Years ago, my mother went to local Jewelry shows in Chicago and in Las Vegas. There she met the blonde sales woman from Lamden Jewelers (aka 1-800-loose Diamonds).
She bought a lot of diamond, blue sapphire, tanzanite bracelets and rings; had jewelry sized and appraised for tens of thousands of dollars. We learned how these "jewelers" operate; they'll give you an appraisal listing the value much higher than the actual price.
Well, mum passed away a week ago. I took the appraised pieces and their paperwork into a local and trusted family jeweler in Denver for an updated appraisal for the estate. Turns out the round diamond/round sapphire bracelet was actually white topaz and laboratory-made sapphire. It was also not set in 14k gold but gold plated silver. This was appraised at $2,250 in 2004 and the Denver jeweler said it was akin to costume jewelry.
The second bracelet which was appraised at $4,369 in 2004 turned out to be cubic zirconia and blue glass. The setting was 14k gold to make the owner think it was a genuine diamond/sapphire bracelet.
These people at Lamden Jewelry/1-800-Loose Diamonds are thieves and I only wish we'd had the pieces appraised by a reputable jeweler before she passed away. Oh, Mum always got a nice Christmas and birthday card from them......nice touch.
Buyer beware. An appraisal on fancy paper doesn't mean a thing if you're dealing with crooks.
I will also write a bad review for S&N Jewelry as they also falsified the appraisal and the stones in another expensive piece. read more