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Comment by gwd | Hacker News Reader

I had initially intended on getting a synthetic sapphire for my wife as an engagement ring; but the thing is, I couldn't really find an easy way to get an artificial sapphire -- or any sapphire really -- which I knew was good quality, in a good setting. Diamonds have an entire system around rating every aspect of them: the clarity, the cut, even the fluorescence. In the end, I figured knowing exactly what I was going to get trumped paying for something of whose idea I had no quality. (I bought one with extra high flourescence, and a hand-held blacklight to test it.)

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>> Diamonds have an entire system around rating every aspect of them: the clarity, the cut, even the fluorescence.

I know where you're going with this and agree to some extent, but this ratings system is entirely fraudulent and propagates the myth that there is some secondary market for gems that backs the value of the jewelry - when there absolutely is not. Ask any pawn store broker.

The rating system is not at all fraudulent if done by one of the three biggest labs: GIA, AGSL, and IGI.

The appraisal system is often massively overinflated, however.

You won't receive anywhere close to what you paid for, much less the the overly inflated appraisal that you got, on the secondary market. Rule of thumb is maybe 30% or less if you bought it from a mall store. But there is a thriving second hand market.

I knew that there was no secondary market for diamonds. The only place I'm "going" is that I knew what I was going to get.

I would gladly have paid the same price for an artificial sapphire in a platinum setting, with similar certifications. But first of all, I couldn't find anywhere that would sell me artificial sapphires in a precious metal setting. Secondly, I couldn't find anywhere that even described with some level of accuracy anything about the sapphires (artificial or not)-- exactly what color? Exactly what size / cut? Exactly what level of clarity? Just fuzzy descriptions about how beautiful the stone is. Sorry, not going to drop $1000 on your assertion that this blue rock is "gorgeous".

The certification said the stone was X size, Y clarity, Z color, and had a really high fluorescence; and what I got was a stone of X size, Y clarity, Z color, and a high fluorescence. It may be a racket, but it's a well-oiled one.

There absolutely is a reason for these “ratings” (characteristics is a better term). They separate our differenr stones that let buyers know what they’re buying. When you’re spending $100M on rough stones, you want to know what you’re buying. As an anecdote, the prized characteristics are different in the world. In the US size matters. In Japan, clarity matters. In a China, color matters.

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