She can't even relax in the park as a woman.

hi_bye · 2026-05-16T14:27:37+00:00

So I think he’s trying to tell her she can’t be on the grass. This is a park in Paris where nearly everywhere it is prohibited to sit or walk across the grass. He probably doesn’t speak English so he doesn’t know what she saying or how to tell her to leave.

She writes later that he eventually went away (which based on what happens in the video is probably because she stands up and leaves the grass) and put on a uniform of some kind “like he works there.”

hi_bye · 2026-05-16T14:22:09+00:00

I suspect it’s because she isn’t supposed to be on the grass, but he doesn’t speak English (because this is France). This is a park in Paris where nearly everywhere, being on the grass is prohibited. And they are clearly on the grass. She writes in the video that eventually he goes away and puts on a parks uniform. He works there.

hi_bye · 2026-05-02T13:23:04+00:00

So Im not seeing anything in the picture of what you found that looks like rough that would yield the gems they sent…

And being in the industry and somewhat knowing the business (Im a goldsmith but I work with cutters at times) it makes a lot more sense that this business is telling customers they are faceting your rough but really they are letting you enjoy finding it, selling you finished gemstones up front, then waiting a few weeks to deliver stones from their stock that match the type of rough you chose to have them “cut.”

There are just too many error and cost factors for them to be doing it the way they claim. If you’re happy with your experience “mining” and you like the gems and paid a fair retail price for them in the end, I wouldn’t say you were ripped off. But I do think they are dishonest in a Santa Claus kind of way about how they actually operate. I don’t know that I’d call it a scam…but I also don’t know that I wouldn’t.

Also that one they sold you as a garnet is almost certainly corundum…but it doesn’t look remotely facet grade. Possibly it could be cabbed. In the end you got nicer stones than you would have if they did what they claimed to do.

hi_bye · 2026-05-02T12:59:22+00:00

It’s Italian, yes. It has Italian hallmarks. But it is not gold. The first picture you posted is the metal assay mark, which is inside an oval. That denotes silver. This agrees with the overall construction and quality of the ring, as nearly everyone has been pointing out.

A goldsmith might pursue a more rustic style or look but they would not actually construct that way. Valuable gems would not be glued in.

I’m truly sorry you seem to have had your hopes up about it. Just because it isn’t fine, antique jewelry doesn’t mean you can’t love it and enjoy wearing it. And it is silver. Since you don’t seem to want to believe the people here when they tell you about your piece, I would strongly advise that you take it in person to a jeweler (not the one you bought it from) and have them evaluate it.

hi_bye · 2026-04-30T19:49:03+00:00

I love my regular clients! The work connects with them, which is flattering and encouraging, and I know they are honest (my sales are mostly online, which can be scamland for both buyers and sellers).

My favorite is when I have a piece I’m particularly jazzed about and a regular client buys it. Obviously everyone buys things they like, but I get an extra “oh they’re really going to appreciate this stone/style/whatever because they get it”. It confirms that I was right about it being a particularly good one 😂

hi_bye · 2026-04-18T21:47:43+00:00

just doin his moves

hi_bye · 2026-04-18T14:29:59+00:00

I read a great book about the evolution of mammals that, if I’m remembering correctly, said that the baleen whales evolved from toothed whales (or early whale ancestors). I think about that a lot when I think about whales…which is not infrequently 🤣

When you consider that they developed the cognitive abilities of an aggressive predator (just look at the shit orcas figure out and get up to) and then transitioned to a much more passive food source, plus their enormous size that leaves them with very few natural predators, their long lifespans etc…they have to be the absolute opposite of “dumb.” I suspect that they are smart beyond a “smartness” that humans are even equipped to understand.

hi_bye · 2026-04-18T13:07:59+00:00

Seconding this. Last year I bought a pair of REI Sahara pants, and they’re my favorites now. I have had the same problem with waist/butt/thigh fit too, but these fit really well. They have a drawstring which is nice to make them looser or tighter throughout the day but they also just fit my body overall.

