Frequently Asked Questions

Are your prices Very competitive?

I find it quite amusing to see many different websites claiming to have gems so reasonably priced.

To deliver the same sales lines that these businesses do is something that over the years I have decided to stay away from.

I travel overseas generally twice a year. My last trip took me to seven countries in ten weeks.

Here is Nick in a city in China that specializes in Pearls of all varieties. It is a fun process being surrounded by such beauty and choice. It is only by going to the different centers around the world that we can cut out the middle man and offer more affordable quality verses price. It is easy to find an inexpensive gemstone but weight and quality verses price is why Astrogems has been so successful for the last 20 years.

It was no holiday going to the mines and cutting centers to get unadulterated, un-enhanced gems. Different countries have the best source of supply for the best quality gems and I have to visit these places to make my quality gems affordable.

With the volumes I buy, and the endurance it takes to get to some of these places, I can afford to offer my gems at much more reasonable prices. But I really don’t want to enter into this accolade. In reality, customers go to where they are attracted to. It’s a karmic thing. Some resonate to the repetitious assurances of salespeople who make great claims to be intuitive, psychic or whatever. Others will believe blindly that a particular gemstone is the best, most stunning , sattwic, cut crystal, this side of Mars.

Some dealers will abuse their knowledge of astrology in order to convince a person to buy a certain gem that they just happen to have in their stock. The list goes on and on.

But it is really up to the individual. We don’t even have the time to list our stones on the web. We are generally very busy and don’t spend much energy on advertising or promoting. We have two full time jewelers here on location and if I could find more quality people to do this kind of work I would hire them immediately.

Most of our orders come from past clients who have, without financial motive, enthusiastically recommended us. Its that simple. We have an extensive range of gems that I have acquired in my travels, and I will buy back any stone at full price if a person wants to upgrade a stone . The gems that get traded in do not get resold, but go into a donation kitty used for cancer patients, monastics, etc.

But getting back to the question of the best price, many gem sellers point their clients away from the less expensive substitute gems. This is something that I really object to. They often tend to sell gems that are not so easy to locate in order to imply that the rarity of the gem has something to do with its effectiveness. One example of this is the Zircon, which can be bought inexpensively, but is virtually always heated and is generally not available in the jewelry stores; hence its marketability by an astrological gem seller.

The approach we favor is to purchase the original gem types that the rishis recommended and then trade up if a person's budget is less than their ambitions. It may take a year or more of balanced trade back procedures, but the final navaratna instrument will last many years and be passed on as a wonderful heirloom.

NICK IN SRI LANKA
HUNTING FOR UNHEATED UNPROCESSED NATURAL YELLOW AND BLUE SAPPHIRE CRYSTALS FOR FACETTING.

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