily overvalued by the experts. As discussed in the post about lead glass-filled rubies, their actual price is around $2 per carat only. Here their estimates range from EUR 30 to EUR 134…

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Vintage jewelry is becoming increasingly popular. Actually, it is so popular that some buyers are ready to pay more (sometimes even substantially more) for a piece of vintage jewelry than for a similar piece of contemporary jewelry. This may seem somewhat illogical, taking into account the fact that contemporary jewelry is new and unworn, whereas vintage jewelry is used, with visible signs of wear oftentimes. Why would anyone prefer a piece of used jewelry over a brand new, unworn jewelry?…

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