Bead Grading/ A Rat with a Gold Tooth

[carat-top]

"A rat with a gold tooth is but a rat and chocolate-covered cheese is still cheese.”

You know what I mean…the all too familiar, some ignorant peddler verbally dressing up a thing otherwise undeserving.

Much consideration is given to the practice of honest disclosure in gemstone treatments; however, I would like to take a moment to address the issue of honest grading practices and selling tactics in written descriptions, especially when it concerns gemstone beads.

Sometimes I get the impression that gemstone beads are a product that is largely dismissed by our industry professionals. I wonder why? Gemstone beads are gemstones, except they have holes for stringing. And not unlike gemstones used for mounting in fine jewelry, the quality of bead material can range from (to quote my gemmo buddy Lee) “frozen spit” to OMG-gorgeous!  And just like faceted stones for mounting, beads deserve professional handling, honest disclosure, governing by industry leaders and a watchful eye by those who care.

I care. It is disturbing to see the public so “mesmerized by the gold tooth” that they can’t “smell the rat”! I sell gemstone beads and I am surrounded by an infestation of “rats with gold teeth”.  There is a plethora of unprofessional people selling gemstone beads on the Internet and they are running amuck unchecked. I prefer to call them peddlers because I assume most of them have no formal training, no licensing, no credentials, no permits, no ethics and no loyalty to the industry. What they do have is a “mouthful of gold teeth” and they wield it with no regard to ethical consideration or awareness of their systematic destruction of consumer trust.

Apart from any lack of standard fact-based disclosures in a written description, of all misleading undeserving claims and language carnage issued by dirty rats, the five that rank highest on my “dirty-rat-o-meter” are:

________________________________________

Undeserving Inflated Titles   
#1. Museum Grade/Quality   
#2. Rare   
#3. Weighty Names e.g. Padparadscha, Paraiba, etc.   
#4. Gem Grade/Quality   
#5. Natural   

Unfair Selling Tactics
#1. Pricing trickery
#2. A call for urgency
#3. Misnomers (not to be confused with acceptable trade names)
#4. Alluding (verbal alluding to create a false sense of grandeur, including over use of special characters; e.g. many exclamation marks etc.)
#5. Poetic license; i.e. general use of “golden words” that imply an idea of grandeur with no regard to that which is logical & factual.
________________________________________


The following is a real claim made by an Internet seller. We are all painfully aware of a similar scenario with cut gems but here it is in bead form:

“LAST STRAND---BACK IN STOCK---1/2 STRAND--- Mystic Topaz Faceted Briolette---MUSEUM QUALITY STONES---REDUCED FROM 75.33--68.66
You will receive 1/2 strand of the very finest super gem quality Mystic Topaz faceted Pear Briolette...Briolettes average 10x8-11x8mm with a total weight of 76 carats per 1/2 strand..
**AAA STONES ARE ALL NATURAL TOPAZ NOT QUARTZ**
**Perfect For your high end projects***”

This peddler violates just about all my pet peeves in one ad but the undeserving claim of being rated museum quality is the chocolate on the cheese that most makes me “blow my carat-top”.  Apparently, this rat has not seen world-class gemstones in any museum other than maybe one called “The www. Museum of Bombastic Gemstone Sermons & Other Rat Crap”.

The frustrating notion is that these peddlers are not likely to change. They have very little to loose and much to gain. They are perfectly content being “fat rats in chocolate-covered cheese factories”. I’m finding that it does little good bringing it to the attention of the fat rat, that he should consider a strict diet. Instead, I propose to help enlighten the bead-buying consumer for they have everything to loose.

If you are a consumer, a beadsmith, a purchasing agent for a bead shop, an Internet bead venue, a bead peddler who has the desire to conform, or simply all “strung-out” on beads follow the following link for a free bead grading tutorial and free yourself from the rattrap!

http://gemstonebeadodyssey.webs.com/freetutorials.htm

[Astynax]

Yes indeed!

There are still craftspeople who carefully select and cut high quality gemstone beads.

But the ropes of low-quality, highly treated (if they are even stone), color-enhanced, deceptively labeled (lots of enhanced materials posing as something else), stuff sold at shows and online really debase values across the board. Very sad, and analogous to what is happening throughout the colored gem world.

The difference between the high-quality beads and what passes for gem material elsewhere is like night and day.

[Squeaky]

Did I miss disclosure as 'coated' in that real description?  'Mystic Topaz' is coated.  ANOTHER peeve to add to the list.  I have red headed mother, a son and several grandkids so it's definitely in my blood - I steam right with you...I LOVE your analogy.

[mehoose]

This is definitely an area that should be looked at and sorted.
I agree with you carat-top on all counts bar one.
I still say Keep em comin!!!   

[Gimmejewels]

I remember having this discussion somewhere else, and we looked closely at the FTC guides and found that, once a stone has a hole in it, it becomes a bead and is therefore not subject to disclosure.   This type of education will do more good than anything the FTC guides could, anyway.

[Lee Little]

Hey girl,
Great bead tutorial!
You are correct in your direction, you cannot change the rats but you can educate consumers. When people realize the differences then they can really appreciate it. Keep up the good work! See ya, Lee

[Jamey S.]

EXCELLENT JOB!!! Thank you for taking your time to write this tutorial. I made it Sticky so it will be in bold and remain at the top. .

In my opinion, gemstone beads need to be under the same rules as any other gemstone if they want to market them as anything other then craft beads!! If they call them gemstones, gems, precious, semi-precious, use any known gemstone names, and/or are known gemstone materials being used then they ARE, after all, gemstones!

P.S. I also added it to the Main Website's "Site Links" as well. Again, thank you and kudos!!

[carat-top]

In my opinion, gemstone beads need to be under the same rules as any other gemstone if they want to market them as anything other then craft beads!! If they call them gemstones, gems, precious, semi-precious, use any known gemstone names, and/or are known gemstone materials being used then they ARE, after all, gemstones!

You are so right on! EXACTLY put! I doff my hat to you and cheers around the meeting of the gem table!

[carat-top]

Just an update. A new free tutorial has been added as part 2 of the original bead grading tutorial. The subject matter concerns design concepts/elegant draping. Take a peek if you are into beading or bead making. Cheers all!

http://gemstonebeadodyssey.webs.com/freetutorials.htm

[juliebeth]

carat-top, i see why you have the great tutorials award!  these are great, thanks!

(and ugh, yes, i hate all the crap sold as gemstone beads out there.  if it were just sold as crap, that would be fine.  but don't lie to me about it!  yeesh.)