Complaint Review: Gemselect - CHanthaburi Thailand, Internet

These is a bogus and fake Gemselect review. gemselect.com is a legit companie. We don't sale fake sapphire.

This is obviously a lie. Simple common sense-- A gem expert does not buy from internet. They know where are cheap stones and they buy and deal physically from there. And no rip-off companies respond to this web-site after complains.

A bought an emerald from GemSelect and it got lost in the mail and they refunded my money straight away. They have the best customer service, I sometimes rude with them on the phone but they still behaved politely with me. Before they were at US, now they shipped to Thailand.

All their stones have treatments displayed on the web. Infact, I learned about gems and treatments from them 4 yrs ago.

Some countries can't browse their web caz they don't ship goods over there.

ALL this proves that they are the BEST and Honest one in the market.

I can also state that the original complaint is more then likely correct! I investigate auction website and other Internet, as well as B&M, vendors in the gemstone and jewelry trade. I do so in order to run a list of safe, fraudulent, and limbo vendors in order to try and clean up this industry and gain back the trust of the consumer that has been lost/damaged/hurt by these unscrupulous vendors and TV shows. I have a full array of gemstone testing and metal testing equipment including start of the art electronic testers. I test stones using a Spectroscope, top of the line 3.5-95x Stereo Trinoc Zoom Microscope with lightfield and darkfield lighting, Refractometer, digital Reflectivity Meter, Chelsea Filter, Polariscope, Dichroscope, Mizar M24 Metal tester, metal acid test kit, Specific Gravity setup, top end 10x loupe, Darkfield loupe, LW/MW/SW UV light system, reference books on spectrums & inclusions, education in the proper use of the above equipment & Gemology, as well as a full start of the art photographic setup for the microscopic imaging of the gemstones including a color calibration device for my monitor and a camera with a special sensor to capture accurate colors. I have also been studying rocks & minerals(gemstones in the rough) and collecting them since I was about 4yrs old. So I have extensive hands on and in field experience as well as the education to back it up. I bought twice from SettGold(aka. Gemselect), two separate orders, totaling well over $100 each time. Here is a list of what I encountered with my orders: 1. The images they use are artificially enhanced using image editing software to make the gemstones look far better then they are in person. They are anything but an accurate representation of the product being sold. 2. The sapphires sold as natural untreated or heated only were in FACT diffusion treated and/or Be Treated. 3. The rubies purchased were disclosed as heat only, but they were in fact fracture filled with glass. They were also actually more glass then they were corundum(what a ruby is). They were so much glass they should have been sold as a composite stone! 4. One of the quartz pieces was actually synthetic! Which was quite obvious by the tell tale trail of "breadcrumbs" observed under magnification! 5. A garnet purchased as a red colored spessartite was nothing of the such. It was actually your run of the mill pyrope-almandine(easily proven by RI and Spectrum) blend, albeit it was a nice stone, I will give them credit there. Nice cut and above average commercial polish. But not worth what was paid because it was NOT a spessartite as advertised. 6. Red spinels purchased test out in the RI of synthetic material. Under magnification there are NO inclusions present to be able to ID them as natural or synthetic. A Lab report would be needed to be 100% positive either way. But they are right in the range for synthetic spinel with their refractive index. Being only 5mm in size they are NOT worth a lab report. 7. All gemstones, except for the quartz and garnet, were poorly cut and/or polished. They all contained black/dead spots, large windows, fractures, wheel marks, etc. 8. The color and saturation of color were misrepresented by the images and in person were nothing like the pictures on ANY of the gemstones. 9. When emailed about the discrepancies with the treatments I received no answers. 10. Irradiated Imperial Topaz sold as untreated. 11. White and yellow "fire" opals that were cut and sold before allowing the rough to settle/season/dry. This allows for greater carat weight of finished stones and also little to no waste of material. This is bad because the material is dug from deeper in the ground and needs a few years to dry out/season. If not allowed to do so the material will cloud over, become opaque, and craze/crack/fracture. Every opal bought from them did this after approximately 2-6mths! Sadly, in the process of testing the stones I lost track of the time, and my window to file a PayPal claim expired. But oh well, this way I have the stones for proof/evidence anyways. :). If you check their current auctions for Rubies closely you can see the air bubbles and also flow lines on the surface reflections of the table and some facets. These are both tell tale inclusions/signs of fracture filling/clarity enhancement/glass filling! They have gotten a little better as now they list their star sapphires as diffused, before they sold them as untreated, back when we bought from them. They also now sell the Andesine as diffused, but they still fudge the origins as it does NOT come from the Congo, but instead China/Tibet/Mexico. As for the person stating it is impossible to identify synthetic quartz, it is not at all. Difficult yes, but not impossible. For a standard Gemologist or Jeweler it is impossible unless they find a seed plane or tell tale trail of "breadcrumbs", then it is a quick and easy ID of hydrothermally grown synthetic quartz. As for this comment: "Secondly,rubies...there are commonly treated:diffused,oiled, heated,glass filled. Prior of buying any of that stuff you need to ask questions what kind of treatment was used " One should NOT have to ask! If selling to a USA customer it is against FTC Guidelines for the sale of gemstones and precious metals not to disclose any and all known treatments! While it is good practice to ask, the consumer should NOT have to ask as the vendor should be listing them at the time of sale, regardless if they are common treatments or not! Why, a perfect example, a natural heated ruby can sell for $1000's or $10,000's per carat while a glass filled ruby can be bough for anywhere from $4-$25/ct retail. Treatments can and do seriously impact the value of a gemstone! As for this comment: "The jeweler advised it would be too expensive to create the gemstones in a lab and not worth the effort. The gems" Total load of bull! If this is true, that jeweler should be out of business and/or avoided at all costs! Lab created quartz products, hydrothermally grown, is as common as driveway gravel and fairly inexpensive to produce as well! The material can be purchased in the rough for a mere few cents per carat! Hardly expensive! I just bought a 100ct. hunk of blue hydrothermal quartz for $4US, lol, yep, super expensive! Much cheaper then natural quartz! Also, FYI, lemon quartz/citrine is irradiated to achieve the color, it is NOT natural!

