Higher End Gemstone Products
As promised, we’ve been adding a LOT Of new faceted gemstone beads and pendants we picked up at the Tucson Gem Shows. We are shooting for a wide diversity of items and a wider range of quality than we have carried in the past.
For those of you familiar with buying gemstones, it is rather challenging. In any given shape, size and cut for a given stone, lets say Labradorite, there may 5 or more “grades” of quality. The quality comes from the cut and shape, the consistancy of the beads on a given strand, the color and transparancy, the overall size and drilling of the holes, and many other factors. As you pick up the highest quality strands at a show, even an untrained eye can tell some difference. But when you sell your products only online as we do, its very hard to convey the difference in quality in a picture and a description. Hence, people are hesitant to spend the extra money on the highest quality strands. The price range for a strand of 4mm Faceted Labradorite Rondelle may range from $3 to $30. When you wander into Emeralds, that range is much, much broader.
We’ve always tended toward offering items with more “value” in the middle of the quality spectrum. When we find acceptable lower end items we sell them as “economy” or “sale” offerings as appropriate. In our recent product surveys, we’ve been asked repeatedly to carry some higher end offerings in a wide range of stones. We are starting to dip our toes into those products, but we are going move up the quality chain slowly. You will see some of those offerings added to abeadstore.com in the next few weeks. We’ll also be creating a special category in the store to market the “best quality” gemstone, pearl, and metal items.
Here’s a few really nice higher end gemstone selections we added yesterday!
Multi-color Aquamarine Rondelles
Color Shaded Carnlian Rondelles
