Engagement Rings

  Wedding Bands

  Other Rings

  Bracelets

  Earrings

  Necklaces/Pendants

  Brooches/Pins

  Diamond Jewelry

  Emerald Jewelry

  Sapphire Jewelry

  Ruby Jewelry

  Gemstone Jewelry

  Pearl Jewelry

  Akoya Pearls

  Freshwater Pearls

  South Sea Pearls

  Tahitian Pearls

  Men's Jewelry

  Designer Jewelry

  Period Jewelry

  Georgian

  Victorian

  Art Nouveau

  Arts & Crafts

  Edwardian

  Art Deco

  Retro

  1950's

  1960's

  1970's

  1980's

  Contemporary: 1990's - Today

  Directory

  Jewelry Time Periods

  Gemstone Descriptions

  Care of Fine Jewelry

  Policies

  About the Owners

  Owner Biographies

  Professional Organizations

  Press

Policies

Payment:  We accept payment by United States based MasterCard, VISA, Discover and American Express cards up to $24,999.  We also accept wire transfers.  Please contact us to arrange this form of payment.  We do not accept foreign based credit cards, cash, checks or money orders.  We will ship only to your registered billing address.  International purchases must only be paid for via wire transfer and absolutely no returns will be accepted on international sales.  Not all locations have shipping available and we take no responsibility for packages lost or stolen in foreign countries.

Shipping:  Orders will be processed within 72 hours of receipt of payment.  All orders will be mailed through the United States Post Office via Registered, Insured mail, the most secure shipping method available.  Shipping and handling charges are based upon value and weight of the package.  For security reasons, overnight deliveries are not available. 

Shipping costs are as follows:

Up to $ 999.                      $18
$1,000 to $ 4,999             $28
$5,000 to $ 9,999             $35
$10,000 to $ 14,999         $40
$15,000 to $ 19,999         $48
$20,000 to $25,000          $55

For all items over $25,000, please contact us to discuss shipping costs.

Returns:  Purchases may be returned for any reason within 7 (seven) days of receipt with ALL ORIGINAL TAGS attached as received.  All sales will be considered FINAL after this 7 day period, which means that the return package MUST be sent via United States Postal System Registered, Insured mail as of the seventh day.  You must contact us immediately upon receiving your package to notify us of any problems.  Please contact us by phone at (631) 324-4367, or by e-mail at gemspast@aol.com to inform us of any returns.  All returns must be securely packaged in order to prevent damage in transit.  Prior to shipping to you, we have carefully inspected each item for damage or loose stones and have packaged them to avoid all damage.  Should any original tags be removed we will consider that you have accepted the item as is and it is therefore non-returnable.  No jewelry will be accepted for return if it has been damaged, altered, or worn.  Once we have received the returned item, we will inspect the condition and then issue a refund check, less shipping and/or wire transfer fees, within 3 (three) days of receipt.

Evaluation of Jewelry:  All jewelry has been carefully inspected and fully evaluated by two Graduate Gemologists, one of whom is a Certified Gemologist Appraiser (American Gem Society).  This jewelry is thoroughly examined and color graded in lighting of approximately 5000 degrees Kelvin.  Unless noted otherwise, all gemstones have been evaluated and graded in their mountings to the full extent permitted by said mounting.  In lieu of gemological reports, an assumption has been made that all gemstones are natural and where treatment is common to that variety of gemstone, such treatments are assumed to have been done.  Certain colored gemstones are commonly treated to improve color and clarity.    All diamonds are graded against American Gem Society (AGS) certified master diamonds and described using the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) nomenclature.  Colored gemstones are graded using the Gem Dialogue Color Grading System.  Unless otherwise noted, all mounted diamond and gemstone weights are estimated by careful measurement using accepted gemological formulas and practices.  If the jewelry contains gemstones that have been certified by independent gemological laboratories, said certificates will be noted and will accompany the jewelry upon sale.  Metals are described as stamped and tested and are assumed to be consistent throughout. 

Circa dating and time period descriptions are based upon research of Hallmarks,  design, nature of materials, cuts of gemstones and compared against our comprehensive collection of reference books, catalogues  and materials.  Circa dating is intrinsically inexact since decorative time periods overlap.  We circa date all of the jewelry to the best of our ability and education.

Privacy and Security:  GEMS of the PAST, Inc.® respects our clients’ personal privacy and security of sensitive financial information.  We adhere to the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS).  We have installed and maintain a firewall configuration to protect cardholder data and we do not use vendor supplied defaults for system passwords and other security parameters.  We protect stored data and encrypt transmission of this data across open public networks.  We use and regularly update anti-virus software and maintain secure systems and applications.  We restrict physical access to card holder data and access to such data is only by a need to know process.  We track and monitor all access to network resources and card holder data and regularly test security systems and processes.  We maintain a written policy that addresses information security. 

By necessity, GEMS of the PAST, Inc.® requires all purchasers to provide their full name, billing address (which will also be the shipping address), phone number and e-mail address.   This information is used only for the purpose of filling the customer order and will not be shared with any third party entities.  Said customer will be contacted only if there is a problem with processing their order.  E-mail addresses may be used to contact clients to inform them of sales and special offers.  Clients may opt to have their name removed from our mailing list by contacting us in writing.

This policy has been registered with Control Scan, Inc., 340 Interstate North, Suite 347, Atlanta, Georgia 30339.  Phone: (800) 738-3960.  E-mail:  info@controlscan.com.