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Buyer FAQ
| What are the benefits of buying from Gemwow? |
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Information: You get information that is accurate and more complete than any one sales-representative could ever explain or know. Our experts are on hand to give you advice if you need them. The pictures have "integrity" in that they reflect the real thing. You get what you see.
Selection: You get a vast selection of goods at one site.
Savings: You get prices that are the MOST competitive for the same quality of goods on the internet. We cannot be the cheapest for every item but we consistently provide the LOWEST prices across the board.
Freedom and Time: You buy and sell when you want, what you want, and where you want. That is freedom. The tremendous amount of time you save will allow you more time for enjoyment.
Gifts and Rewards: Gemwow.com appreciates your business. The more you buy the more redemption points you will get. You deserve to be rewarded from time to time with gifts and rewards that we have in store for you. For example, the mileage points program accumulates points for you so you may receive free air-tickets from our national air carrier, The Thai International Airways.
Community: As our membership grows we will be organizing activities for all our vendors and customers to meet online and in person to share your experiences and knowledge. You are part of our community who share a love of natural things (yes, especially beautiful gems and crystals ), love of people and love of our environment. By sharing we can enjoy the moment more, learn from each other, appreciate each of our individualities and differences......WOW, what a nicer world this would be.
Control: You have control over your actions and may switch on or off anytime, by simply turning the computer on or off. There is no salesperson tailing you around uncomfortably as you browse and we never send unsolicited emails to or disturb you. |
| How do I buy from Gemwow? |
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| Log in with your username and password. Click on 'Add to cart' button. Tell us where to ship to. Make payment through Paypal.
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| Can I negotiate prices and terms online? |
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| Yes.
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| Can I consolidate my purchases from different vendors in one shipment? |
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| Yes, if the payment terms of the individual vendors do not conflict, and the size and weight of the parcel does not exceed the given limit.
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| How is Gemwow different from other gem and jewelry websites? |
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Most websites provide information and sell merchandise. Gemwow does both and more.
Most sites are created as a 'store concept' (one store selling to many people) which usually limit you in many ways. Gemwow is creatd to replicate a 'marketplace' (many stores selling to many people) allowing greater variety of goods, better use of resources, more flexibility to conduct business with more vendors, the magnitude and scale of business is potentially much greater and designed to evolve on its own.
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Smileys are 'yellow round smiling faces' logo to indicate the quality of the listed goods for sale.
FIVE SMILEYS indicate the highest and best quality, the finest goods in every way. Rarely will you see a FIVE SMILEYS Award. When you see a stone awarded with FIVE SMILEYS, it is a 'must buy' category if you can afford it.
FOUR SMILEYS is distinction category, fine in many ways, top class and probably rare and unique.
THREE SMILEYS is solidly good, above average, you can be a proud owner of the merchandise.
TWO SMILEYS is commendable. Certain aspects of the item are special.
ONE SMILEY is worthy of noticing, particularly for its finer points.
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| How important is the 'Smiley Logo' for the buyer? |
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| Very important. Because Gemwow.com considers its Smiley Logo very seriously. You will notice that there are not so many items awarded with them. Smiley's are given after careful considerations and only awarded to an item if it truly deserves it. If you see a Smiley Logo, you can count on it that it is special.
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AIGS Star Quality Rating System is a new service dedicated to the consumer enabling them to know the quality of a colored gemstone graded by an independent gem lab. Each gem is tested by 3 AIGS expert gemologists for authenticity before proceeding to qualify the color, clarity and cut. The gem's provenance, rarity and uniqueness is also taken into account before an overall quality STAR grade is given.
The AIGS Star Quality Rating System comprises of five categories based on a non-linear scale. The highest grade given to a gem is a Five-Star grade. Four stars, three stars and progressively lesser stars indicate gemstones of lesser quality.
5-Star
Five-Star rating represents a gemstone that has excellent color with vivid hues and sparkle. The gem possess a crystal-clear clarity and is devoid of any blemishes that detracts its beauty. Usually the gem is very clean or may contain a 'natural inclusion' adding character to the piece. The inclusion however must be unique and interesting enough in 'gemological sense'. It should also be placed in a proper position in relation to the table ('face') of the gem.
Pleochroism (more than one body color is observed in the face up position of a gemstone) may or may not be present. The stone is well-cut with near 100% brilliancy. This rating is the highest a gemstone can obtain and one can be absolutely assured that the gem is truly special!
4-Star
Four-Star rating represents a stone that has excellent to very good color with vivid hues and sparkle. The stone may have slight color banding, dichroism (two colors seen in one stone in the table up position) or perhaps a weak color change or phenomenon that are nice and interesting enough to warrant this quality rating. The clarity is good to excellent and usually eye clean without major face up cracks or fissures.
The cut and proportions are very good to excellent (often deviations of 10% to 20% from the standard cutting dimensions are accepted). Slight windows, heavy pavilion, slightly off-centered culet are permissible with due considerations given to the overall 'beauty' of the stone. Symmetry and polish are important and both must be superior in workmanship.
The fluorescence of the gem may or may not add to the grade of the stone.
