I just am wondering if this $1,000,000 in gems is the retail value or the wholesale value? There is a big difference. Also, are these diamonds paragons or your run of the mill H I or J (or worse) color diamonds under a carat? What is the average clarity of these diamonds? What is the quality of the emeralds? Are they heavily included and/or opaque or do they have just enough inclusions to know they are not fake? (I would be suspect if they were near perfect since that would indicate lab created.) Are they from Columbia, Brazil or Namibia?
I pray there is more to this $1,000,000 collections than what is pictured in the OP. Although these stones look nice, I wouldn't call them "investment grade." In fact a couple of the diamonds are a faint yellow, not dark enough to be considered fancy. The black diamond is irradiated and doesn't impress me at all. The emeralds up for grabs are rather small, but for a retail value of $170.00, that is expected. Are the red stones pictured rubies? They look rather big so I strongly suspect they are fissure filled...
Furthermore, what other stones will be available? Will there be fine rubellite and Paraiba tourmaline. The tourmaline market is hot right now. How about some Russian demantoid garnet? Any Lightning Ridge Black Opal?
Hello and Welcome to the BitStone Pre-Ann. Sounds like you know a few things about the trade, and thats music to our ears. I figured there would be a few people that would actually like to talk stones.
Thanks for your questions and allow me to address some of your concerns.
I have the ability to supply just about any stone, I am offering the more common stuff in the beginning. The gems in those pictures are not $1 million worth. Most are in a safe and I took out a variety to photograph, which are being returned to the safe on Monday and additional diamonds and gems will be taken out to photograph and the pics uploaded on Tuesday.
If you are looking for paragons, I will be happy to supply as many as you need and at any size. The problem, as I am sure you are aware, is that most people will not spend that kind of money. There will be some incredibly nice stones as well as some of the less expensive stones. As for the fancy stones, I am not big on them but have a few misc. ones around. The only person that likes that little black diamond is my 19 y/o son and I may give it to him- lol. All the emeralds I have and get are from Columbia, typically Muzo. Again, I have some very clean emeralds, but the day I see a natural flawless emerald I will run away as quickly as possibly.
Lastly, I have access to the best opal through an acquaintance that deals exclusively in opal, but it isn't my thing and I currently do not have any but if a person wants it I will be happy to acquire it for them. Tourmaline, like Opal, is not something I typically purchase but I agree with you that it is hot. I personally do not want to invest that kind of money in a stone I am not interested in collecting. What I have seen on the wholesale side is that Paraiba tourmaline in an "investment grade" or Fine grade is running $8-12,000/ct in the carat size and up to $20,000-25,000/ct in the best stuff.
I think your questions are valid, and as the price of BitStone increases, so will the percentage of higher quality gems. If a gem cost $10,000 and the price of BST is $0.50 then it will take a huge chunk of BST to purchase the stone. I will have a variety of less expensive to investment grade stones available at all times in the store.
If you have any further questions or concerns, don't hesitate to post here or PM me so I can give you my cell # and we can talk further.
