Hey Folks, This is always a good topic to have a thread for and share with in the forums. I hope folks will feel comfortable asking questions and sharing information here about stones and how to accurately identify them as much as possible.
I'm curious what you all think about my response to a posting of "Cherry Volcano Quartz" that I just saw. I have a number of bead pendant dealers marked as favorites and get their newsletters. Today, which happens to be EARTH DAY, a vendor with the name "Earth_(something)_" in their userid, sent me an e-mail update of their new stuff. It's all inexpensive focal beads, mostly natural stone, and cut in China. On their new stuff page were multiple pieces of "Cherry Volcano Quartz". Since the vendor is a "top rated seller", based here in the US, with over a 1,000 listings and a feedback rating in the thousands, and she identifies her resin pieces as resin, I think it's safe to assume she knows that what she's selling as "Quartz" is pink and gold swirled glass....
Anyhow, it being Earth Day and everything, I got a little bee in my bonnet and sent the seller the following message,
"Hi Earth_(something)_, Happy Earth Day! The Earth asked me to to tell you that you must know very well that this Cherry Volcano Quartz and all the other pieces you have labeled as such is NOT quartz. It's glass. Don't you feel any shame listing this next to all the other natural stones of the Earth and intentionally mislabeling it as "quartz"? All the genuine quartz on Earth asked me to tell you that it's offended that you call yourselves Earth_(something)_ and you go around misrepresenting the stones of the Earth on eBay. I hope in the future you'll label things correctly. Thanks. I just had to get that off my chest or the Earth wouldn't let me sleep tonight. Have a nice day! Regards, David"
So my question is, did I go toooooo far in calling this vendor out on mislabeling her glass beads?
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7 comments:
Nope, IMHO you didn't go to far! Even not in being ironic. Recently I did the same with three of my fav bead online shops. They sold goldstone in the gemstone section WITHOUT labelling it as manmade glass. I emailed them and the standard answer was: Sorry, but if we list it elsewhere, people ask if we don't have any goldstone. But at least all three changed their description and added the label "glass".
Hey Koko! There is a bit of a struggle there in that goldstone has been used long enought that even though it's a simulant and synthetic, it is an acceptable "gemstone". I think the dealer got it right when they changed the label to identify it as a glass but kept it under the gemstone category. It's a delicate balance.
...fruity quartzes DO exist, and I suspect that the Chinese desire to "create" their "cherry quartz" comes from the fact that quartzes included with actual red bits do occassionally occur naturally, they're pretty, they're rare, and they command a premium. If you do an eBay search for "Strawberry quartz" you will see some real quartzes, along with some obvious glass. Much of the natural "strawberry quartz" are inclusions of Lepidocrocite and a search for that will show you the real stuff. Other things that can make a quartz naturally red are iron oxides, which make quartz turn into purple (amethyst). I have seen some amethyst that is actually quite reddish, but again, it's RARE. I have some massive quartz that has a lot of little red platelets in it that was sold to me as "Raspberry Quartz" It's real quartz, but it's not necessarily very pretty, has a fair amount of fracturing, and doesn't take a great polish.
Some treatments that are done to quartz are COATINGS that are put on the outside of crystals. Aqua Aura or something of that name are gold salts that are atomically deposited onthe quartz crystals making it blue. "Rainbow Quartz" is usually a crystal specimen that has been coated with an atomically thin layer of titanium. These are surface treatments and while permanent, flashy, and beautiful, they could be abraded off or scratched.
Sometimes it's difficult to know which is real quartz and which is not. But I always learn something new abotu stones.
I thought all the fruity quartzes are fakes. Thanks for the clarification!
Aqua aura quartz is THE gemstone sold on shopping TV atm. I always tried to find out what the coating is, because my nose told me that the stone must be treated (although it is beautiful). They never tell.
Same with turquoise sold at very low prices.
OK, forgot to post my two questions. What about pineapple quartz? Always glass or is there a quartz variety and which inclusions make it yellow?
Do you know something about orthoceras fossils? I have one, cut into a pendant, but couldn't find any good information. Thanks!
Actually, it depends: while volcano cherry quartz has become an accepted name for this lab-created stone and most people know by now that it's lab-created, it depends on where and how this stone was listed. eBay has a policy, which many ignore, forbidding the listing of manufactured stones along with mined stones. What's more, anyone listing a man-made stone is obligated to include that information in his/her listing. Having said that, I think a lot of sellers don't know the first rule about listing lab-created gems in another site. On the other hand, they all should know by now that they are obligated to disclose this fact, along with any treatment used to enhance natural stones. I'm on a tear with eBay right now regarding one of their vendors who has 120 complaints about fake stones being sold as real ones. I keep getting bounce back messages telling me their not reading my emails!
However, just being listed along with mined stones is not enough to bother me anymore, unless the vendor also fails to disclose it's man-made in the specifics of the listing. Having said all that, I have bought volcano cherry quarts and plan to buy more; some of them are gorgeous and, for costume jewelry, the price is right. However, I won't buy anything from anyone who lies about anything.
Oops . . . obviously *they're not reading them . . ." and, a tip to anyone buying gems on eBay, which I've done a lot of, read the feedback and don't stop at the negative ones. Many neutral and even some positive feedback will disclose that gems were fake were returned for refunds. The sellers sometimes extort revised feedback from buyers by threatening to withhold refunds (another complaint eBay is ignoring.) Because of that and because most buyers don't have their gems assessed, artificially inflating the positive feedback percentages,I usually won't buy from anyone with under 99.1% positive feedback.
I came across these cabochons listed as volcano cherry quartz.. are they glass?? I had never heard of them before.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/80065940/4-ct-2-natural-volcan-cherry-quartz-rose
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