GUEST: I went to a Goodwill on the Oregon coast.
APPRAISER: Okay.
GUEST: And for $20, I... I knew they were special when I saw them.
APPRAISER: And then you went further. You had them tested?
GUEST: Yes. I went from... many gemologists, and I must have-- on the Oregon coast alone, probably ten to 15.
APPRAISER: No kidding?
GUEST: A total of over, over 20...
APPRAISER: Did anybody tell you what they were?
GUEST: Most of them didn't have a clue. This gemologist would say, "Go to that gemologist."
APPRAISER: Oh, he'd...
GUEST: And I'd go to the next. "And this gemologist is better."
APPRAISER: Anybody offer to buy them?
GUEST: Um... nobody offered to buy them.
APPRAISER: Okay.
GUEST: Because I, um, I didn't want to sell them-- they knew.
APPRAISER: What do you think they are?
GUEST: Well, one lady committed herself, and she said she believed they were old rubies. At first, they'd hold them and they'd go, "They're not real."
APPRAISER: Okay.
GUEST: And then they'd say...
APPRAISER: "Wait a second, wait a second!"
GUEST: "Well, maybe they are." Yeah, "Well, maybe they are," you know, and most of the time-- because I had them in my little hot hand and I'd warm them up, and they'd be warm-- they'd say, "Oh, they're beads," you know? But then, after that, she said that they're worth around $10,000, you know, but I'm going, "Oh, my gosh," and that was cool, but she said she wouldn't commit herself, so she sent me to another big mucky-muck. She said he was a gemologist and he had a big gallery...
APPRAISER: Okay.
GUEST: ...with things, pieces that were, like, $30,000 and $100,000.
APPRAISER: You went to a high-class store.
GUEST: Yeah, so it looked really good.
APPRAISER: And what did he tell you?
GUEST: And he took them in his hands, and he, at first, said the same thing-- "Oh, they're not real," and I said, "Yes, they are." He said the color didn't look real.
APPRAISER: Now, what we have here is a stone tester. This thing does not lie.
GUEST: Cool.
APPRAISER: If it's not real, it's going to go up into that area right around here. And this also tells you what type of stones it is.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: Rubies are corundum. Sapphires are also corundum. I tested quite a few of your stones.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: Now, watch what happens. Nothing.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: Nothing. Nothing.
GUEST (laughing): Is that good?
APPRAISER: We're going all around it. Now, and I looked at the stones through the loupe and everything else.
GUEST: Yeah?
APPRAISER: I'm sad to tell you that they're not real.
GUEST: No.
APPRAISER: Yeah. They're some sort of composite.
GUEST: Really!
APPRAISER: They might be a plastic.
GUEST: You're kidding.
APPRAISER: See? I'm not kidding you.
GUEST: He put an hour and a half on those things.
APPRAISER: I'm telling you, and if you have this tested in the lab, it's going to cost you about $200 to have the stones tested, and they're going to tell you that it's not real.
GUEST: And did you see the pieces you can see through and everything?
APPRAISER: Everything.
GUEST: Weird.
APPRAISER: I'm sad, I'm sad to tell you that, I wish they were real, because if they were real, a ruby necklace like this would be worth $100,000.
GUEST (laughs)
APPRAISER: Now it's worth-- good costume jewelry...
GUEST: So it's worth ten bucks or 20 bucks.
APPRAISER: That's what it is.
GUEST: Strange, very strange.
APPRAISER: So I'm sorry to tell you that, but we had a good time with them.
GUEST: Yeah, we had a great time. (chuckles)
APPRAISER: I'm glad you came in.
GUEST: Yes, it's good to meet you.
APPRAISER: Okay.
GUEST (laughs)
