GETTING WHAT YOU PAY FOR

GEMS

Before buying any jewelry with gems, you want to read Chapters 3 and 4 carefully. Familiarize yourself with the various term used and with the various gems. Most important, check over - terms used for substitute gems, especially those of any gems in which you might be interested. Although no reliable or reputable jewelry would knowingly pass off one gem for another, if you are going shop around you're going to have to expect to run into jewelers who may be less fussy.

Keep in mind that you cannot always tell what a gem is by looking at it. Emeralds are green. So are tourmalines-and that name itself comes from the Singhalese word for mixed gems. Smoky quart can outwardly resemble the more precious smoky topaz. Then, there are the gems of which few consumers have heard, like spinel. There is no rule of thumb of what you can expect to pay. Any price list today is out of date before it is printed. The only way you .

Can tell what is a fair price is to ask jewelers. If you don't have a regular jeweler whom you trust, it is even more important to shop around and check the prices of particular gems. If you want a smoky topaz, look at smoky topazes in as many stores as possible to get a general idea of the current price, although prices will vary with size and quality as well as setting. Still, you can get a fair idea of a fair -and of what you want-by looking at as many smoky topazes, or other gems, as possible.

Although the terms "precious" and "semiprecious" have little meaning as the prices of all jewelry increase, the less expensive gems are probably safer buys from the point of view that there is less -on for anyone to try to sell a gem that isn't what it is supposed e. However, some inexpensive gems, such as turquoise and on, can have nature improved on by various kinds of treatment, spinel and garnet can be synthetic.

Another problem in buying jewelry with gems is that the gems are already set. Once a gem is in its setting, you may not be able to the inclusions-nor may an appraiser-because the setting can hide them. A setting can also make up for imperfect cutting. That doesn’t mean you should buy only unset gems. The average person re as taken in by unset gems as by set ones. It does mean that e you buy can be more important than how to buy.