Discovering the true value of gemstones and feng shui stones in Vietnam.

The Vietnamese market is currently booming with gemstones and feng shui stones, but consumers are often overcharged or buy counterfeit goods.

Gemstones are highly durable stones with a hardness typically ranging from 8 to 10 (on the Mohs hardness scale), such as diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and sapphires. These stones possess beautiful colors, high purity, and are often crafted into jewelry. For finished gemstones, the 4Cs (Colour, Carat, Clarity, Cut) standard is commonly used to determine quality.

Feng shui spheres are made of glass.

Semi-precious stones are those with a hardness of approximately 3-4 to 6-7 (Mohs hardness), such as: quartz, agate, jade, peridot, tourmaline, garnet, fluorite, spinel, malachite, azurite, calcite… These stones also have beautiful colors, high purity, and are crafted into jewelry such as pendants, ring faces, bracelets, and necklaces…

Feng Shui stones are semi-precious stones, but they are often large in size and have less color and transparency, so they are usually carved into statues, mascots, spheres, etc., to be placed on desks, displayed in homes, or in lobbies, in front of houses, etc.

The Vietnamese market is currently very vibrant with various types of precious and semi-precious stones (jewelry stones, feng shui stones, etc.) such as ruby, sapphire, topaz, aquamarine, quartz, agate, petrified wood, tourmaline, garnet, tectite… and even stones that sellers "name themselves," for example, immature quartz...

The value is "inflated".

In reality, it's difficult for ordinary consumers to know the true quality of these stones, and they may even be ripped off or deceived, buying fake goods at high prices.

The statues were made from powdered stone and then dyed.

In Vietnam, searching on Google for prices of feng shui stones is like getting lost in a "maze," as prices at online stores vary wildly. Some places sell them for just tens or hundreds of thousands of VND, while others charge millions of VND.

Many people, due to a lack of knowledge about gemstones, often get ripped off when buying them, sometimes even purchasing fake or low-quality stones, buying natural stones but actually receiving dyed stones, stone powder, artificial glass, or even plastic.

A very common phenomenon in the current market for feng shui stones is that sellers lack in-depth expertise in stones, leading them to misname stones or confuse different types of stones, thus affecting the true value of the stones.

The bracelets are made of plastic.

Unless you are knowledgeable or have expertise in gemstones, buying a 100% natural stone is not easy. Even experienced individuals cannot accurately identify all types of gemstones and feng shui stones on the market, especially when they have been crafted into items such as pendants, rings, spheres, statues, or figurines. Therefore, to accurately identify many types of stones, analysis and testing in a laboratory using specialized equipment and microscopes are necessary.

How can you avoid being scammed?

Currently, the market offers several types of artificial stone made from stone powder that is then dyed, or made from glass, plastic, etc. So how can you buy genuine products at the right price?

According to Mr. Do Quang Khanh, a gemstone expert, the first step in distinguishing real from fake gemstones is observation. A natural gemstone, unless it's a piece of jewelry, often has imperfections such as cracks, fissures, veins, and impurities within the stone, which can be observed with the naked eye. Except for white quartz, smoky quartz, and obsidian, which are smooth and very inexpensive, other types of gemstones can all be identified in this way.

Bracelets or feng shui amulets that are perfectly clear without any imperfections and have vibrant colors like blue, red, purple, and yellow are generally fake.

Mascots made of plastic can be identified by close observation.

Furthermore, to distinguish between real stone and compressed stone powder (a very common type of fake stone on the market for feng shui stones), Mr. Do Quang Khanh stated that the two types differ significantly in their manufacturing methods. With real stone, the craftsman uses a chisel to carve the surface, resulting in uneven, indistinct lines, and no two pieces are ever exactly alike. In contrast, with stone powder, waste stone is crushed, mixed with glue and dyes, and pressed into molds. The finished product is very smooth, glossy, colorful, with extremely sharp and precise lines, and thousands of pieces will look exactly the same.

The most accurate way to determine the authenticity of a gemstone is to have it tested. A certification from a reputable testing center will provide complete information on the type of stone, whether it is natural or artificial, whether it has been treated, its size, weight, and shape.

A lecturer at the University of Mining and Geology, who is also passionate about gemstones and feng shui stones, noted: The best advice for buyers is to choose reputable stone vendors or ensure that the products purchased come with a quality certification from a gemstone testing center.

According to VOV