You all wanna hear this straight-faced cover-up? sure you do!
I heard on another network that a customer walked into a jewellery
store and asked a female attendant where does white gold come
from?..with a straight faced answer…"Oh, this white gold comes
from a white gold mine as its different from the yellow gold mine"
notso-honest answer?
Lets hear some more of your honest “cover-ups” and other fun stuff
!!..Gerry!
My favorite (I am sure I will hear it again in Quartzsite this year)
“this material was mined out years ago. This is old stock, and when
it is gone, there will be no more.”
I have heard this chestnut aired out regarding every material from
St. Johns jasper to Australian tiger iron. On rare occasions, I hear
this said of a material which actually is mined out.
A variant is the one about the guy who found this rare material in
some third world country and brought back all he could find in a
suitcase. In some versions of this story, the guy went back for more
and was never seen again. This one was told to my by an Arizona
dealer who was trying to sell me some of that Honduran “black” opal,
the ubiquitous basalt matrix stuff that looks so pretty in water and
generally just polishes up to a dirty grey. A similar story was
circulated about ‘Royal Lavulite," i.e’, sugilite, when it first
came to the states, and about “Royal Velvet Peacock Obsidian” before
the word got out that it was available from Zacatecas, Mexico by the
Semi truckload.
Lee Einer
Dos Manos Jewelry
http://www.dosmanosjewelry.com
Once a customer came in and asked me if I could smash her two small
diamonds together and make one big diamond.
on another occasion a woman came in with a long chain that was
broken and stretched. when we asked her “where did it hang?” to get
the proper length right…she replied “around my neck…”
ahhh…'tis the season!
-julia
Several years ago, my wife and I were out ‘shopping’ a local
competitor. The young sales lady told me that carbon spots in a
diamond can actually grow as the diamond ages, so never buy a
diamond that has any carbon spots because the carbon will keep
getting bigger. Just as she said this I was looking at a diamond
under the ‘scope’, and I said “Hey, theres a carbon spot in this one
right here!” She became very flustered and said something about that
stone was brand new and she wasnt familiar with it yet. She took it
away immediately and was done with us. That was about 25 years ago,
and unfortunately this independent store still thrives today as one
of the largest diamond dealers in town (about 50 feet from my
businesses back door). Another major independent in town once told me
that she was the current President of the Indiana Jewelers
Association. That was news to me, and when I inquired with other
association members, I was told she had never been an officer of any
status in the association. And scarily enough, this lady is a GG.
Another store owner in town was advertising that she was certified
by GIA as an appraiser. I contacted GIA and they said they had never
heard of her for any classes of any category. Thats who I deal with
besides the Walmart mentality.
Ed in Kokomo Indiana
Dear Lee,
It just occurred to me that your post that I just answered got
sidetracked by your good humour. The fact that we are on the string
of white gold mines also piqued my interest in that pooh poohing the
concept of a white gold mine is not actually all that ludicrous.
Most all gold contains varying degrees of silver and when the amount
becomes significant the ore is called electrum. Furthermore, when
silver is a dominant factor the result is a white metal.
I think most people think of natural gold as being a pure substance
whereas it is never .999 in nature. Most California gold is somewhere
between eighty and ninety percent pure. On the other hand, I don’t
know of any naturally occurring whitish gold that would be suitable
for use in jewelry; i.e. having desirable metal working and wear
qualities.Since white gold almost always has nickle in it the
probability of gold with naturally occurring nickle is slim to none.
There are several elements that might bleach gold white, but nickle
is the one that works best. Electrum is far too soft, but it can be
used when making findings for fragile stones because of its ready
workability.
Ron Mills, Mills Gem Co. Los Osos, Ca.
Right on Lee !
You left out white turquoise…
Looking into the future, I would guess that before long we will be
offered colorless black diamonds from Nigeria…or, how about
dichroic black onyx or chatoyant steatite or turquoise with a
hardness of eight; whatever sells. It is all a matter of 'proper"
marketing. ( as if moissanite weren’t enough ! )
Ron Mills, Mills Gem Co. Los Osos
This ring has never been off my finger. Can't you just size it while it's on my hand?
On a slightly different topic,‘dumbest things I’ve ever heard’: “Ok,
well I’ve lived here on 8th Street all my life, so where’s 6th
Street?” J
G’day; while I have never seen white gold we have a mine for very
pale yellow gold. It is the local Motueka River, a half hour’s drive
from Mapua. I have used gold dust from there which is a very pale
yellow. This may be due to several metals alloyed with it, one being
silver, and another I know for sure is a very small amount of
platinum. It is very soft and easily worked; many locals have rings
made from it. You want some? Well build yourself a riffle box on a
plastic tube raft, (don’t forget the bit of fleece or carpet at the
end of the riffles); make a dredge from an old fire pump using a
Venturi system to suck up stuff from the bottom of the river to throw
small rocks on to the riffle box, stand hip deep in the swirling
river tending the junk gadgetry (watching for prowling Mines
Inspectors who will want to see your claim permit - which nobody ever
has!) Do this every day for a week, picking the ‘right’ places and
you may have enough gold for two decent pale rings. But don’t tell
the Inspectors I sent you.
Cheers for now,
JohnB of Mapua, Nelson NZ
I think the “dumbest thing I’ve ever heard” was when I was running a
jewelry store in the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. A
cruise ship tourist commented to his wife while he was shopping in
our little island gallery, “Honey isn’t it strange that you don’t see
any out-of-state license plates here?”
V V
Artes Primitiv
OK, here ya go, I was working as a mechanic on high end foreign cars,
a lady came in one day and asked if we had a 710 cap. she said it was
located on the top of the motor. Try as we could we could not find
any reference for a mg that called for a part number 710 or otherwise
so we asked her how it came to be lost. Well, She said she went to a
service station and the attendant said her car needed oil and next
thing she knew she got home and the oil light was on. we then asked
how she knew the part was a 710? She took out the Manuel and showed
then engine picture and sure enuff there was a part on top that said
oil! turn it around dyslexia! Still laughing about that one.
John
Here’s another really dumb one: tourists who come in to the
desk in Zion National Park (southwestern Utah) and ask
me questions like “Can I walk to the North Rim (of the Grand
Canyon!!)”. Only if you’re ready to hike a couple hundred miles, over
some really rugged terrain!
Margaret
While on the subject of stupid tourist questions, the most famous
one that comes to mind is when they ask, after stepping off a cruise
ship and seeing snow on the surrounding mountains, “What’s the
elevation here?”. Or, “Why don’t they hose off the glacier?=A0 It look=
s
dirty.”
More seriously, though, was the customer who told us that the store
up the street could “bleach” a yellow gold bracelet white.=A0 That’s
called “lying” and it’s not funny.
-BK in AK