"Rotayti"??? Not A Gemstone!!! And Sterling Silver PLATED?

"Rotayti" Ring---See the glass bubbles?

Wow!  I'm so sad to see people getting fooled and taken advantage of.  If you see a piece of jewelry and you like it and buy it, that's great!  Costume jewelry is FUN.  But if you buy something and THINK you're getting a gemstone set in precious metals, and it turns out it's not....that's not great.

Sadly, there are SO many Ebay sellers who offer fake gemstones set in "925 Sterling Silver plated" metal, and SO many eager buyers who must have no idea what they're buying. 

TERRIBLE Fake Rutile Quartz -- Glass!

And even worse---there are people on Etsy who buy this same jewelry (probably from Ebay) and turn around and sell it as "handmade" jewelry, genuine gemstones set in "925 sterling silver"---and clearly it's neither.  I feel awful for unsuspecting Etsy buyers, but what can I do?

I can write about it and HOPEFULLY enlighten people about this.

Close up showing glass bubbles and...confetti??

"Rotayti" On Etsy...??

I saw on my "feed" a bracelet with a gemstone called "Rotayti".  I clicked on it and could immediately tell it was some sort of glass or plastic---a terrible looking thing, like brown stripes in clear glass.  I googled "Rotayti" just to see what on earth it was.  The results were (1) the item on Etsy; and (2) several Rotayti items on Ebay.  I clicked on those. 

"Rotayti" Pendant on Ebay

(OBVIOUSLY there is no such gemstone called "Rotayti" and my guess is it's some sort of mangled English for "Rutilated" or "Rutile" which is actually a gemstone.)  So the reseller on Etsy didn't even bother to find out what "Rotayti" was (or wasn't!) and just turned around and relisted it on Etsy! 

And I looked at Ebay and there it was----an Ebay seller from India offering many of the same items as the Etsy seller.  The India seller has "Rotayti", plus  "emerald" necklaces, "sapphire" pendants, "ruby" rings, etc., all set in "925 sterling silver plated" metal.  Yet the Etsy seller claims her items are "925 sterling silver" -- no mention of anything being plated!!

Supposed Lapis Lazuli

Close-up of supposed "Lapis" - NOT!

Upon close examination of these rings, for example a "lapis" ring that is obviously plastic or resin that's been painted, you can see that this metal is NOT sterling silver.  It looks like nickel or lead or possibly pewter, but certainly not solid sterling silver.  Scary mystery metal!





Fake Emeralds, Rubies, and Sapphires

Dyed Sillimanite, NOT Emerald

I've written about this before.  India is flooding the market with FAKE precious gemstones that are nothing more than dyed sillimanite.   Sillimanite is a mineral that's actually a polymorph of Kyanite and Andalusite.  It takes dye well, and can slightly mimic poor-quality gemstones.  If you look closely at dyed sillimanite, you can see clouds and fibrous layers within the stone.  Sillimanite also can be found exhibiting a cat's eye effect, mimicking star sapphire!  HERE is a great source of pictures of this mineral.

Dyed Sillimanite, NOT Emeralds, NOT Sterling--$5.99 on Ebay!!!!

Many Ebay sellers from India are offering "emerald" necklaces set in plated metal.  Some Etsy sellers are obviously buying these and reselling them as "emeralds" set in "sterling Silver".  They are NEITHER emeralds nor sterling silver.

Etsy "Emerald" Necklace---Terrible Metalwork (Not Sterling)

There are SO many Ebay sellers offering the same jewelry.  To name a few, there is divine_sutra, jewel-city (operating out of the UK), guneestore09 and victorianjewels_us. 
There are MANY more Ebay sellers with this same faux gemstone jewelry, but that's just a sampling.  All are set in silver plated mystery metals, with dyed stones as well as glass and other faux gems.  Is it possible that SOME of their gemstones are real?  Well, it's hard to say but if I KNOW that some are fake, who could trust that seller with anything else they sell?!
Their jewelry is very inexpensive!  Most is somewhere under $5, with "emerald necklaces" going for about $6!!  Great prices, but know that you're NOT getting emeralds or sapphires or rubies despite what they say!

What Is "Sterling Silver Plated"?
There is NO SUCH THING.  By LAW, if an item is marked "925" or described using the term "Sterling Silver", it must be SOLID Sterling Silver.  The "925" indicates that it's 92.5% silver, and 7.5% alloy (usually copper).

If a metal is silver PLATED, it is dipped in silver, or "flashed" with silver.  It is NOT "sterling silver" plated EVER.

Why Call Something "Sterling Silver Plated" Then?
One word: fraud.  Sellers will try to fool buyers who see the term "sterling silver" and assume it's just that---sterling.  They think by adding "plated" it makes it legal---it does NOT.

Again, only SOLID .925 Sterling Silver can be called "sterling Silver" at all.

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In conclusion:  if you see a piece of jewelry that you think is pretty and affordable, buy it!  Wear it!  Enjoy it!  But if you see an "emerald" necklace for under $15, or a "ruby" ring that is HUGE and only $18 or so, you can be sure that those are NOT genuine gemstones.  Price isn't the only factor though---it's up to YOU to research the item (and the seller) to understand what it is you're buying.  KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, and I hope you've learned something here.

And remember, Buyer Beware!!!