I trust it’s evident that I love what I do. Connecting people with top-quality astrological gemstones is a unique and rewarding line of work.

One of the not-so-fun parts of my job, however, is correcting false information about our customer’s purchases coming from well-meaning “experts” in the gemstone and jewelry business. In an attempt to help out (and occasionally in an attempt to sell something of their own), mistaken professionals do more harm than good when they incorrectly evaluate a rare and precious gem.

Some less experienced jewelers and appraisers will try to identify a gemstone with a digital gem tester, ignoring the visual authenticity queues that would make an ID obvious to anyone with enough years in the precious gemstone field. Gem testers are not always accurate, and as such should not be used as a sole means of identification. But this is just one example of how mistakes can be made by jewelers and local gemologists. We’ll review some others below.

“My jeweler said the stone I bought from you is fake!”

Late last year, a jeweler on the East Coast told our customer that the beautiful Colombian emerald she bought from us was “obviously grown in a lab.” He said it wasn’t possible for it to be natural because it didn’t have enough inclusions.

Shortly before that, another customer requested that her jeweler avoid heating her astrological blue sapphire when setting it into a ring, as her sapphire was unheated. He scoffed at her request, saying there’s “no such thing as an unheated sapphire. All sapphires are heated!”

Just last weekend, a gem dealer in Australia told our customer that the exquisite, eye-clean, vivid red Mozambique ruby she bought from us was clearly made of “reconstructed glass.”

A couple of years ago we sold a premium, 12-carat, untreated white sapphire of exceptional clarity to a lovely gentleman in the U.K. Jay described it as the best white sapphire of his career – it was a significant investment for all involved. Our customer took it to a well-known, high-end team of jewelers and gemologists in downtown London for a 3rd party evaluation. They viewed it under a microscope and, to our customer’s dismay, certified in writing that it was synthetic. We coordinated a second opinion from a reliable laboratory that tested it with the proper equipment, proving the stone was indeed natural and untreated. Fortunately the incorrect certificate was redacted by its writers and they gave our customer a refund and a sincere apology.

All of these “experts” were 100% wrong in their assessments. They also caused a lot of unnecessary stress for our customers.

What gives?

Quite simply, very few commercial jewelers or appraisers are familiar with the quality of gems that we carry. Misconceptions are born from a lack of education. In a strange way, even though it can be unsettling in the moment, it’s almost a compliment when these kinds of events happen. It shows exactly how rare our gemstones are that very few in the business have seen anything like them.

“My jeweler said that he can get the same thing for way less money!”

Another common scenario is that a jeweler will ask our customer how much they paid for a gem they purchased from us, then they will insist that the customer spent too much. Then they usually try to sell the customer on something from their stock, or if they don’t have it, they attempt to call in something similar with their own suppliers.

This situation is honestly more comical than it is alarming, as every time it has happened, the jeweler is unable to find anything even remotely similar to the quality we offer. If they were able to find it, I guarantee their cost would be higher than the wholesale prices we sell to our customers at, but despite the countless times this has occurred, not a single local jewelry shop has prevailed in matching our quality – much less our prices.

How to Identify a Great Jeweler

This is not to say that all jewelers are inexperienced. A fine jeweler with proper knowledge of the precious gemstone world will inspect a gem you purchased from us with the care and appreciation it deserves. They’ll honor your request to avoid heating the gemstone they’ll have the skills in place to do so. If they truly understand what they’re looking at, they’ll also be less likely to ask what you paid for the gem, unless they’re interested for their own knowledge of the market or for liability/insurance purposes.

You can tell a lot about a jeweler by how they relate to your gemstone. If they immediately cast doubts about it, or disrespect your requests to have it set according to Vedic tradition, I humbly suggest that you walk right out of their shop and never look back. Find someone else to work with or get in touch with us for proper astrological jewelry coordination.

If you find yourself in a situation where the authenticity of your gemstone is in question, review the gem’s laboratory certification or contact us immediately so we can help you coordinate reliable 3rd party verification.

It’s generally an unwise idea to take your Jyotish gemstone to the rock shop, commercial jewelry store, or local gemologist down the street for assessment or appraisal. It should be evaluated by someone with the appropriate laboratory equipment and experience to make an accurate judgment call on the information you’re requesting. GIA, AGL, or Stone Group Labs in the United States are the only three labs we believe are qualified to make authenticity judgment calls on the very rare quality of gems we sell.

And most importantly, above all else, don’t let false information affect your relationship with your gemstone! Rest assured, if you got it from us, you have the very best the world has to offer. Any properly qualified expert can verify that fact.

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Tiffany April Raines is the Head of Sales at Astrological Gem International. Trained at the American College of Vedic Astrology and certified as a gemstone advisor through the Planetary Gemologists Association, she has been serving the Vedic Astrology community with research-based gemstone insight and advice for over 10 years. She can be contacted at tiffany@astrologicalgem.com.

Please note: In order to provide the most time and best service possible for our paying customers, we are no longer able to respond to all of the requests we receive for gemstone recommendations. We welcome you instead to try our Free Gem Report if you are still in the learning and research phase of your Jyotish gemstone journey. This can be found at AstrologicalGem.com.