My professor told me to never trust a 'river rock' from a big box store for identification

Honestly, I thought he was just being picky, but I bought a 'jasper' labeled rock from a home improvement chain last month. Took it to the Tucson Gem Show and a vendor told me it was dyed quartzite from Brazil. Ngl, felt pretty dumb. Anyone else get burned by mislabeled stuff before?

3 comments

3 Comments

parker1834d ago

Oh man, my buddy had the worst time with this. He bought a "turquoise" ring from one of those mall kiosks for his girlfriend. Real pretty blue stone. Turns out it was just howlite that got dyed, the color started rubbing off on her finger after a couple weeks. She was not happy, and he was out like eighty bucks. Total scam.

blair_martin4d ago

Yikes, that's brutal. Nothing says "I love you" like a ring that stains your skin like a cheap marker. Your buddy basically paid for a science experiment on his girlfriend's finger. Those mall kiosks are the worst for that stuff, they'll sell you anything with a shiny label. Eighty bucks for a dyed hunk of howlite is straight up robbery. He should've just got her a candy ring, at least that's honestly fake.

milacraig4d ago

Honestly used to think those mall kiosk stones were just cheap but fine for a fun gift. Then I saw a coworker with a "lapis" pendant that left this weird blue line on her neck from her own sweat. Kinda gross when you think about it, paying for something that literally falls apart on your skin. Makes you wonder what they use for the dye. Now I just assume any bright stone from those places is probably colored with something that won't last.