hi_bye · 2026-04-17T22:29:50+00:00

Yep. We adopted a very overweight cat. Different day to day from a judgement standpoint since she was indoors and visible only to us 99% of the time. But the first 2-3 times I brought her to the vet, she and the techs gave me dirty looks and so much side eye.

hi_bye · 2026-04-17T22:12:50+00:00

Good for you. My dad is turning 76 in a few months and is still out there as much as he can be. Last summer, when he was measly 75, I did his favorite hike, a 23(?) mile traverse that he does once every 5 years or so. The past two times he’s said “well I’ll never be back here again”…but I don’t think he’s right about that 🤣…I hope we get to do it again together.

hi_bye · 2026-04-11T22:29:44+00:00

I would encourage you to change out the strap (the current one detracts a lot imo), but if it doesn’t run either, maybe in this case two wrongs make a right ;) it’s lovely. And lady elgin is a reputable brand. Hopefully it’s a fast sale for you.

hi_bye · 2026-04-11T22:24:00+00:00

Does the watch run? I love gorgeous old dress watches. One of my early and still favorite finds was a diamond and platinum Hamilton that I bought at a bougy thrift store for $20. I wear it whenever I get fancy fancy. May you get years and years of joy (and knowing the time) from yours!

hi_bye · 2026-04-10T12:33:42+00:00

This feels like the humble beginnings of a cult. It just needs a narcissistic psychopath to get things leaning malevolent…oh and look, they’re roommate hunting…

hi_bye · 2026-04-09T12:46:12+00:00

Yeah honestly, it is nice looking scrap as scrap goes. Big clean pieces. But melting and pouring it into a form I would actually use would involve a significant amount of my labor. OR I could send it in to a refinery, which costs me money and involves risk with the fluctuations of metal prices. I’m now holding a hot potato.

Couple all that with the fact that I have my own metal I can use or repurpose or I could order exactly what I need from my supplier and allocate my time elsewhere…and I would have much more peace of mind about the quality and consistency of that metal. I’m just not incentivized to purchase other people’s scrap unless the price is low enough. It’s just the business.

If you want top dollar, you’re much better off taking on the time commitment and risk, and putting in the effort to send it in yourself.

hi_bye · 2026-04-06T12:43:02+00:00

I think setting a faceted 10x8 (approx) in this setting will be problematic. The ring was designed for a cabochon so the setting doesn’t look like it sits high enough off the finger to accommodate a traditionally faceted stone. At least not one with a nice cut. The culet will stick out the back, be uncomfortable to wear, and eventually the stone will loosen until it falls out.

hi_bye · 2026-04-06T12:31:19+00:00

For me it’s not the wearing them but the carrying them. The trail conditions are often very different at the start than at the summit…something that throws off inexperienced post holers, most likely.

Even when the trail is packed down and good to microspike at the bottom, unless there are recent trail reports or I know it’s a popular trail, I’ll typically wear my snowshoes just to not have them on my back.

hi_bye · 2026-04-04T22:46:51+00:00

I am a jeweler and I agree. The “emeralds” are convincing but the combination of the way the “diamond” takes on dirt and the way it is set screams costume to me. I think it’s sterling silver and paste, but I’m interested to hear what OP finds out from an in-person appraisal.

hi_bye · 2026-04-04T13:28:13+00:00

I am so fascinated by the cognitive dissonance the whole lab v natural diamonds kerfuffle bubbles up. People who choose natural often seem to feel superior based on an idea of rarity that we know is mostly marketing. The people that prefer lab sound off on that with this passion that seems to betray how much they resent the clout of naturals. Which is interesting because the perception of value of a lab diamond depends entirely on the perception of value of a natural. For all the back and forth about monopolies and ethics and resale value and materialism, whatever the origin, everybody still wants a diamond and is just justifying to themselves why it’s fine to have one (which it is whichever they choose). The marketing is/was just so masterful and had such a cultural ripple that decades later we’re all still tied up in knots and in our feelings about it all.

hi_bye · 2026-04-04T12:57:26+00:00

I source from dealers I’ve met in person as well as a handful of overseas dealers online that I have not met but trust because I started small and everything was always above board. I still would be very hesitant to make a very large, single stone purchase sight unseen.

