Alexandra - natural or?

Rudolf, Since I believe your comments are in response to something I
said, let me take it a little further. While I understand that
different cultures have different views on how things are discussed,
if, as a professional jeweler, you acknowledge what is apparently a
customer’s misunderstanding, you imply that what the customer says is
true. If you imply to the customer that what they say is true then
you are tacitly stating that you agree with them and they can take
this to be a professional opinion on your part that what they have
said is true. This means that they can go to another jeweler and
state that they were told by another jeweler (you) that it was a
natural stone. When the new jeweler tells them the truth, while they
may be mad as hell at them for the moment, what they will always
remember is that you told them it was real when it wasn’t, which makes
it look like you don’t know what you are talking about.

I never stated, and I need to be clear about this, that anyone should
make a statement without backing it up. If you think it isn’t natural
alexandrite then you MUST perform proper gemological testing on it
before making a statement either way. I have seen more synthetic
color change corundum (sold as alexandrite) than most people can
imagine over the years, but I still always do at least an RI test on
it to check before I definitively state what the stone is. If you
don’t have gemological equipment available to do the testing then you
should never make any statement about a gem material. This is one
reason I refuse to make any statement about any jewelry or gems shown
to me outside my shop other than the somewhat broad comment “That is
nice”. If I look at a stone someone is wearing at a party and say “Oh
what a beautiful tanzanite!” and it turns out to be a blue purple
sapphire I look like an idiot who doesn’t know what he is talking
about. This is fine if you aren’t in the profession, but since we all
are, it is inappropriate.

It is also true that here in the United States everyone is a little
lawsuit crazy and it is critical that, in this country, you be
extremely circumspect about what you say. It is nice that in some
other cultures this is not the case.

Daniel R. Spirer, GG
Spirer Somes Jewelers
1794 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140
@spirersomes
http://www.spirersomes.com

Daniel, I agree with your statement on sight ID’s. It is sometime
difficult not to comment in a more definitive manner. I have owned
and operated a gem lab since Feb. 1979 and seen jewelers sell
synthetic for natural and make ridiculous comments. Giving the people
the truth is painful to everyone, but after a while they gain respect
for your council.

Warren.