New to Lapidary in Sydney

Hi there, We're planning to go to Inverell area to find saphires and then have to work out where how to get our stones cut. Whats the most economical option to do this ? As paying a cutter can get expensive. We're close to the Surry Hills lapidary club in Sydney ? Does anyone go? Is it just Wednesday night and does it get crowded to use the machines?

G'day Renatab, I like your enthusiasm. To be totally realistic here, if you come back with a couple of decent size cutters around say 5-6ct you'll be doing very well. My mate just got back from Billabong Blue on Friday, he found about 10 cutters over a week he said, he was digging in the creek. I'll photo them today and put up a pic later. One family found an 84ct stone just up from where he was digging, was supposedly quite a decent one.

Okay, regarding cutting stones, it is a real art form and can take a while even to just cut your first one, most people start with a Topaz or something else not too valuable, as cutting Sapphire can be difficult/problematic even for experienced cutters. Barney on here constantly says that he hates cutting them, but he does do an excellent job on them. They can be a very problematic stone to cut due to inclusions, cracks, different hardness planes, even just deciding whether to cut on or off table can be difficult.

Anyone can learn to facet but it could take a while is all I'm trying to get at.

When I sort my stones it is usually into 2 lots,1) stones over 4ct, 2) stones under 4ct, 3) Stars and stones to be Cabochoned.

Nice stones near 4ct and over I get cut by Barney (Kingsolomon), stones smaller than that I send to Lamberts Gems in Thailand, http://www.lambertgems.com/ as cutting the small ones here in Aus is generally not worth it unless they are of exceptional colour and clarity. Regarding stone yeild with Sapphire it is generally only around 25% of the rough size if you're lucky and the stone has very few problems.

Any stars and Cabochons I send to Thailand also as they do a great job on them and they are very cheap to do, at $1.65 per ct. Faceting costs only $4.65 per ct for Sapphire over 0.49ct. They do an ok job at faceting, some people say they don't and some say they do, I think it's decent value for what you pay for as the small stones will cost quite a lot to do here and will most likely never be worth what you paid to get them done.

Anyway that sort of about covers it. I don't know about Surry Hills Lapidary Club but someone there might offer to cut your stones for you. Or take the time to learn how to do your own faceting.

A few small stones from Lamberts here in this pic, these are from the last 2 lots I sent there, they are all Inverell Blues.

I actually like cutting sapphire - provided it's a good one. I find sapphire nice to cut. It generally behaves itself and takes on a brilliant polish with very little difficulty.

But I'm a hobbyist and I can understand why some people who cut professionally don't like cutting them. So many people who go out and find a sapphire think they have a valuable stone just because it's a sapphire. As a long time sapphire hunter in the wild , I can say that good ones are not that easy to come across. If they were, they wouldn't be valuable. I can imagine being a pro and having people turn up with a stone to be cut and having them pull out and proudly show a sapphire, not knowing that it is not in fact a very good one (riddled with silk etc) and may cut a stone not even worth the cutting fee.

Good to see your enthusiasm Renetab. You will need a strong back to handle the digging and a big heart to be able to deal with dissapointment and a decent dose of luck. However, in this game the major part of luck is persistence - if you are prepared to keep moving the dirt, your chances will increase. It's a great feeling when you finally see that stone glistening in the bottom of the sieve. Get out there and give it a go!

The lapidary club in Surry Hills, unless it changed recently, doesn't have faceting machines and they don't teach faceting.