FAQ
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Frequently Asked Questions
AfricaGems has been online since 1998 and has been in business since 1984. It was created and operated by Marc Sarosi, a well known gemstone dealer. Marc along with his 2 assistants run the day to day operations. Please see our About page for full details.
Yes, AfricaGems does have a physical location in Mill Valley, CA, USA but we cannot accommodate members of the public due to insurance policies.
No, AfricaGems offers a full selection of both genuine, natural mined from the ground gemstones and diamonds as well as branded created gemstones such as Chatham and Charles & Colvard Moissanite. We also offer a complete selection of imitation and cubic zirconia gems. These are are found under the Created Gems section of the website. AfricaGems provides a free Certificate of Authenticity for every gemstone or diamond sold above a value of $100.
AfricaGems offers FREE RETURNS on unaltered items in their original condition by emailing you a pre-paid, fully insured return shipping label to use to send back your item(s). This applies to domestic USA orders only. We have a 30 day inspection period. 100% refund on all merchandise (exception on custom made for you jewelry which are non refundable). AfricaGems makes it super easy to buy your gemstone(s) and jewelry with complete confidence. See our guarantee page for complete details. All items are considered sold and non returnable after the 30 day inspection period.
Yes we have a tremendous amount of inventory not listed. If have a specific, hard to find request, we can most have it or can likely locate it for you as we know all the major gemstone players worldwide.
Yes we ship worldwide, certain countries exempted. We highly recommend choosing DHL shipping option for international shipments as USPS is not reliable in many countries and tracking is door to door with DHL and customs and duty issues are much easier with DHL. All orders over $400 are not eligible for USPS mail service.
The buyer/recipient pays for all customs duty/taxes & clearing charges. AfricaGems has no control over customs and it is the responsibility of the buyer to determine the amount of duty/tax and or clearing broker charges.
Gemstone and Jewelry photography is the most difficult type of photography due to many factors. We image our gems & jewelry items in a studio with bright daylight lighting and a macro lens that greatly magnifies the subject. If you were to view your gemstone and jewelry items in those conditions they would look just like the image you see online. It is impossible (contrary to many so called gem forum experts) to truly judge the color of a gemstone unless you see it in your own real life lighting conditions. This is why AfricaGems offers free return shipping on all of our merchandise so that you can feel completely at ease with your potential purchase not knowing exactly what it will look like in your real life conditions.