On August 10th, 2010 02:01 a visitor came here looking for "loose gemstone buyers" and that person was viewing the following page:

7x5mm Oval Apatite Loose Gemstone - Loose Gemstones
This brilliant oval-cut apatite gemstone, mined in Brazil, will make a stunning focal point for a special piece of jewelry. The 5x7mm stone has a weig ...

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1. Choose from 4 different modes: Carat (ct), Gram (g), Ounce (oz), Grain (gn)
2. Flip-Open cover protects STAINLESS STEEL weighing platform when scale is not in use
3. Bright blue LCD Display makes it very easy to read
4. 2 "AAA" batteries included, PLUS 2 FREE fifty(50) gram calibration weights!

Editorial Review :

Great for weighing diamonds & gemstones, gold, silver, rocks, fossils, other specimens, gunpowder & bullets, coin currency, dietary supplements, medicines, cosmetics, and more!

Customer Review :

Great item NEED to buy

This is a great item that all gemstone collector have to have. It will tell you detail the weight of your gems. You won't be regret to have it.

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works as advertised

received order really quick and worked perfectly out of the box. great deal and awesome scale for the price.

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Portable and Accurate Jewelry Scale. A Good Value for a Modest Price.

DigiWeigh's DW-100AS Digital Jewelry Scale is a convenient and inexpensive option if you need a portable scale or don't weigh jewelry often enough to justify the cost and size of a top-quality scale. The external dimensions of the scale are 3" x 5" x 11/16" (128 x 78 x 18mm), and the scale is nicely protected inside the case, which is made of matte silver-colored plastic. It takes 2 AAA batteries (included). The DW-100AS has a 100 gram capacity and is accurate to 0.01 grams. Using the "mode" button, you can choose to weigh in grams, ounces, grains, or carats. The capacity in carats is 500ct, accurate to 0.05ct. The scale comes calibrated from the factory, but mine was about 0.07 grams off when I got it. Calibrating it was easy using the two 50-gram weights that are provided.

Instructions for operation, calibration, and the tare function are provided inside the lid of the scale for easy reference (though they are in a very small font). The tare function allows you to weigh your container first and then discount the weight of the container to weigh only its contents. This scale does not have the sturdiest housing, and the battery compartment can be difficult to open, but I have found it to be consistent and accurate. It's a good value for the price, a nice compact scale for home use and convenient to take along if you are shopping for gold or gems. I've been pleased with it. If you prefer a scale that allows you to use the cover as a tray for weighing, try the DW-100AX. The DW-100AS has a limited factory-direct lifetime warranty, so, if there is a problem, you can take it up with DigiWeigh directly via their web site.

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Editorial Review :

The world standard is back by popular demand! This completely revised, updated and expanded version of Dr. Downing's 1992 Opal Identification and Value is a "must have" for all appraisers, opal buyers and opal lovers. Learn to properly identify opals from all over the world. Many new locations have been added along with new methodology to determine the characteristics that affect value, then determine price from updated value tables. Ascertain if the opal is a natural solid, boulder, doublet, triplet, dyed or lab-created. Be able to ask definitive questions when considering an opal. Learn what to look for in properly set jewelry. Become a confident buyer, seller or appraiser by distinguishing an ordinary opal from an outstanding one.

Customer Review :

Best Opal Book ever

If you ever wanted to know about Opals, this is the book for you. It is rather pricey and is never sold used. That should tell you something.

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Great information, wonderful photos

This book answers all the who, what, when, where and how's of opals, directly, with fantastic photos to illustrate the information.

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Opal cutting basics

A nice book but half of it is not really about opal cutting - 40% is padded out with stone setting, a skill the author admits he is limited in, this is the second in the two titles of a similar name and has a fair mount of waffle, its got some good bits but certainly not as good as I would have hoped for.
The two books should have been combined into one, the author seems to have padded the subject out into two books.

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Opal Identification & Value (Rocks, Minerals and Gemstones)

While visiting Australia, I fell in love with precious opal and purchased a few pieces of jewelry and some loose gemstones for my collection. Although I was able to find basic information on evaluating and grading precious opal on the World Wide Web, I was frustrated by the lack of comprehensive content on this subject, that is, until I found this opus written by Dr Paul Downing.

This book is perhaps the only comprehensive printed resource on evaluating and valuing precious opal gemstones. In addition, the book contains a large number of beautiful, full-color photos of all types of opals including loose gemstones, gemstones set in jewelry, examples of the various types of opals and opal carvings.

About 90 percent of all opal is mined from Australia and accordingly the majority of this marvelous book focuses on Australian precious opal.

Below is a chapter-by-chapter summary of the text.

CHAPTERS 1 - 4 provide a general background of opals; its history, where they are sourced, the different cuts, early myths, the types of opals and how to distinguish between natural vs synethetic, simulated or dyed opals.

CHAPTERS 5 - 10 go into detail on how to evaluate six attributes used to determine precious opal value.

CHAPTERS 11 & 17 provide invaluable details on opal jewelry and how to evaluate opal jewelry, e.g., the different types (custom designs vs. mass produced) and determining whether it is properly designed to protect the opal.

CHAPTERS 12 - 14 discuss the methodology on pricing various opal types and offers a step-by-step process for filling out the evaluation forms (invaluable information for an amateur collector such as myself).

CHAPTERS 15 & 16 discuss opals mined from locations other than Australia and their particular characteristics.

CHAPTER 18 goes over other types of collectible opal--fossils formed from opal, opal carvings (which are different from opal gemstones)-- and "collectible opal" or in other words, uniques pieces of opal that are sought after by collectors.

CHAPTER 19 discusses how to buy precious opal.

Sorry for the length of the review. I tried breaking the text into bite-sized segments for easy consumption.

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This Book is a Must Have!!

Since I was in the market for a "real" black opal, and knew absolutely nothing about them, I purchased this book. It is very informative, giving tips on what to look for and what to avoid in opal buying. It does get somewhat technical at times, as the author himself states, but I learned more than I ever thought possible from this book. I am very glad I added it to my library, and highly recommend it for anyone interested in different kinds of opals. The differences are explained very well, which is exactly the information I needed to learn. The pictures alone are worth the price of the book!!

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More reviews...

Editorial Review :

The overall format of previous editions has been maintained and new information has been incorporated in a similar style. This edition has two new chapters, on the manufacture and enhancement of gemstones and the old chapter on the detection of synthetic, imitation and composite stones has been rearranged. In the past decade the development of new synthetics has proceeded apace. Nowadays clean rubies and emeralds need very careful investigation since they could be natural or synthetic. However careful use of the microscope can still elucidate many problems and new instruments are shown in the text.

Customer Review :

Gem Testing is a must-have.

All rock hounds and pebble pups should get this book. Often helps in the field.

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Gem Testing

This was my first purchase from Amazon & it has been a terrible experience.
The book that was advertised was not the book I received. It took a week for the seller to reply to my email saying that it was not correct and it has taken nearly four weeks to receive a refund and I will send the incorrect book back. The seller only wanted to give me 50% of my money back and hoped that I would keep it I think. I think it was very fraudulent.
I will definately never buy anything from that seller again if I ever buy anything through Amazon again. This has made me very wary.
I think that seller "first trust 2003" is a scammer to advertise a book for sale and then send an inferior edition which was much older, one obviously he had trouble selling and thought he could offload onto me.
Well - NO WAY
Please publish my plight so everyone knows what this fraudulent person is up to.

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