Our client sadly thought this family heirloom .96 ct. Old European cut diamond had little or no value– after years of wear, it had been cherished almost to death and looked like it had been through the garbage disposal. Mardon to the rescue! A close inspection in our gemological microscope revealed that while the [...]
This headline caught my eye in a recent email– the answer to this trick question is anyone! A newsletter by an insurance industry organization highlighted the fact that there are no federal or other governmental bodies setting qualifications for who may be a jeweler or a jewelry appraiser. A study by a related group also [...]
We just appraised this beautiful bright yellow ~2 ct. round diamond for a client. She had inherited the stone, which was accompanied by an appraisal from a gemologist which described it as a “Canary Yellow” diamond, which implied but didn’t state specifically that the stone was natural-color. Our client said the diamond had originally been [...]
These days, we buy a lot of jewelry, used as well as new. Today, I worked with a young lady, a bit down on her luck and on the rebound from a relationship that didn’t work out. She was looking to sell her white gold solitaire ring that was set with the one carat round [...]
This tale of woe illustrates some of the risks and challenges we jewelers face in our fascinating business. Last year, I had seen this lovely and large reddish purple tourmaline several times. Gem dealer Jack had tried mightily to tempt me with it, an unheated stone from the country of Mozambique in East Africa, an [...]
Our old friend and former colleague at GIA, Gary Roskin, has published an absolutely fascinating account of a major event at the pinnacle of the gem world. Under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institute, the most famous of all gems, the Hope Diamond, was brought together for the first time with the Wittelsbach Blue, now [...]
We thought this would be a great post the week before Father’s Day. Often at Mardon Jewelers, we’re asked to perform an expert service by a client. Such was the case recently when we restored the ring that originally belonged to Robert M. Shipley, the founder of GIA. Early in his career, Mr. Shipley realized [...]
A couple of weeks ago, I did a gemological consultation for a young man who had purchased a diamond solitaire from a diamond merchant’s Ebay site. He was able to win a diamond auction and wanted my opinion of the stone. I looked over the stone first before asking him about the price paid, the [...]
We posted this about a year ago–with the tough economy, this insider information is more pertinent than ever, so we’ve tweaked the original blog a bit–here it is again. In their quest for the best value, consumers looking to buy a diamond often make the mistake of giving equal weight to diamond grading certificates. Diamond [...]
As promised, here’s a story that should get some chuckles– it’s an episode that turned out to be a long and winding road, so typical of the gemstone and jewelry business. Several months ago, I was contacted by a gentleman residing in London, England. He was impressed by my series of blogs about Pigeon’s Blood [...]
