Minimum stone size to cut

Well the Wifey and I went to Grabben Gullen yesterday and got a few small blues and greens
We're just wondering is there a minimum size when it comes to cutting? We're looking to get something made up for one of the nanna's.
I have a attached a couple of pics any advise would be greatly appreciated ie keep digging






Cheers

Col

No min size Col....larger stones make great solitaires...and the smaller ones make nice complementary shoulder stones.Only worth cutting the larger stones which will end up over one ct here in Ozz. Much cheaper to send the smaller ones to Lambert Holdings in Bangkok as they only charge a few dollars per ct cut. They do a pretty good job and we have sent hundreds over to them with no complaints thus far....Cheers Wal.

G-day, my grandfather has all the goods on this one, he has now past but have watched him do some very small Pieces of stone on his wheel, has been passed down to me just logistic to get!

That's awesome Wal thanks heaps I'll check it out.
It would be nice to find one over a ct

Col

Thanks for the offer Goldbuzzhashit .
We also got a few larger black spinels, Are the the same stones they sell as black sapphires at jewelry shops?

Colin&Lee,

It's good to see what you came up with in the bottom of your sieves. I'm sure the missus will like to have them cut.

like Wal I often use Lamberts they charge around USD$1.50 per carat for saphs & corundums and and $USD $1.00 for other stones. They do a great job and return all stones including any rejects.- I send any thing that is over 2mm & let them see what they can cut.

You can contact Lamberts at http://www.lambertgems.com/

Lambert Industries Ltd
807 -809 Silom Road
Sol 17
4th Floor
BANKOK 10500
Thailand


For any stones under 4mm I send to them and I'm very happy with their results - I generally ask for calibrated stones so that I can set the cut stones into commercial settings. Lamberts will be at the Gemboree in Murray Bridge S.A. over Easter this year. You'll be able to see them there (if you are going).


If the administrator deletes the links just google Lambert Industries Bankok and you'll find all the info.

Cheers

Just had a look at the Lamberts site & say their prices are just a little higher than I posted above but only by a coupla bob. My last parcel of stones came back around Christmas.

Still at under $2.00 for a stone less than 1/2 a carat still really affordable.

Sorry to disappoint you Col but spinel and sapphire are two completely different stones. Sapphires are gem quality Corundum Al203.... and Spinel MgAl204...is a completely different chemical composition.... Spinels can come in a variety of colours and some are similar to Sapphire...Most coloured stones come from places like Burma and Sri Lanka and only very few are found in OZ. Unfortunately the black variety..." also known as Black jack "... isn't worth much. It is sometimes substituted for Black Onyx in jewelery.... does however polish up really well...Cheers Wal.

Thats Awesome guys,

Thank you so much, might get a few more stones together then send em on over.

Col

Hi Colin,
If you do send stones to Lamberts it's worth noting you don't get very good results if you indicate that stones with "some inclusions OK" (well I didn't - most of the stones at this standard were not usable). I'd recommend requesting the minimum standard of cut as "eye clean".

Cheers,
Justine

Thanks Justine will do going out for one more ferret in the coming weeks then I'll send a few over.
I'll put up some before and after piccies's once there done .

Cheers

Col

Hi folks,

I too would be interested in getting a few stones cut, and from the sounds of it a few of you have had some pretty good results.

For a first timer what would be the things to ask for, or the buyer beware stuff? out of the posts so far I've gathered this much

1) ask for eye clean?

2) request calibrated stones if you intend to use them in jewelry?

I've got a few bits and pieces I'd like to get cut, how do you know what shape they should get cut into? I have a blue topaz about the size of a pea but it looks super clean inside, I've also got a really nice piece of citrine probably the size of a 50c piece which has really good color and really clean except for a crack right through the middle, either side of that crack is near perfect though. With the citrine would I cut it in half (down the crack) at a local gem club and send 2 pieces over? Or would a place like lamberts be able to take 2 stones out of the one piece and again what shapes etc? I've also got a reasonable size piece of smokey which is as black as black can be, the only light I can get through it is on the edges where it is "thinner" but through the middle (thickest part) I can't get any light. The smokey is probably too big to use in a piece of jewelery if left in one piece and internally I don't know what its like because I can't see through it but is something like that worth getting cut into a big-ish display piece?

With getting stuff cut how much do you leave up to them to decide and how much do you \ should you specify? I don't have heaps of good stones so the last thing I'd want to do is bugger them up

Cheers
Adam

G'day Adam,

My advice would come under the heading "General".

Firstly, do not send any top quality "Large" stones overseas. ( here I'm talking "Precious", like Sapphires, rubies, Peridot, natural blue topaz,etc.).You will lose a lot of their value with facets not joining up.

With small faceting stones of lower quality don't send stones that aren't completely transparent. They are of no use when setting and clear small stones are cheap to buy over here at many markets.

With opaque colorful stones for "Cabbing" make sure the ones you send don't have visible cracks in them as polishing the stones will make the cracks more obvious.

With less valuable stones such as Garnets, Zircons, colored Quartz, clear Topaz, etc let them decide the best cut to get the largest stone possible. Larger versions of these stones are more valuable than smaller. If you specify "Calibrated" most of the time they will cut large amounts of valuable facetable material off the stone to calibrate it. Ask them to calibrate only the smaller stones.

We send many hundreds of stones to Lamberts and have been more than happy with the results. We can certainly recommend their services.

Again the most "IMPORTANT" advice i can give is NEVER send a large clear Sapphire or Precious Gem to a general cutting shop either Local or Overseas. Get advice on these from a recognized Jeweler. These stones are graded on the quality of their cut. Faulty cuts can halve their value, and re-cutting can be a costly exercise in more ways than one.

Cheers Wal.

Top advice Wal

The topaz that I've got is about the size of a pea. The bloke from the local gem club says its a blue topaz but I reckon it looks colorless to me LOL (however if you bounce the light off it right it does have a blueish reflection, but not blue in the sense of a sapphire), but either way he said that the stone is actually pretty good internally with no "eye" visible inclusions and said it would make a really good stone to facet.

I've got another piece of topaz (nearly identical color as described above, but found in locations a good 450km apart LOL) its a fair bit bigger but also is much rougher and will need a bit of work to get a cutter out of it.

The citrine is the also another one that's very good internally, both great color and very clean either side of 1 crack that goes through the middle of it. Are these the sorts of things that are safe to send over?

I've got a bunch of crystals and smokies I'm happy to send away as well, having quite a few of these I'm not so nervous about losing them or if they get buggered up.

Cheers
Adam

By the description of those Adam, I would have no hesitation sending them over. They will come back as nice sparkling stones and will be the start of what could be an amazing personal collection. Cheers Wal.

If you put the Topaz into a white bowl with water in it, you will see if they're Blue or Clear.

PROSPECTOR said:

If you put the Topaz into a white bowl with water in it, you will see if they're Blue or Clear.

Click to expand...

Nice one! That's a handy tip to know.

Adam

When you say not to send over large precious stones, how large are we talking? I have about a 3ct saph that I think will cut up nicely, would you send that over, or go local?
Cheers

Hey Colin&Lee,

How did you go? Did you send any of the sapphires overseas to get cut?

If so I would love to see a pic of them.

Cheers

GT

Sure did GT

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1637

I wouldn't send anything that would have a final cut weight of a carat or more I would get them cut here in Oz

Cheers

Col