by Susie Rider

Created on: April 24, 2008

As both an avid purchaser of jewelry as well as a long-time amateur "beader," I definitely think that it is a jewelry designer's ethical responsibility to reveal whether or not a piece's gemstones are real or synthetic. However, since some people are less ethical than others - especially in commercial transactions - then I think that every designer should be legally required to divulge the grade and the authenticity of the gemstones used in her pieces. For the designer buying materials, the price differential between genuine and synthetic gemstones is large, even at wholesale prices. I know, because I've bought many strands of gemstones over the past sixteen years for personal use.

Thus, considering this difference in cost, apparently some sellers are tempted to sell a piece fashioned from "faux" gemstone at a genuine-stone price. Perhaps such designers hope that the customer will infer value from the piece's price, rather than actually question the authenticity of its component stones. Also, without a legal, binding declaration, some sellers are able to misrepresent items and when later called on it, say, "Oh, I didn't know for sure - I was told by the person I bought it from that it was." A required statement of authenticity would protect the buyer from getting "ripped-off" like this. Believe me: this kind of larceny is commonplace, as I know from personal experience.

Personally, all of my "rip-off" experiences occurred with jewelry purchases on e-Bay. Neither would have occurred had the sellers been required to reveal the genuineness of their articles. Had I been able to look at and touch the pieces - after years of beading and handling gemstones - I probably would have been able to discern that they were made from synthetic material. However, on e-Bay one must rely on the seller's honesty; on her photographs and her description of the item (which might omit inconvenient facts or written with deliberate vagueness). Since the sellers aren't required to be honest, some aren't. I ran into a couple of just such sellers.

In the first case, I bid and won what was allegedly a sterling silver and real turquoise necklace from a seller in China (BTW: beware of Chinese vendors if you shop on e-Bay). When I received it, I was dismayed to discover that it was silver-plated with plastic "stones." The photo of the necklace had been very misleading, as had been its written description. The turquoise stones were blatantly "faux," the color of blue raspberry-flavored bubble

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