I would NEVER trust a gem seller who never responds to inquiries.
I contacted a couple of gemstone sellers for a buyer I had. This seller (tiptopgemdotcom) will not respond to ANY inquiries. Total flake. I contacted him by email through his paragonuniversaltrade website, through his ebay email, through his facebook, through his tiptopgem email, through his blog - but it was impossible to get a response from this flake. I also called. The phone number he provides will not accept calls from non-US numbers.
Stay clear. Don't get scammed by these people. Go to authentic sellers.
Topic: Magnificent and RARE garnet from Taita-Taveta Kenya 3.04 carats (Read 5244 times)
September 13, 2014, 06:34:52 AM
Bitcoin is very valuable and that's why we always encourage gemstone buyers to get an independent laboratory report. If you are going to spend bitcoin you don't want to buy a piece of glass, or some synthetic material (hydrothermally grown emerald is EXTREMELY convincing). You want to get value for your coins. Top quality gemstones never go out of style. They are as prized today as they were at least 6,000 years ago. We even have evidence of heat treatment by the ancient Egyptians. They heated amethyst in the fire to make citrine.
September 13, 2014, 06:07:41 AM
A lot of gemstone companies these days are offering bogus certificates. Don't fall for it!!!
You are better off getting a serious, independent assessment of your gemstone by an independent laboratory. Because the gemstone trade is so important here, there are many labs to choose from. We have very highly regarded labs that use sophisticated gemological science and also well-trained, critically thinking gemologists. Bangkok has the best. Everyone from GIA to GRS (Swisslab) run by the world-renowned Dr. Peretti to Tokyo Gem Lab and GIT, AIGS (one of the most famous gemological teaching centers in the world) all run a very sophisticated laboratory with every instrument imaginable to help their gemologists describe the stone with extraordinary accuracy. Cost of the reports vary, sometimes wildly so ask me if you want to know cost on these.
Also look at the professional associations that your gemstone dealer is affiliated with. We are proud members of the Jeweler's Ethics Association, and we strive to describe every stone with a great deal of accuracy. We know that treatments need to be disclosed and whether it is an emerald or a ruby or a sapphire, we tell you what treatments they have undergone when we offer a gemstone for sale.
You are better off getting a serious, independent assessment of your gemstone by an independent laboratory. Because the gemstone trade is so important here, there are many labs to choose from. We have very highly regarded labs that use sophisticated gemological science and also well-trained, critically thinking gemologists. Bangkok has the best. Everyone from GIA to GRS (Swisslab) run by the world-renowned Dr. Peretti to Tokyo Gem Lab and GIT, AIGS (one of the most famous gemological teaching centers in the world) all run a very sophisticated laboratory with every instrument imaginable to help their gemologists describe the stone with extraordinary accuracy. Cost of the reports vary, sometimes wildly so ask me if you want to know cost on these.
Also look at the professional associations that your gemstone dealer is affiliated with. We are proud members of the Jeweler's Ethics Association, and we strive to describe every stone with a great deal of accuracy. We know that treatments need to be disclosed and whether it is an emerald or a ruby or a sapphire, we tell you what treatments they have undergone when we offer a gemstone for sale.
September 13, 2014, 05:51:58 AM
We also sold a magnificent quality emerald lately. This is the Zambian material that is treated only with colorless oil, so it is highly prized in the trade. All I could manage was a cell pic but it isn't a bad image, it just doesn't show how clear the stone is in real life. Because the clarity is so high, you see detailed brilliance. The color is amazing, and this material is extremely competitively priced if you have shopped Colombian stones. With vanadium as the coloring agent, instead of Colombian emerald which is colored by chromium, the color is a vivid, striking slightly bluish-Green.
My wife and I have a brand new office, and are transitioning from being "Tip Top Gem", as so many people knew us, to Paragon Universal Trade Co., Ltd, which is our newly established office in the gemstone district in Silom. Looking across from the 8th floor where my office is, you can see this view of the 67-story Jewelry Trade Center, the epicenter of the world's gemstone trade. I am a 60-second walk to the trade center.
This is my darling, the CEO, at her desk.
My wife and I have a brand new office, and are transitioning from being "Tip Top Gem", as so many people knew us, to Paragon Universal Trade Co., Ltd, which is our newly established office in the gemstone district in Silom. Looking across from the 8th floor where my office is, you can see this view of the 67-story Jewelry Trade Center, the epicenter of the world's gemstone trade. I am a 60-second walk to the trade center.
This is my darling, the CEO, at her desk.
September 13, 2014, 05:34:11 AM
Also just sold a pigeon's blood ruby lately with an independent laboratory report stating pigeon's blood color.
The photo above does the stone no justice. it is one of the purest reds i've ever seen. Just extraordinarily vivid.
The photo above does the stone no justice. it is one of the purest reds i've ever seen. Just extraordinarily vivid.
September 13, 2014, 05:25:07 AM
I just sold this magnificent blue sapphire of 2.5+ carats to a gentleman in the West:
September 13, 2014, 05:23:31 AM
We have both unheated and heated blue sapphire now.
Do you still have any blue sapphires for sale?
Selling more stones?
SOLD!
$130 plus shipping.
Clarity and Saturation?
This gemstone is eye-clean; there are some minor inclusions that are visible at 10X magnification. It is intensely saturated! The color is very vivid.
February 25, 2014, 01:14:18 PM
Clarity and Saturation?
February 25, 2014, 01:06:31 PM
$135 for the garnet. Just add $10 for registered mail with online tracking.
February 21, 2014, 05:40:05 AM
I have been making custom jewelry for over ten years and I am also a GIA Graduate Gemologist. Ask me anything.
February 18, 2014, 08:24:24 AM
I have a lot more stones on my facebook. I will give you all a link here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152018217409370.1073741832.523524369&type=1&l=9401f989e5
Prices and dimensions on any of those stones available by request!
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152018217409370.1073741832.523524369&type=1&l=9401f989e5
Prices and dimensions on any of those stones available by request!
February 18, 2014, 07:43:36 AM
I am a little bit slow on the draw; sorry about that. Let me give you exact dimensions.
8.91 x 8.97 x 5.55mm deep. At over three carats this is quite a large stone.
8.91 x 8.97 x 5.55mm deep. At over three carats this is quite a large stone.
February 17, 2014, 08:51:30 AM
That is one nice stone. Looks like the Eye of Sauron! 
Seriously, I'm considering buying, but would also like an idea of scale.
Rit/
Seriously, I'm considering buying, but would also like an idea of scale.
Rit/
February 17, 2014, 01:07:49 AM
I would also like a penny for scale.
February 15, 2014, 05:49:57 AM
Banana (or penny) for scale?
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