It has been a year since my last post in the “Misrepresentation of Crystals” blog series. While I have admittedly been slacking off on my blog posts, the crystal counterfeiters and fakers have been very busy indeed! So without further a do – here are three of the latest scams!
Fake Moldavite
There has been a veritable explosion on fake Moldavite on Ebay of late! It is quite easy to spot as they have not been able to duplicate the intricate etching natural Moldavite displays. The fake Moldavite has a more bubbly appearance than the real Moldavite etching. I have noticed just to add insult to injury, these unscrupulous dealers are selling these fakes at a very high price – good grief. Check out these photos below of the fake Moldavite spotted en-mass on Ebay.
This is Fake Moldavite
Just to remind everyone, the photo below is “Genuine” Moldavite.
Fake Silver being listed on Ebay
Now this is actually a very interesting scenario. For at least six months now, morally challenged dealers on Ebay have been listing fake Native Magnesium Crystals do not occur in nature. These crystals are obtained by electrolysis of magnesium salts obtained from brine. During this process crystals are sometimes formed, and that is what these crystals are. The really ludicrous part of this is, Native Silver is very heavy, these Magnesium crystals are so light, one half expects them to blow away in a light breeze! Now do we give these dealers a free pass because they are actually very interesting crystals? Hell No! Keep it real dealers – say it like it is! Check out the photos of this “Fake Silver“.
Fake Silver – is actually Magnesium!
Painted Smoky Quartz Crystals – Yes really!
A close acquaintance recently purchased a number of “Smoky Quartz Crystals” from seemingly the home of crystal misrepresentation – Ebay! When he and his partner opened the package upon it’s arrival, their hopes and hearts fell – not only had these crystals been irradiated, they had also been painted with black high temperature HDT paint. The unfortunate buyers got a a bottle of paint thinners and managed to quite easily get the paint to come of the crystal, whereupon the reason why the dealer had painted them was revealed. The irradiation treatment had not gone as these fake crystal peddlers had planned – the entire crystal had not turned black, parts of it was still white. Their solution to this was to paint them black! The title of the auction said “Natural Smoky Quartz Crystal”! After a very protracted disputes process with the argumentative dealer (despite the irrefutable proof provided in photos), they were finally refunded their money. Did the dealer withdraw the remaining painted Smoky Quartz specimens they had listed on E-bay? No, they did not! Check out the photos below.
Thank You for reading my latest blog post, I’ll try not to leave it so long next time!
Greetings from Estonia!
I got one crystal from China. I have a suspicion that other crystals (pork stone/dali Jasper/banded or red calcite) are being sold on eBay instead of rhodocrosite. What do you think?
All the best
Hi Jaanus, thank you for your msg. I’ve not been on ebay for a while, but I just had a look and you are right, sellers are indeed selling this type of calcite as rhodocrosite.
Hey mate, I just ordered 4 clusters off of an Etsy seller on a whim and now after reading some reviews I’m pretty sure I’ve been scammed 🙁 I pulled some pictures from the reviews can you advise me that I’m stupid and wasted my money 🙂
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Hi Darcy, yes sorry, these are lab grown.
Can you please let me know if this is real sulfur? Thank you
Looks legit to me 🙂
Hi there! I DM'd you on Crystal Information's instagram last night, but I feel like you might perhaps not be checking on those messages too often! Here is a quick photo of some of the crystals of which I'm questioning the authenticity, but if you could head over to the IG messages, I would appreciate it so much, as I sent you short videos that give a better look at the pieces (and why I'm not sure they are real)!
They were imported from a Chinese wholesaler, and everything else I bought from them seems legit. However, I have my doubts about:
– Cluster A: clear quartz, because it looks too perfectly arranged (points all pointing straight upwards), and the bottom and cracks and crevices all seem to be glued together with what I'm gonna call "crystal cement", basically sandy crystal bits + glue
– Cluster B: same thing, but not as obvious as in A
– Cluster C: similar to A and B, but the base actually has some color to it that makes it look more like a natural matrix, but I'm questioning it because it's from the same live sale
– Cluster D and E: supposed to be smoky morion quartz, but it seems quite opaque, was very cheap (4$USD and 12$USD each), and has a bit of a weird smell to it (toasty or toxic?) that none of the other crystals received from the seller have. Also the way some small particles are stuck on the face of the points seems a little odd to me.
The photo doesn't show these details very well, it's all more obvious in my instagram messages!
Thank you so much for your input!
Hi! As mentioned in instagram, all look natural and legit to me 🙂
Hello can you please tell me if this is real or not because I’m really not sure. Thank you
Hi Jasmine, it is real 🙂 It is Black Tourmaline.
Hello friend, would these be real Morion Quartz? Cheers.
Hi Maksi, while I cannot be 100% sure without holding the crystals in my hand, from the photos, i would be 80% no it is not a true motion.
R these real moldavites?
Sorry, I do not see any links or a photo of what you are asking about?
Not sure if my first comment went through, I bought a some smoky quartz recently, can you tell me if it's treated quartz or naturally dark?
Hello Sonia, they look natural to me, nice crystals 🙂
Hello, I just found your website after have bought some smoky quartz. Will try to attach the picture, could you tell me if they are treated quartz or actually smoky quartz?
Hi im planning to buy this moldavite. Appreciate if could tell me if this is original.thanks.
Hi Sri, That is fake.
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Hello, this is my first piece of black tourmaline-is it supposed to be chipped up like this and do you think it’s genuine? Also, what do you think the black marks are on this that looks to be almost like sharpie marks? Thank you
Hi D, Thank You for your question and photo. Yes, it looks real enough, it should feel quite heavy for it’s size. Tourmaline often have uneven heavily striated sides and the cutters do not always cut enough off the sides to make them totally smooth. The round marks you mention are where Mica crystals once grew, they leave the crop circle type marks behind.
Hi, Anthony,
Could you possibly tell me if my citrine tower is real? I don’t know how to upload a pic here, but I’ll send it to your email if I may.
The thing is, I researched for ages before getting one, but all the information only taught me how to recognize baked amethyst. So while I’m sure I avoided the amethyst trap, I wonder if I did even worse and fell for glass. Just today, I learned about ‘smelted quartz,’ and now I can’t stop wondering about it. Please help if you can!
Hi Marina, yes, please send a photo to anthony@crystal-information.com
Hello can you tell me if this is really etched Citrine?
Yes, it is a very light Citrine. I do not see any etching in the photos.
Hello I recently bought a Natural Smokey Citrine Quartz Cluster and am wondering if it has been treated. Any feedback would be appreciated thank you.
Hi Jessica, that looks to be natural.
Thank you for making me aware of this!