Seeking advice

Hello!

I am working my way through the estate of my grandfather, and it includes a lot of loose gems - some cut, some rough. Everything from moonstone to garnets to cubic zirconia (with professional grading cards attached), to amethyst, aquamarine, topaz, pearls, beryl, diamond, a ruby - quite a lot more than that. A few are already set - some are rough, and some are sealed from when they were purchased.

In my initial checking it seems that getting all of these professionally evaluated would be a very expensive endeavor. I'm definitely not looking to circumvent trained artisans or get something for nothing - so I am seeking advice on the best way to get these looked at, separate real from fake, etc.

Thanks for any thoughts! These forums have been great, and I know I could post things individually and get feedback - but I also know that some things need to be seen in person...

Regards,
Joe

 

do you have a good gemologist or competent jeweler you trust to go to ?
Loose stones...as a rule .....cost a lot to buy, but are worth not much when selling.
The diamond...specially if more than a carat....and maybe the ruby....those would be worth having someone take a look at !

 

Do you know where he acquired the stones? My father bought a number of stones as an investment in the 60's from magazine ads or some other outlet.When I looked at them years later,they were very low quality and were worth cents on the dollars he paid for them. Show us some photos and we may help a little.

 

Sounds like those collector plates so many people have bought over the years

 

Our local jeweler's have a "bag and tag" sort of thing where they do a quick "guesstimate" rather than a formal appraisal. That cost me $50 to do a number of jewelry items. If you checked around; you may find a jeweler that would do that at a reasonable rate. With that; they could test for a real gem - although may not give you a formal value...but might say which ones would be worth getting a formal appraisal for.

 

Komokwa - I do not have a trusted jeweler - I can easily find one, but as I said in my original post, the prices I'm seeing for evaluations are extremely high. If there is a way to get a less formal evaluation without paying per stone.

 

Hollyblue - As I mentioned, I know that I can get some info by posting photos here - but the volume is quite large, and I'm not sure how authenticity could be verified through photos. It's sounding like my options are either to pay a gemologist item by item, or start adding photos to this thread to get "best guesses". What I was hoping for was advice on what to ask a gemologist for, or whether a bulk evaluation is something that is done in this field.

 

This is great advice - I will explore - THANKS!!

 

Your photo and name seems to point to location,Seattle area? you could try and contact one of the clubs in the area for advice... https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=seattle+gem+and+mineral+clubs

 

Portland - Good eye!

 

I belonged to this club when we lived in Oregon,maybe someone there can help you....... https://www.google.com/search?clien...&ved=0ahUKEwiH5Yzfv4vnAhWOGs0KHRNUA4sQ4dUDCAo

 

. Stumptown was coined in a period of phenomenal growth in Portland after 1847. The city was growing so rapidly that the stumps of trees were left behind until manpower could be spared to remove them.

Seattle is 180 miles from Portland...and in a different State....

 

......correct. Well researched!

Stumptown specifically refers to the massive old growth stumps that remained throughout the city when trees were cleared for development. At one time, they painted the stumps with whitewash so that carriages could more easily avoid them.

 

folks kinda like the new TV show...as well !!

 

Not in Portland, they don't. They only shot exteriors here - everything else is in LA - not great for our growing TV/Film market. (Also - Portlanders generally don't refer to it as "Stumptown" in normal conversation, which the show does constantly)

 

In many urban areas there will be "Gem and Jewelry shows" every 3-6 months. Often at such shows you can carry your gems around and ask a number of dealers for quick opinions, as to what might be worth doing further testing on; and I'd think you could get such quick opinions at little or no cost. You'd have the advantage of being able to get several opinions and possibly offers to buy for each item, all at the same time and place; though you might have to wait a while for the next such show in your area.

 

(with professional grading cards attached)
and some are sealed from when they were purchased.



I trust you mean better than this !
Many years ago I got a little light headed and loosey goosey at the end of a long auction....& since my daughter was studying to be a jeweler, well one thing led to another !

 

Someone called it a genuine emerald and green topaz? The "emerald is probably beryl,but doesn't appear to be green and probably not contain chromium. The topaz is probably diffusion treated for the dark green color.Can't really see the black star sapphire,listed as flawless?

 

Brilliant, stunning , fantastic, spectacular.....yes of course , all the great gem attributes !!!
They're appraised at over 20 times what I was paying for them, and all are ' certified ' ...it says so....right on the printed label !!!!
Bahahaha!!!!!
My daughter could have made good use of them... I had given here the 3 amethyst stones cut into heart shapes & a trove of tiny green emeralds, but she graduated without ever setting them.
I got some money back off a black pearl....but whats left.....as you point out...are all highly suspect !!!
Live & learn !!