Belleair Coins, Gold, & Diamonds — Attraction in Largo

Purchased 6 large loose "Aquamarine" gems from Belleair several months ago and was reassured and guaranteed they were aquamarine by the owner. They were all matching and gorgeous Aqua color and clean. I paid $2400. I spent $300 having them polished professionally by a lapidary and then paid $110 and certified one of them a few months later after the work was done as I had a designer that was going to create a piece for it. GIA the Gemological Institute of America certified this stone as BLUE TOPAZ that was worth 95% less in value. I had all the other stones tested and they were all BLUE TOPAZ. So I paid over $2800 to find out I had $100 in Blue Topaz gems. I took the gems and their ORIGINAL BAGS with ORIGINAL PRICING from the owner in OWNER HANDWRITING on the bags from BELLEAIR and they tell me too long ago and too bad. The owner said they would not honor any credit or refund even though I showed them the certification proving what they sold me was not Aquamarine and the bags all with the exact carat weights and pricing noted and asked them to get it tested on their own to see they made a mistake. My feeling is this was no mistake and they intentionally tried to rip me off and they did. The owners here are a TOTAL FRAUD, dishonest and unethical...knowing that they tried to deceive on their word and tried to steal. I encourage anyone buying anything here to have it checked out quickly and do not take the word of the owners...have a professional look and authenticate and get a clear return policy when they will lie to deceive. I spent a couple months having these gems polished to perfection and certified and while I had the original packaging in store writing on the gems and the owners knew it was their fault and they would not accept a return or credit. My reason for this review is just to let others know to be cautious...get everything on a receipt in writing and know these guys are unethical as most would accept the error if that is what it was and resolve. My guess is that the owners knew these gems were not aquamarine and tried to steal which is exactly what happened. ...

I would not recommend selling your jewelry to them. Took a 22 karat gold chain that weighed 40.2 grams to them and was initially offered $3350. Spot price of 22k gold was $119 at the time putting the value of the gold at 4780. For context earlier in the day I stopped by gold and diamond source who offered $3800 and when I asked if they could go higher the responded with, “We’re not that kind of place, we don’t do that here.” Arnold’s jewelry who offered 3700 (77-78% of spot) and when I asked about the 85% live price on their website and the premium they advertise if they can resell it, he said read the bottom of the page we don’t offer that when their is volatility. The guy told me he expects a big drop in gold. That doesn’t make any sense anything that is traded will go up and down. Finally jm bullion offered me $4000 for the chain. So after they offered me $3350 I said I was just at gold and diamond source and they offered me $3800(80% of spot), he then acts like he’s doing something on his calculator (probably calculating how bad he is trying to scam me) and takes the chain to someone else and says that they will offer me $3870. They clearly have no integrity or honesty if they low balled me that much and are willing to offer me that much more because I was offered $3800 at gold and diamond source. The average age of customers selling gold/silver there was probably 72 if they are making offers to me (a man in his 30s) I can only imagine how much they are scamming older customers who are relying on the people working here to give them fair and honest offers. I would definitely never go back here and you should definitely check around first if you are...

TL/DR: Margie and Bryce were great to work with! My paternal grandmother passed away before I had the chance to really get to know her and the only thing she directly passed down to me was a very small dainty necklace that I am so afraid to wear that I almost never do. I have since received other items that were hers including some beautiful sterling silver silverware. Of course I would never use these for their intended use and they have spent over a year sitting in a box, in another box in my closet. After calling around and visiting countless locations I finally called The Silver Queen and the sweetest voice (Margie) answered the phone! I was over the moon to find out that The Silver Queen has the capability to turn my grandmothers silverware into pieces of jewelry that I will be able to wear often and proudly. While I visited a couple other places that were also able to do the work after hearing Margie talk I knew I had to make the 40 minute drive to go to The Silver Queen! After consulting with Margie on the design she informed me of all my options and I decided to sell the remaining silver to pay for both the work being done and a chain to put my pendant on. To which led me to Bryce who very kindly greeted me at the door when I originally arrived and who handled the transaction of me selling my remaining silver. Bryce was quick, efficient and still had great customer service. Margie was a breathe of fresh air after dealing with other companies who I felt looked down on me because of how I looked and maybe even because of how young I still am. Either way I’ll never buy or sell jewelry anywhere else because of the kindness I was shown by the staff here at The...