trusting a stone cutter

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Hi forum,

Are their basic safeguards for finding a stone cutter you can trust? Things you can do or ask?

The process of just leaving your stones and getting something back that may or may not be the same stone is an easy exploit imo..

Guess you have to build a relationship.. but that takes time..

What happens if you find a really big one! How do you trust any cutter!
Perhaps am paranoid.. apollogies if I have offended resident cutters!
Cherrs, James.
 
Hi James I live on the gemfields and know a few cutters and reputation is one of the best ways to find a good cutter. I have had a few stones cut over a 10 years by one cutter and he does a good job until about 3 months ago I found a very good stone 32.9 carat yellow blue I took said stone to the cutter and he cut 9.6 carat stone which in its self is very good but he cut it to big leaving to much blue to cause the yellow to show a lot of green and he also had the stone heat treated when asked not to so sometimes even the trusted muck up. Regards Dave
 
I have recently had the same problem with a 50 carat blue I have...finding a trusted cutter however my mum knows a few and they have said I'm welcome to watch then do it (more because I am interested in how it's done)....personally if I didn't know ANYONE that cut or a best friend that trusted a cutter I would be inclined to Send it to Lamberts....many people have issues with Thailand however Imo their reputation is too big nowadays and if they were caught swapping stones they'd lose too much business to be worth it unless it was a million dollar stone...they do a good quality cut now and unless the stone will be worth 5 grand or more after being cut I see no point in spending 30-40 a carat for a cutter on a stone that's probly worth slightly more than what u spent on cutting....I've also seen many thai cuts that are better than local cutters...at the end of the day u can never fully trust anyone except if you do it yourself ;)
 
I would have to agree, if you send a big stone to lamberts its as easy as specifying you will pay more for the best cut and even contact them with this comment.

If you send a big stone it is a risk and most say dont do it over 5 carat.

However you risk paying a lot to have a stone of substance cut here. Its really trial and error, get some small stones cut locally and get some done in Thailand and make your own conclusions. Some people have bad luck but most actually have good luck from sending overseas. You gain for sure if its a debate about price as Thailand is significantly cheaper. I would stress that if the gem cutter in Thailand lands himself a good stone, he or she will treat it as such. Wouldn't you if you were a gem cutter no matter where you live? In fact Im more worried sending a 7 carat stone to a local as they may just go...oh that's prob only worth a few hundred bucks....ill do it when im hungover tomorrow......the person in thailand thinks....this stone is worth a months wages....its a good one!
 
These last two posts amuse me..
Contradictive , assuming .
Have you even looked into local cutters thorough?dont think the quality is up to scratch as local cuts inferior to Thais ? I think not. Hungover cuts aren't the way you should portray locals , the Thais have more to gain swapping / ripping a stone as you say" it's a months wages" or more ... Nuff said...
 
Kingsolomon said:
These last two posts amuse me..
Contradictive , assuming .
Have you even looked into local cutters thorough?dont think the quality is up to scratch as local cuts inferior to Thais ? I think not. Hungover cuts aren't the way you should portray locals , the Thais have more to gain swapping / ripping a stone as you say" it's a months wages" or more ... Nuff said...

I guess i'm just trying to point out that there are mixed messages re cutting local or cutting overseas. While most here say get a good stone cut local ( which I have done) , just assuming a reputable gem cutter in Thailand is going to rip you off is not the case. I'm sure someone has got a bad story on both local and overseas cutters so I think it best for each person to do their homework and weigh up the pro's and cons.

I have an inherent sense of pride as an Aussie to assume a local will cut better, but there may be no real difference....just like a dentist in Thailand may be significantly cheaper....is the dental work shoddy? Some will say yes and some will say no.

I'm happy with my local cutter but price wise massive difference. "trust" is a very subjective thing, and i'm sure many people umm and rrr about who to get to cut their gem. That's natural. I don't think we should have the opinion that Aussies "always" do it better when discussing options there's always an alternative. Lamberts are known for cutting a lot of stone parcels.

Maybe there's an old master cutter around the corner from Lamberts who lives in a tin shed.....my point is get out there and do some research don't just take the consensus that local cutters are better than overseas cutters.
 
We have have sent plenty of smaller stones to Lamberts and have been happy with the results. All the same, if I found a good-sized, good qualtiy stone I would probably prefer to get it cut locally rather than have it go through customs 4 times etc.
 
Lefty said:
We have have sent plenty of smaller stones to Lamberts and have been happy with the results. All the same, if I found a good-sized, good qualtiy stone I would probably prefer to get it cut locally rather than have it go through customs 4 times etc.

I have the same thoughts, but will have to investigate Thailand a bit more ..I Am married to a Thai so i'm over there quite a bit. Will be checking the gem people next time im over there, and would love to visit the markets in Chantaburi.......when im comfortable with id of gems a little better!!
 
Hmm... interesting thread, a thought just popped into my head, wondering how many Lambert faceters (cutters) have competed in competitions as opposed to hobbyists here in Australia. As I said.. just a thought!!
 
I personally took some stones to Lamberts to have cut last month. when I finally found the address with the assistance of my Thai girlfriend she was sure we were in the wrong place, the entrance was down a small alley and up a rickety elevator when we arrived at the office she was ready just to turn around and leave as she was sure we were in the wrong place and quite frankly if I did not know their reputation from this forum I would have agreed with her. When you spend any amount of time in the tourist areas of Thailand you get a sense of places you are probably better off not being and Lamberts is in just such a building which is in just such an alley but having said that they do have the reputation of doing a reasonable job on small stones and at good price. Would I send more stones to them to be cut ? yes small stones I would for large stones I will be looking elsewhere and all you can go on is reputation but as all good disclaimers say past success is no guarantee of future performance
 
Im a local commercial cutter and I have good days and bad ones. Sometimes the clients wants more stone back than they gave you and others want a better colour back. Price... I hear all the time I can get that cut for a dollar in Bangkok and the most common is "wheres the rest of my stone". As a cutter we can only work with what we get given and some need heat treatment to be fully cuttable or you get a milky looking stone. I still cant cut fully a stone in under an hour, so it comes down to what your willing to accept for an hours work. Im mostly offered less in the outcome weight than a teenager at Macdonaolds would make in the same time.
It mostly depends on the output. I can on a good day cut five stones and there very well cut, just ask King Solomon he's seen my work. Based on an ongoing contract and rapid payment I earn a living but still very low price per carat for local work. That's why I make special discs and cutting systems to massively increase output and keep the accuracy of local cutting. By putting my engineering skills into my faceting skills I can now compete with Bangkok in a way. I know they cant cut better than me only cheaper and my stones sell very fast in the market, because you put one of there stones next to one of mine in a similar size colour and cut you will always take my cut over theres. I will be out of business of course if they start cutting better.By the final wheel system I will be the best that ever was but to old to cut anymore as it is a never ending project.
 
Yes you can get stones cut much more cheaply in Thailand - low wages and a favourable exchange rate.

Ironic how so many of us bemoan the offshoring of Australian jobs but when it comes to having a stone cut, many people send the work straight overseas to save money.

We do send some smaller bits of rough - below 7-8 carats - to Thailand but I will not send anything much over that size. It sticks in my throat that Australia produces outstanding sapphires but when they find their way onto the world market, the best ones are inevitabley sold as Thai or Ceylon stones and the second-grade ones as Australian.

All of my better stones will be getting cut here in Oz.
 

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