I have purchased gemstones from Gemselect (Citrine and Amethyst)which were tested and verified authentic. The jeweler advised it would be too expensive to create the gemstones in a lab and not worth the effort. The gems I purchased were valued at much more than what I paid and I intend on purchasing more. Very happy with their products and service.

Hi, I would like to raw your attention that if you buy stones you need a basic knowledge yourself. Please let me introduce myself: I am gemmologist -FGA, also know market prices and have a full knowledge about gemstones. First of all,I buy on internet sometimes from many companies including SETTGOLD. It was a big surprise for me to see that your jeweller said that all amethysts and citrines are synthetic.No doubt,90% of current market of quartz is synthetic matherial. But.....it is almost impossible not only for jeweller but also for most laboratories to say wheretere quartz synthetic or not. To my knowledge,only few labs in the world could do that job with the use of infrared spectrum. The price of such test could be between 250-350 euros.... Therefore,it is a speculation of your jeweller that it is synthetic....probably he wants you buy the stones directly from him so he can make profit.... Secondly,rubies...there are commonly treated:diffused,oiled, heated,glass filled. Prior of buying any of that stuff you need to ask questions what kind of treatment was used and if you really in doubt,please ask them to provide a certificate from the laboratory and send it with the stone. There is GIA lab in Bangkok that can do that job. Irina Shpartova, FGA,AJP

We have searched our database and have no record of a customer for GemSelect named Marisa in New Jersey, USA. We suspect this is a case of a jealous competitor attempting to damage our business. That's an unfortunate problem with consumer complaint sites. If Marisa is a real customer, she would know that the payment methods we accept -- PayPal and major credit cards -- offer full consumer protection in the event of any problems. If Marisa is a real customer, we ask her to post detailed information about her transaction, such as the date of purchase and the ID numbers of the gemstones she bought. GemSelect [email protected] http://www.gemselect.com

We have searched our database and have no record of a customer for GemSelect named Marisa in New Jersey, USA. We suspect this is a case of a jealous competitor attempting to damage our business. That's an unfortunate problem with consumer complaint sites. If Marisa is a real customer, she would know that the payment methods we accept -- PayPal and major credit cards -- offer full consumer protection in the event of any problems. If Marisa is a real customer, we ask her to post detailed information about her transaction, such as the date of purchase and the ID numbers of the gemstones she bought. GemSelect [email protected] http://www.gemselect.com

We have searched our database and have no record of a customer for GemSelect named Marisa in New Jersey, USA. We suspect this is a case of a jealous competitor attempting to damage our business. That's an unfortunate problem with consumer complaint sites. If Marisa is a real customer, she would know that the payment methods we accept -- PayPal and major credit cards -- offer full consumer protection in the event of any problems. If Marisa is a real customer, we ask her to post detailed information about her transaction, such as the date of purchase and the ID numbers of the gemstones she bought. GemSelect [email protected] http://www.gemselect.com

We have searched our database and have no record of a customer for GemSelect named Marisa in New Jersey, USA. We suspect this is a case of a jealous competitor attempting to damage our business. That's an unfortunate problem with consumer complaint sites. If Marisa is a real customer, she would know that the payment methods we accept -- PayPal and major credit cards -- offer full consumer protection in the event of any problems. If Marisa is a real customer, we ask her to post detailed information about her transaction, such as the date of purchase and the ID numbers of the gemstones she bought. GemSelect [email protected] http://www.gemselect.com