Grading The creme de la creme of gems:

Quality, Rarity and Value, Pricing the Cerme de la cerme of Gems
Part II
By Richard W. Wise

2006

Wildcard Properties:

Some gem varieties also sport particular qualities, what I shall
call wildcard properties that affect one or more of The Four Cs of
Connoisseurship (color, cut clarity, crystal) and will dramatically
effect the price of a gem particularly in the upper reaches of
quality. The following is a list of wildcard properties, their
affects and effects:

Colorless Diamond; (Crystal): Diamonds reputedly from the old
Golconda mines located in northwestern India that exhibit a
particularly high degree of transparency. The Golconda fields were
the primary source of diamonds from antiquity until approximately
1725 and Golconda stones sometimes come up at auction. Gems with this
property are also referred to as super-ds, something of a misnomer
because they are really super-transparent and may be found in lower
color grades. ing of a misnomer because they are really
super-transparent and may be found in lower color grades.

More: Read my new blog: http://gemwiseblogspotcom.blogspot.com

Quality, Rarity & Value; Pricing the Crme de la crme of Gems,
Part III

By Richard W. Wise, G.G. [c] 2006

Lab Games:

Over the past two decades we have seen the proliferation of the
gemological laboratory. Ostensibly the function of these labs has
been to provide gemological services that require a higher level of
expertise and technology than that available to the average
jeweler-gemologist and to “certify” the identity, origin and
treatments, if any, done to a particular gem.

It is no accident that the growth of the gem labs has coincided with
the booming market for colored The labs have provided the
credibility that has for so long been missing and made this rapid
growth possible. The labs are not the only cause; the advent of
aggressive marketing spearheaded by the television shopping channels
has had a strong impact. We have entered the Age of Information;
today education in the form of books, magazines and information
provided by the shopping channels themselves has replaced the age
old “keep em stupid” strategy that has for so long been favored by
the industry. More on my blog:

Richard
Watch for my new book: Secrets Of The Gem Trade:

www.rwwise.com