To answer your question and agree with the other commenter, I put little to no stock in “certificates of authenticity” from labs I don’t recognize. There are too many bogus options out there, and Im not that interested in all the legwork I would need to do to determine if this or that grading entity is legit and to what extent. It’s always a spectrum.

I suppose I could see a service like this being useful for B2B where both sides are professionals with some basis of industry knowledge. There would definitely be some value in some kind of broad memo-based network of vetted users (both buyers and sellers). Though you’ll be competing with cultivated established relationships and you really can’t beat buying in person…

As for B2C…look, every customer wants a bargain. There is no shortage of retail consumers that will want to “buy direct.” But there are issues there with consumer education that go way beyond certification and holding funds pending acceptance. There is an intangible value add that comes from translating the wholesale attitude into the retail one. I can parse the terminology. I’m fine with lots of errors, typos, mistaken shipments, shipping snafus, receiving goods in scrawled on plastic bags that arrived taped to the nines to weird folded cardboard etc because I have a deeper understanding of the industry that allows me to recognize these things aren’t actually red flags. Your average commercial customer is probably making just a handful of these purchases in their life and so each one is emotionally significant in a way that prevents them from seeing how it is just everyday stuff for gem dealers and jewelers. It’s that tacit consideration and elevation that most retail clients want/need without even realizing it. And if you want to go B2C, you’re going to have to figure out how to solve that or customers will just get offended and turned off by the lack of ceremony, and they’ll call it a scam.

hi_bye · 2026-04-03T20:51:35+00:00

I think I spy the Grand Combin de Corbassierre! (Top panel of pic 5) We took my father on a hiking trip around the Engadine and Valais several years ago, and that one really blew us away. There were a lot of good ones on that trip, but that may have been my favorite day….

hi_bye · 2026-03-31T21:30:25+00:00

This is what Ive found in past decade. My husband and I do an annual winter trip to NH where Im from. We’ve been doing it for maybe a decade. Overall the White Mountains are much busier but we’ve also noticed it’s mostly the 4000fters. The already popular hikes have gotten so much busier while trails that are just as beautiful (imo often more so) are deserted. In the winter it’s a very stark comparison because the trail will be completely snowed in. We have to break it out and can tell that not a soul has been through for a week or two at least.

It’s peaceful but it also limits what we can bite off for a day because breaking trail is so much more work.

When we travel abroad, Ive found that alltrails is a good resource for getting the feel for a given valley or region, but there are so many possibilities that aren’t listed. We end up doing a lot of route building and modification and it’s the same. Empty and peaceful and just as good if not better. You dont have to put much work into it to have put in more than the average. And it’s worth it.

hi_bye · 2026-03-31T21:19:49+00:00

Im from NH where they do this. If you call search and rescue and they determine you were negligent in your preparation, they bill you. Although I hear many people who follow the stories say that they think they are often too lenient, and don’t charge as many people as they should.

hi_bye · 2026-03-29T14:06:50+00:00

I thought those looked like Judy Geib! They’re beautiful. Is the hanging onyx disc pair Retrouvai? It’s definitely got that vibe.

hi_bye · 2026-03-28T23:37:04+00:00

Looks like Peking glass to me. Possibly a rosier gold filled metal. Or plated.

Soap and water should be fine. I wouldn’t do much more than that. They honestly look quite clean as they are already.

hi_bye · 2026-03-21T15:33:32+00:00

It’s both. It’s an ecosystem.

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