Jewelry & Gems at Auction

Contents
List of Price Guides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
List of Special Charts and Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
List of Color Photograph Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
part i ¿ Buying and Selling at Auction
1. The Allure of the Auction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2. The Traditional Auction House:
How to Be a Successful Buyer or Seller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3. What to Expect at Internet Auctions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
4. Opportunities Exist, but Not without Risk:
What to Watch Out for When Buying or Selling at Auction . . . . 70
part 2 ¿ Becoming Familiar with Gems
5. Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
part 3 ¿ Diamonds
6. What Is a Diamond?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
7. Judging Cut and Its Effect on Beauty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
8. Judging Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
9. Judging Clarity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
10. Diamond Grading Reports: How to Read Them . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
11. Is It a Diamond or a Diamond Imposter?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
12. How to Avoid Fraud and Misrepresentation
When Buying Diamonds at Auction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
13. Fancy-Color Diamonds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
14. Understanding Diamond Prices and What to Bid . . . . . . . . . . . 163
vi Contents
part 4 ¿ Colored Gemstones and Pearls
15. The Allure of Colored Gemstones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
16. Judging Quality in Colored Gemstones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
17. Colored Gemstones at Auction:
Natural, Treated, Synthetic, and Imitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
18. Understanding Colored Gemstone Prices and What to Bid . . . 208
19. Choices in Colored Gemstones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
20. Pearls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
21. Gemstone Investment: Not for the Casual Investor . . . . . . . . . . 253
part 5 ¿ Design and Style: Great Jewelry
22. Gold and Platinum: Timeless Choices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
23. What's in a Name: Great Jewelry Periods
and Great Jewelers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
part 6 ¿ Important Advice Before Buying
or Selling at Auction
24. Important Questions to Ask Before Buying or Selling
at Auction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
25. How to Find a Reliable Gemologist-Appraiser-
And Why You Need One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Internationally Respected Laboratories Issuing Reports
Used by Major Auction Houses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Online Auction Sites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
A Selected List of Auction Houses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
Where to Get Additional Information 298
Credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
Black and White Exhibits and Color Plates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
Price Guides
Retail Price Guide for Round Brilliant-Cut Diamonds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Retail Price Guide for Old-European Cut Diamonds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Retail Price Guide for Rose-Cut Diamonds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Retail Price Guide for Briolette-Cut Diamonds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
A Sampling of Diamonds Sold at Auction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Retail Price Guide for Fancy-Color Diamonds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
A Sampling of Fancy-Color Diamonds Sold at Auction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
A Sampling of Colored Gemstones Sold at Auction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Top Twenty Natural Pearl Lots Sold at Auction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Special Charts and Tables
Sizes and Weights of Various Diamond Cuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Diamond Color Grades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Commonly Used Diamond Color Grading Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Commonly Used Diamond Flaw (Clarity) Grading Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Comparison of Diamonds and Diamond Look-Alikes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Gemstones That Are Not Routinely Enhanced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
How Treatments Affect Prices of Colored Gems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Gold Marks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
How Alloys Affect Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Antoinette Matlins, PG, FGA, is an internationally respected gem and jewelry expert, author and lecturer. With over 1 million copies of her seven books in print in nine languages, she is the most widely read author in the world on the subject of jewelry and gems. Honored with the international Accredited Gemologists Association's highest award for excellence in gemology, Ms. Matlins' books are widely used throughout the world by consumers and professionals in the gem and jewelry field. Her books include Jewelry & Gems: The Buying Guide (over 400,000 copies now in print-the only book of its kind ever offered by Consumer Reports); Colored Gemstones: The Antoinette Matlins Buying Guide; The Pearl Book: The Definitive Buying Guide; Gem Identification Made Easy; Engagement & Wedding Rings: The Definitive Buying Guide for People in Love; and Jewelry & Gems at Auction: The Definitive Guide to Buying & Selling at the Auction House & on Internet Auction Sites (all GemStone Press).

Former gemology editor of National Jeweler magazine, her articles and comments on buying and selling gems and jewelry and on gem investment have appeared in many national and international consumer and trade publications. She is also the author of the "Gemstones" chapter in the Encyclopedia of Investments, second edition.

Ms. Matlins has gained wide recognition as a dedicated consumer advocate, and continues to spearhead the Accredited Gemologists Association's nationwide campaign against gemstone investment telemarketing scams and other types of consumer misrepresentation. A popular media guest, she has been seen on ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN, educating consumers about gems and jewelry and exposing fraud.

In addition to her educational work, Ms. Matlins is retained by clients worldwide to seek fine, rare or unusual gems and jewels for acquisition.