First, let me start off by mentioning that fake gemstones are pretty rampant everywhere online, not just here on Ebay! Whenever shopping for Gemstones online you need to be very careful. This Guide will hopefully help you avoid the fakes and get yourself a good deal on that colored gemstone or diamond you have been searching for!

There are a few tips that can help you:

1. Make sure the Seller or Store has a good return policy.
2. Keep in mind the color you see on your computer monitor may actually differ from the actual color of the gemstone. This is typically due to the color calibration of your monitor from the factory. Each one differs from slightly to greatly! Sometimes it is editing done by the Seller/Store to falsely enhance the color and/or saturation of the gemstone.
3. Make sure to read up on the gemstone you are looking to purchase so you know exactly what it looks like and what the current market prices are on it as well! Remember, not all gemstones are created equal! Value depends on the quality of the cut, clarity of the stone, the color and saturation of color, and lastly carat weight, otherwise known as the 4 C's.
4. Make sure to check the Seller/Store's feedback!!!! I can not stress this enough!! Don't just look at the percentage or numbers either!! Actually look through and read some of them! Use a tool to view all the negatives and/or neutrals, like Toolhaus, to make sure you see the good with the bad!

Now, onto the fake gemstones.

Diamonds

The most widely spread gemstone that is faked is the Diamond. There are tons of Diamonds for sale out there that are being sold as Lab Created Diamonds. Please do NOT fall for this gimmick!!! The only man made/lab created Diamonds available on the market currently are being sold/made by Adia, Gemesis, and the most widely known Apollo. Gemesis only produces yellow diamonds and Apollo, while producing white diamonds, only sells through their very own storefront. Adia produces blue, yellow, and white diamonds but only sells through a single retail store. Most of what is being sold on Ebay as Lab Created Diamonds are actually nothing more then plain old everyday Cubic Zirconia (CZ). The most popular seeming to be Russian grown CZs. While there is nothing wrong with a good hand cut CZ, they are NOT lab created/man made diamonds! In fact, calling them such is actually a rather large violation of the Federal Trade Commission's Guidelines for selling Gemstones! Lastly, true man made/lab created diamonds only sell for a little less then the real thing!!! So the odds of finding a lab created diamond anywhere else are very slim, especially  very cheap!

Sapphires & Rubies (Corundumn)

I would have to say the second most widespread problem is Synthetic/Lab Grown/Man made Corundum being sold as natural! Corundum, in case you do not know, is the family of gemstones that contains Sapphires and Rubies. A Sapphire is any color other then red. Red is reserved for a Ruby. With corundums there are two types, your normal Rubies and those that exhibit an Asterism (otherwise known as a star) effect. I would have to honestly say that there are more Synthetic Star Sapphires and Rubies being sold now then natural ones!! Once upon a time it was fairly easy to tell, as Linde was the only Company producing these special gemstones and those made by Linde always had the standard Linde L on the back of them and the star itself was fixed and did not move! But now the same process is being used by many manufactures to produce these rare (in nature) gemstones. One key to spotting these fakes is to look for a super transparent gemstone with a very distinct easy to see star n them, in most cases this stone will not be real and if it is it will be priced well into the thousands to tens of thousands depending on the carat weight!! These perfect (using the term loosely) synthetics were recently introduced onto the market and have been showing up online left and right over the past month or so! Most of the older synthetics were more translucent, at best, to opaque but still had those perfect stars!! Do keep in mind that there is a treatment done to natural Star Sapphires & Rubies, called Diffusion, that will enhance the Asterism/Star and make it much more pronounced!! But most of these stones are very dark and more opaque. The natural stones come in blue, red, purple, pink, white/clear, gray, and black (both silver and gold stars). The synthetics only come in blue and red. There are also natural
stones that are sometimes mistaken, or used fraudulently, as Star Corundum. Those stones are Star Garnets (Idaho and India) and Black Star Diopside. The easiest way to tell these apart are the number of rays on the stone! Star Garnets have 4 or 6 rays on them, while Star Diopside has 4 rays. Star Corundum has either 6 or 12 rays to the star. There are other gemstones that show asterisms, like Spinel, but they are rare to find.

Alexandrite

The next most widespread fake is Alexandrite. I see more fake Alexandrite for sale anymore then I see real! One has to be very very careful shopping for Alexandrite online, and even in person! One of the main, and hardest to tell, fakes is the Doublet. A doublet is made up of a real Alexandrite crown (top) and a synthetic (Alexandrite, Spinel, Corundum, etc) pavilion (bottom). For a trained Gemologist they are easy to spot though. The next would be the synthetic, or lab grown, Alexandrite. The lab grown Alexandrite can even have natural like inclusions in them! There are also Alexandrite Simulants out there as well! The most common simulant is synthetic corundum that has been treated to exhibit a color change. One of the sneakiest tricks though, is the  one most common online, and that is calling the stone a 100% natural untreated Czochralski Alexandrite. Czochralski  is the name of one of the Laboratory processes to grow synthetic Alexandrite!! If it contains the word Czochralski in it, it is  a lab grown /synthetic Alexandrite and NOT a natural one!!!!! This is a trick done by unscrupulous Sellers/Stores to deceive the buyer into thinking the stone is natural and  mined Alexandrite!!!  Most Alexandrite you will find for a reasonable price will be either heavily included or having a very poor color change!  If the stone is cheaply priced and has a 90-100% color change then there is a 99.99% change that it is synthetic and not natural!

I am not going to get into detail with the other lab grown stones out there. But remember there is NO such thing as lab created Topaz,  Zircon, or Tourmaline!

This does not mean you need to be afraid to buy online, just that you need to be careful and educated about what you are buying! There are plenty of deals to be had, but this is one of those categories of shopping that usually holds true to that old saying, You get what you pay for! That does not mean that .99 cent auctions should be over looked or anything of the like! Many times Sellers use .99 cent auctions on a few products as advertisements for their Store or higher priced items, also they hope that the stone ends up going for more money, lol! It is chalked up to advertising costs if it does not. But in most cases you will not find an award winning flawless rare gemstone at a cheap price either. Just be smart about what you purchase and educate yourselves about the stone you are shopping for, not to mention make sure the Store/Seller has a good return policy, and you can and will find yourself some awesome deals!

I hope this guide helps you find that gemstone deal you have been looking for! If it does, please vote for it!

Also, make sure to take a look at my other Guides I have written. I have taken quite a bit of my time and put alot of effort into writing them to better educate all you buyers, and sellers, out there so we can make a better place for both buying and selling.

My Other Guides and Reviews