Gold was about $300 a ounce in the 1990s and early 2000s. In the late 2000s it is $750 to $1000. ( If you consider inflation in general, gold should be about $750 and ounce, just like gasoline should be $2.50-3 a gallon. Too bad our pay checks have not kept up.) Though retailers' jewelry prices have increased exponentially, you can still buy solid gold rings for $99. TV vendors are responding to the economic downturn with reductions in quality and prices. Watch out for the poor quality: 10 K, light weight, heavily included stones or those that are very light in color. I've seen some emeralds (green berryl) that are light mint green! That's not an emerald to me. ( I read recently that those light emeralds are usually heat treated to produce Aquamarines.) Prices can be equlivant to retail before the surge in gold prices sent jewelry costs soaring. I don't know why, but rings predominate with the TV vendors, as if we all had 20 fingers. Watch late night for the best values. Check www.KITCO.com for current gold prices (Jewelry Section) to see if an item is really a bargain. Retail jewelry prices are 3-5 time the cost of the components. Gold value is easy to calculate, colored gem stones require more knowledge and experience.

TV vendors: JTV has too much 10K for me. GemCountry on Channel 216, and on the web, is gone, but replaced by Perry's Estate Jewelry, with some of the same people. Sometimes they are funny on the air. I  got an incredible buy on tanzanite jewelry from GemCountry. Too bad they are gone.  They had good customer service. You might get the same service from Perry's, since they have many of the same people. DSN -- I have a love/hate relationship with them.  If you buy stones from them, check them carefully.  Get a magnifier ( 10 X) and check for poor cutting (not symetrical) and inclusions, especially ones that go across a stone and can cause a stone to crack. They have reimbursed me for the cost of returning an item, but you have to ask for that service.  They have been pushing rubies, saying the embargo means the end to  Mogok rubies,  and emeralds.

BIDZ.com and Buyz.com have cheep to expensive jewelry. If you bid on a "reserve price" item and are the highest bidder, you will probably get an offer to buy the item. I have had some fantastic offers, a 22K gold necklace weighing 71 grams for $2000, but I didn't need it.  When I looked at comperable items on Buyz.com, Buyz items were at least $500 more than the Bidz offer.

E-BAY Look at the history of sellers and the other items a seller offers.  If a seller has mostly cheap gems, with one special one, don't buy from that seller.   If gems or gold jewelry are real, you will probably pay a fair price for them. That is why you need to know about stones and gold before you buy. I've returned at least 10 items that were fake and been reimbursed for them. Once I was reimbursed without returning the item; it depends on the seller. It's a lot of trouble and cost to return foreign items. I mentions this because a lot of gold and gems are from foreign sources, especially Thailand.  Thailand is known for it's inventiveness with gem "enhancements".   It's worth it to have a valuable gem checked for authenticity and fakery. ( An appraiser and jewelry with more than 30 years experience in the Monterey Bay California  area is Craig H. at <craig4949@sbcglobal.net>.)  Ebay should tell buyers to insure returns for  full cost, even if the item is a piece of junk. Otherwise PayPal may not reimburse you. Items get held up in customs and not delivered promptly, but you may get reimbursed only if the item is delivered to the seller. This is a PayPal glitch that I just discovered.  Get a tracking number on any returns.  I've recently had a big problem using PayPal Plus Credit cCard with TradeTang.com.  You don't have the same protection that you do with a regular credit card or with E-Bay, as far as I can tell.  The customer service people neglect to tell you important information at PayPal Plus Credit.

Chain stores My opinion is that jewelry prices in chain stores are redicuously high. At KMART a 3-4 gram 10K bracelet was "on sale" for $300. Since is contains about $40-60 worth of real gold, depending on day's gold prices, that's a huge mark-up, much more than the usual 3 to 4 times.

Stones, colored gems, are difficult to evaluate. Color, cut, clarity, weight, scarcity and wearability (hardness) all effect price. An example is today's ( Oct. 30 2008) price of 14 K gold at KITCO (price for company buying 1-15 oz ) is 12.65 per gram. If a ring has 5 grams of gold, it's a great price at $99. www.kitco.com  It's more complicated to find this information for gems because of all the factors and because there is no comperable web resource.  You can search the internet stores and E-bay  to get loose stone prices, but you have to check several sites.

Psychology  Remember just because it's cheap, doesn't mean that you should buy it. Be wise with you money, but buy the best you can afford and what you will enjoy wearing or giving to someone. Don't buy jewelry as an investment unless you have experience selling jewelry. Jewelers will usually give you only the wholesale or melt price for gold, if that.  (Refer back to KITCO for prices.) When buying for loved ones, remember, the price you spend does not equal the love you feel.

Buying locally   July is traditionally inventory reduction time and a good time to buy. Your local, non-chain jeweler, not located in big malls, probably has the best deals and may have some unusual and high-end items. Make friends with these jewelers.