Re: Djinn infested jewelry?

You will notice a good diamond if ever you come near one because it literally sparkles and fluoresces (the color is characteristic of the stone) from the other side of the room. They fluoresce different colors, blue, red, and a good one you will remember. It's not the size of the stone that determines the value, it's whether or not it's included, if it has non-diamond material in the original rough, which shows up in the cut stone.
Like anything else in the US, less and less is made here, although almost everything I make in terms of settings and processed wire for sizing is still made in the US.
It's one of the few ways that you can make a living and do original work in the arts- other than tattoo shops- and not get stuck in the corporate lock box, or have to deal with the gallery bs, which is worse than corporate.
LA has a jewelry district downtown, like the one in New York,and you ought to be able to find an independent jeweler there pretty easily.
The stuff with mining in africa and in myanmar absolutely sucks, and most legitimate jewelers are well aware of conflict diamonds (more so rubies and sapphires-also Myanmar ) and if you ask them they can tell you where the stones you are interested in come from. If they don't answer they are slimeballs and if you buy something from them you'll be sorry anyway.
It's like anything else, caveat emptor... I finally got rid of my rats, I better go after the stuff in the jewelry next.
I thought liver flukes were bad,better check that emerald...
Julie