There's a lot of gold mined in the Philippines and when rendered into jewelry, it often has a pinkish tint than other nation's jewelry. Kind of pretty really--a bit pink, but not quite what they call 'rose gold' here. We got some nice 18K wedding bands over there. The only way you can be 100% positive of its pureness is if you have a chemical kit.
I recommend going to a national chain jewelry store to be 'safer' and asking around about the most reputable stores. Even the richest Filipinos who own the malls don't seem to mind having counterfeit merchandise prominently postioned in their flagship stores. Even up at the very front of the store you'll see things like fake Oakley sunglasses, Lacoste shirts, etc. Corruption's so bad there that you never really know.
India has attracted attention in recent years for shipping jewelry that is marked under K--marking gold '10K' that is really 9K. 14K that's really 12K and so on. I heard Britain at one point recently banned gold imported from India.
On gemstones you can burned VERY easy. Diamonds are often marked as higher grade than they really are. Maybe the biggest rip offs are in emeralds and rubies. If they're not down right fake all together, emeralds are often impregnated with oil and put under high pressure and come out looking near or even 'perfect'----for a year or two anyway. Then the oil dissipates and all the flaws, cracks and inclusions become quite obvious. Rubies are swapped out with high quality garnets.
My brother in law has been going to Sri Lanka for close to two decades and had a line on saphires and my sister offered me the chance to buy some at a 'too good to be true' price. Even though Michael knew the dealer, I balked. Turns out the stones are just incredible and worth easily ten times of what he paid and what I would have paid. If I'd taken Mike's word that the dealer was reputable (I didn' know they were actually good friends till later) I'd have really gotten a great deal.
I love gem stones like I love my Indian artifacts, but I'm always wary of their authenticityand always travel with a loupe magnifier if I'm digging, buying or swapping.
From all over Asia to Mexico, C. & S. America, buying artifacts, gemstones, epec. emeralds, is a risky preoposition. Even if you get the 'real thing' it may be deemed highly taxable or seized all together, If it's a special national heritage piece (and they seem to vary from official to official on that., you can even go to jail.
Same with wild life. I will forever regret trying to hide those two black jaguar kits down the front of my pants--they're born with sharp claws and teeth already!.
You'd think I'd have learned when I tried to smuggle a big, live lobster down my pants from the Red Lobster restuarant's tank, only to have the rubber band holding the lobster's giant claw come off at the worst possible time.--LOL.
