things I liked; things I liked; the price of the gem and the available info about them was sufficient. the layout of the website was pleasant and fairly simple to use. The product themselves are as advertised and am very pleased with. Things i disliked or wished were better; The info on the stones were sufficient but lacking. On other sites stones have full description to quality, grade, lustrousness etc etc. Some websites even had 3d renderings of the stones. Also shipping was fairly long which is understandable but, the second stone I ordered was shipped using thailand post which was a headache to use and tracking my package was a chore. All around I just think transparency on what I ordered and transparency on how what I ordered was lacking.

Excellent Quality Minerals Shipping was a bit long to N.America, but it is what it is. The important part is the minerals were exactly as described and show even better in person. Will definitely be purchasing more from Gandhara.

Beautiful aqua. Beautiful stone. Fair price. Well packaged. Arrived in the expected time. (It's a quirk of international shipping that they gather larger lots to bulk ship, so it might feel slow, but I promise it's the most efficient way.) Will definitely shop here again. One of my best experiences buying a loose stone.

We ordered a emerald from Gandhara… We ordered a emerald from Gandhara Gemstones a couple of weeks ago. The pictures shown in the site, were exactly what we received. At the time of purchase we made backup pictures of the stone. Then used digital scopes to compare inclusions. Emeralds are about 400 times rarer than diamonds, but yield similar characteristics. Diamonds are 10 on Mohs scale, emeralds typically are 7. But that's still hard enough to verify facets, edges using lights and the reflective surfaces on the stone. Our stone had the proper reflective surfaces. There was no zebra inclusions or bubbles, typically found on fake stones. I believe we worked with Farooq? They stay on top of the orders.

I can only recommend Gandhara Gemstones… I can only recommend Gandhara Gemstones and Farooq is a really wonderful salesmen that takes the utmost care of his customer's wishes and needs. I had a request for a pretty complex custom piece made with one of his gems and it turned out better than I could ever wish for. It was not the cheapest price I've ever paid, but the care and workmanship I got in return were well worth it. I will return to Farooq anytime I'll need a top class gemstone or custom piece.