3-Star
Three-Star rating an above average to the average grade for a particular gem species. Stones in this category may be considered as good quality and may be suited for center ring stones and featured as 'solitaires'. The color and clarity are at least good to very good. The clarity should be moderately included to lightly included or better. The cut may include 'flat' and 'heavy' stones with the depth percentage (depth in millimeters divided by table size in millimeters) ranging from no less the 25% to 80%.
2-Star
Two-Star rating is given to stones that are almost average in quality but does not make the 3-Star rating. The color is good to fair perhaps with color banding or some minute area of patchiness. The hue may contain some 'milkiness' or areas of unevenness. The clarity may be visible to moderately included but will not have major or prominent defects on the table surface. There may be minor pinpoint, hair line or minute defects visible by under a ten times (10X) magnification jeweler lens (loupe).
The cut grade share a similar grading criteria to that of a Three-Star rating, however the negative aspects are more pronounced and more visible in this category. Buyers in this group are looking at the price advantages more so than anything else in the category.
1-Star
One-Star rating is devoted to the more common stones and may readily be found in the market. Color, clarity and cut are all acceptable but as such no one pays much attention to this group as they are usually cut in uniform sizes and shapes. The homogeneity of the stones makes it suitable for mass produced jewelry.
Before using the AIGS Star Quality Rating System please read the following limitations and disclaimer below:
The AIGS Star Quality Rating System has been developed over 30 years since the institute's founding and many aspects of the grading methodology has been taught to its students. The grading criteria utilizes master comparison stones, controlled and varied lighting as well as plotting, measuring and testing under strict guidelines to ensure that our customers receive the best possible answers to their needs.
As such, users of the AIGS Star Quality Rating System are cautioned that the quality grading of gemstones is at best an opinion from a reliable source. It is a subjective exercise and not a science.
The quality range of a given specie of gemstone is wide and varied. AIGS Star Quality Rating System does not claim to cover the entire gamut of the quality 'universe' and is only applicable to a certain segment of the quality scale.
Users of the AIGS Star Quality Rating System is proprietary and is not a guarantee nor does it relate to any other grading system currently used. AIGS does not assure its repeatability. The grade given at any one moment in time may be different from time to time. Factors that may cause grade differences include but is not limited to the following reasons: changing market dynamics, treatment and regulatory issues, availability, fashion trends, graders' visual acuity and shifting opinions.
All of AIGS graders are under oath and abide by a strict code of ethics that they are not connected or will not benefit from the owners of the gemstones in any way or form whatsoever.
AIGS Star Quality Rating System is only available to its corporate customers. Presently the AIGS Star Quality Rating System in only available online, and only for corundum (all rubies and sapphires).
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| Can I pay with my credit card? |
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| At the moment, the laws in Thailand are not in favor of e-commerce utilizing credit card for payments. Due to extensive fraudulent cases, Thai banks require a substantial security deposit and a 'no questions asked refund' policy from each vendor, should any discrepancies arise. We apologize and suggest you use Paypal until a better solution is found.
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| What happens if I am unhappy with my purchase after I receive them? |
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| Please inform us by email and we will tell you how to ship the goods back. The goods should be in their original condition when it is returned. When we receive the package, a refund will be made to you less any import duties and taxes that maybe levied by Thai Customs.
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| What is the Rarity Scale Rating? |
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The Rarity Scale Rating is an opinion from our experts to provide the buyer additional information in relation to an item's scarcity and/or uniqueness. This scale is not 'static' as the rarity of a given gem at a given time is the combination of an absolute and a relative rarity (what we call 'rarity shifting'). This should be based on a variable index, linked also to a quality factor (for example: only 2 years ago painite was in the RRR category whatever the sample, today, a medium quality crystal of painite is R and a nice doubly terminated crystal is still in RRR).
The definition of 'rare' is defined by Webster as: adj., rarer, rarest.
1. coming or occuring far apart in time; unusual; uncommon
2. few and widely separated.
' Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Gramercy Books, 1989'
The Extremely Rare (RRR) category is for items that are so rare that less than a handful are known to exist. This category include specimens of less than ten samples of its kind is known to be present in the the world. The rating is based on the knowledge and information we have gained through personal communications with dealers, collectors, museum curators, etc. We have set up a database of rare and unique stones to track and archive the information creating a variable rarity index and applying the notion of rarity shifting.
The Very Rare (RR) category represents gems and minerals that are almost never encountered in the market. Our experts know of the existence of similar items as such but the pieces are still considered very rare.
The Rare (R) term is given to difficult to find items and are not often seen in the market. You would be lucky to see a piece of it once a month if at all. Sometimes rare species grow in rarity over time as in the case of newly discovered minerals. For example, colorless phenakite crystals from Myanmar were available when the mine was newly discovered. But within a year all supplies were depleted and you could not find even one piece for sale in the market. As such colorless average quality phenakite crystals from Myanmar at this time could be rated as Rare (R). At times, nicely terminated colorless phenakites maybe rated as Very Rare (RR) and even Extremely Rare (RRR) depending on the crystal morphology, size, quality or other unusual features uncommonly encountered.
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