Luriya - On Why You Should Be Wary of Jewelry Trading Scams
NEW YORK (PRWEB) June 14, 2018 -- Street ads, TV commercials, and even human billboards promise quick money for unwanted jewelry - but in reality, is your safety guaranteed with these types of transactions?
Jewelry is an understandably popular target for scammers. Although there are a lot of existing information available about avoiding scams - there are still a lot of other scams out there that are more intricate and subtle in nature that people fall for all the time. Luriya, a trusted jewelry buyer in New York City, shares its insights on how consumers can better protect themselves from the most common scams.
For almost three decades, Luriya has been synonymous with the jewelry industry. In this article, Luriya COO Mark Kandinov breaks down subtle scams that people should look out for when they buy or sell jewelry.
Clarifying Clarity
“Diamond clarity is all about inclusions – whether the diamond is clean or dirty,” says Kandinov. “Some diamond buyers in NYC – as well as diamond sellers – love to hinge their buy and sell offers on clarity because it’s easy to say that a diamond is dirty or clean to offer a low buying price or a high selling price. Since not everyone has the proper education to look at precious stones – people often fall for these types of scams. Having at least a bit of knowledge in the industry will definitely help you when selling diamonds."
Kandinov further breaks it down, saying inclusions are on a spectrum from being visible to the naked eye (I2 or I3) to being visible only under 10x magnification (VS1 or VS2) to being invisible under 10x magnification, thus, rendering the diamond flawless (F). Kandinov, however, warns that clarity is the least important characteristic of a diamond.
“Do not let buyers and sellers hinge their prices on clarity – keep them on their toes by saying that you know that clarity is the least important factor in determining a diamond’s worth. Be vigilant and be prepared to negotiate.”
Gold-Plated, Gold Schmlated
“Gold-plated jewelry is common and is easy for sellers to pass off as real gold,” says Kandinov. Kandinov then begins to demonstrate by taking out a black stone, a small dropper bottle of nitric acid, and a yellow gold ring. He lightly scratches the ring on the stone and leaves a straight, thin yellow line. Right next to it, he scratches the ring on the stone again – this time much harder – leaving a straight, thick yellow line. He then adds two drops of nitric acid to each line.
“Do you see how the first line remains and the second line disappears? That’s because the ring is gold-plated,” He says. “This is one of the easiest ways to test whether gold is real and its karat. The ring is plated in 14 karat gold; light scratching will only leave the gold on the stone. Scratch a little harder and you’ll get the base metal under all the gold. When buying gold – tell the jeweler to scratch harder to prove that the gold is real.
As a final warning, Kandinov describes the jewelry market in New York City as full of unscrupulous characters that prey on those that are not as well-versed in the industry. He adds that because of this, Luriya has established Havilah – an informative blog dedicated to educating customers about buying and selling jewelry in NYC and/or anywhere else in the world.
Let Luriya and its 25 years of experience help you in determining the price of your diamond. Visit http://www.luriya.com and schedule an appointment today.
Andro Yuson, Luriya, http://www.luriya.com, +1 (212) 256-0025, [email protected]
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