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Biotech / Medical : C3 ( CTHR ) Diamond in the rough? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Leslie S. Feinberg who wrote (125)	7/17/1998 10:58:00 AM
From: Gigi Snyder	Respond to of 226

Hmmm. . .can't help adding the opinion I got. I won't transcribe it word for word, but I'll try to summarize. I went to the jeweler here who is retailing the stones. He's a very well-respected gemologist who sells lots of diamonds and colored gems. (The market we're in is one of lots of FLASH). Anyway he said that as soon as he saw moissanite samples, well over a year ago, he wanted to be a retailer. He loves the product, loves working with it (as I said earlier he does a lot of custom work), and is very very optimistic about it: NOT just as a diamond "substitute", but for the incredibly beautiful colored stones as well. Don't know if you know that C3 has patents not just for colorless stones. I saw a cut, green, emerald shaped stone that was amazing. The optical characteristics (dispersion, or "fire") and hardness truly make this a NEW gemstone. I now understand the marketing angle they are taking -- because of the incredible beauty and fire of moissanite, yes, if you want to wear something that looks like a really cool diamond, but also if you want something colored and firey. Re the testers. There are many companies making them besides C3. My jeweler also thinks the testers will be big business. I haven't investigated this much. I think it's great to get people's opinions. But be sure to get more than one. And most importantly, GO SEE THE PRODUCT YOURSELF. Bring along a girlfriend or your wife and see what she thinks. Then make your decision. Personally I'm with Les on the possibilities for this one. Best wishes Gigi p.s. the jeweler here is having a moissanite jewelry show in September-October. p.p.s. ANY trained gemologist can tell it's not a diamond just by looking at it under a loupe (he showed me what to look for). So the real problem is jewelers who don't know what they're talking about, and unfortunately there are a LOT of them.

To: Leslie S. Feinberg who wrote (125)	7/21/1998 9:07:00 AM
From: Rob LeVine	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 226

After reading Gigi's response I feel like the cloud on a sunny day. I asked my jeweler friend for clarification on the saturation comment. (All following sentences should be prefaced with 'He said...') The CZ reached market saturation years ago. When they first came out they were $25-$30 per stone and now they are $.50-$.75 per stone. Also, he feels that the moissenite will not be sold to any of the higher end jewelers (in fact he even drew the line below Zales). He feels that the stones will only go to places like QVC and similar entities. Not that I'd be proud of it, but if I could get something sold on QVC I'd do it. Something I should've mentioned before was that this jeweler is a jeweler in a small affluent town. He might not realize that there are a lot of people out there who actually buy 'fine jewelery' at Sears. - Rob