[jshepherd]

It is not just us!
http://gemologyonline.com/Forum/phpB...er=asc&start=0

Apparently these are some things that will immediately get you banned at pricescope!
Mentioning pearls
Mentioning another forum
Mentioning a banned user
Saying anything one of the paid advertisers does not like. And the paid advertisers are specific members of the forum who "help out" consumers from the goodness of the hearts.
Mentioning any form of synthetic stones
Trying to contact any other members of the forum or giving out your email address.

I think pricescope is the farthest thing from a consumer advocacy forum that there is. They must have thousands and thousands of banned members and IP addresses.

Hey pricescope! Do you know that the Los Angeles International Airport Boingo system is banned from your forum?!

As Barbara Voltaire mentioned on Gemology Online, we also ban people here. We ban spammers, fraudsters (Z), and troublemakers. Spammers get banned on a daily basis. The latter two categories, however, consist of only 3 or 4 previous members.

[knotty panda]

Just another huge amount of information ... things I never knew and would never have thought of. I never heard of the P word before, no reason to waste my time now. And the microwave! I had NO idea I could nuke diamonds, pearls, metals and live to tell about it!

So, sing along with me to the tune of "I love rock 'n roll."

"I love the Pearl Guide, so put another post on the forum, Baby!"

To all you who have been exiled -- WELCOME! You have a home. Their loss is our gain.

[Caitlin]

Hi Knotty
Did I say put pearls in the microwave with dish detergent?

I don't think so!

If I did, don't listen!

I was referring to a platinum and diamond eternity band that has a whole bunch of little bitty holes that no brush invented can get to!

I never wanted to buy an ultra sonic or whatever it is called for just 1 ring so I tried other things.

[knotty panda]

No, you didn't but the thread on glues did. Really surprised me.

Unglueing pearls

[nlerner]

Since I worked for some time in the diamond trade, allow me a few remarks on cleaning jewelry and on diamond pricing.

I would not recommend cleaning jewelry by scrubbing with tooth brush, it can bend the metal setting and cause the gem fall off. The best way to clean jewelry is by boiling in water with dish detergent for 10 minutes. Of course, never, ever do that with pearls !

Regarding diamond prices: there is this strict price list respected all over the world for color, cut, clarity and carat weight, composed by Rapaport , a member of the diamond exchange of Israel. http://www.diamondhelpers.com/ask/00...rapaport.shtml

Before diamonds reach the jewelry shop for sale to consumers, they are sold between the diamonds dealers for 30% to 40% below their marked price on the Rapaport list, which is the starting point for negotiations……

Diamonds, as a few members here pointed out, are very much overvalued !!! And compared to pearls, less attractive.

[Casey.R]

I love the sparkle of diamonds and the fact that they are so durable. I don't own tons though just a few. Anyway I do find it crazy that there are so many of them and that they are so pricey for being so plentiful. Especially when you compare them to colored stones. It is wayyyy harder to find a beautiful ruby, or sapphire ( or spessartite even !) than it is a nice diamond.

[Caitlin]

HI Nora!
Thanks for the info. I am glad my homemade methods really aren't that far off for gemstone and metal jewelry.

[Valeria101]

Originally Posted by jshepherd

I think pricescope is the farthest thing from a consumer advocacy forum that there is.

It used to be great... back when I was posting there. Quite nice, and attracting interesting people.

This was the first forum I went to post on, and then keep up with for long enough to notice inner changes. Wonder if not all forums have a 'life span' of sorts

Oh well...

[Kathleen Conway]

I clean diamond jewelery in an ultrasonic denture cleaner with some diswashing detergent and a squirt of windex, and hot hot water. Only a sonic cleaner gets into the bitty holes. Can't believe how many fingers-ful of dirty diamonds I see out & about each week. So clean them often and they stay sparklier than getting hardened gunk or layers of oil into the piece. Don't think "Oh I can wear them when I shower and that will do it."

[Raisondetre]

Originally Posted by Valeria101

Wonder if not all forums have a 'life span' of sorts

I think it happens with most forums that have high traffic volume. I've already withdrawn participation (under a different handle) from several forums because of the increasingly young population (usually teenagers) who show no respect and have a tendency to attack people personally rather than agree to disagree.

Forums that keep it together are usually low traffic, focused on a particular theme - in pearl-guide's case it'd be all aspects of pearls, from farming to latest trends, with consumer education being the main goal. With an explosion in the member population it may head that way, but most new members don't even post. It'll take a while before things get out of hand, and I'm sure the mods will keep it under control.

I was browsing PS and didn't really think there was much education - it's all commercial-based information aimed at promoting sales for the select few. I'm really losing my attraction to diamonds the more I get into pearls. There's just more and more to know about with all the new and exciting developments, nearly all of which are presented here earlier than elsewhere.

[Sueki]

"Wonder if not all forums have a 'life span' of sorts"
Heavens, I hope it doesn't apply to this forum.
If I hadn't come here, I'd still be under the impression that all freshwater pearls are baroque and small.
I'd never have had the courage to learn how to string my own pearls. Wouldn't even have known where to begin.
I would still be believing that all pearls are creamy-white and, in the case of salt water pearls, round.
And I'd never have known that there are so many different kinds of pearl.
I'd still be stuck in my "classic row of round, white pearls" mode.