Growing Scandal

I've updated my guide covering Labradorite and Andesine. Unfortunately, after first bringing this up several years ago, it turns out that there was a basis for the suspicions about the so-called "natural," highly colored "andesine," "labradorite," and "andesine-labradorite" that has been touted as having come from "the Congo," "Mongolia," "Tibet," and just about any other inaccessible place you could name.

Well, as the questions have piled up, several sources (including one of the JTV hosts) have confirmed that this "natural" gem isn't very natural at all. Rather, it is common yellow-brown andesine or labradorite that is very highly treated to produce the intense colors, as well as to give it its oft-touted copper content. Some are evidently playing down this deception by saying that the treatment is "accepted" and longstanding (it isn't). IMO, customers who have been sold spurious "natural" stones of this type should be clamouring for their money back.

This scandal is just now starting to get some publicity. It'll get bigger in the coming months. Can lawsuits against the willingly ignorant (at best) wholesalers and retailers be far behind? And I think that this isn't limited to those mysterious Andesine and Labradorite "finds." There will be other gemstones that will turn out to be involved in this fraud, before all is said and done.

And this problem is hardly limited to gems. Unfortunately, if whatever you collect has any value, you need to be increasingly careful - some shady character is ready, willing, and able to create and market a convincing fake version to make a buck - be it vintage costume jewelry, coins, baseball cards, or ... When are governments going to do something about stopping the flood of fakes and frauds being imported? Any government that doesn't prevent its citizens from being victimized just isn't doing its job. Things have gone from bad, to worse, to ridiculous over the last couple of decades.