Cutting stones

[Pawny]

Hey guys im just curious as i am interested in doin a bit of gem hunting, but id like to know people thoughts on who would be the best place to get stones cut or someone on the forum who people would suggest or offer themselves? I got no idea where i should of posted this if its not in the right spot lol. Ive seen some work from people on the forums and im in love haha some of the detail that people put into their work is amazing.

So basically id like to know who people would reccomend and maybe some rough ideas of prices etc. Maybe a lil info on things like does the size of the stone to be cut affect the price etc. Or the type of stone for that matter?

Cheers Justin

 

[Heatho]

Depending on the type and size of stones Pawny, will dictate as to whether or not they are worth having cut in Australia. With Sapphires anything over 3 or 4 carat I'll have checked out as to whether it's worth asking Barney (KingSolomon) to cut them for me. He's an honest bloke and does a top job and luckilly lives close by to me. He charges a bit but does such a good job it is worth it, it's quite a time consuming job and I think what he charges is fair.

Anything smaller and of lesser stature stone I'll just send to Thailand to have cut, which usually works out very cheap.

Anyway to be honest, finding them is the hard part.

 

[Pawny]

Lol yeh im yet to get out and have a go but who knows i may get lucky wishful thinking hey. Ive seen Barney's work on here and looks incredible some of the stones. So basically anything small isnt worth being cut here? When you get them cut do you have to specify a cut you like or does the cutter themselves decide what fits the stone best? and as for the stones i notice your in sydney as am i so that means Barney is somewhere in sydney? If i was to find stuff that was worth it do i just take them directly to him to get checked out?

Cheers for the reply Heatho

 

[Heatho]

Hey Pawney, hopefully you do get lucky mate, would love to see you get some nice ones. Yeah the small ones unless they have exceptional colour and clarity just aren't worth it, you'll pay more for the cutting in Aus than the stone is worth. The Thais do ok with the small ones and you'll get some nice stones back if you send plenty off.

Yeah Barney is on the Northern Beaches also, when you get some stones just send him a message to get his pnone number to make an appointment, he'll invite you over so he can check the stones for you and see if they are worth doing and to see if they have problems like cracks, veils or inclusions in them. Just one thing though is some stones can look problem free but then get issues during cutting such as cracks and chips falling out so there really are no guarantees, luck needs to be on your side the whole way, lol. Generally though when he does a stone it will work out but sometimes you can lose quite a bit, it's just the way it goes. For instance, the last Sapphire he did for me was about 4.5ct rough and ended up at 0.8ct after faceting but it was a perfect cut and is a top quality stone, I'm stoked with it.

I generally leave it up to the cutter to decide what shape and cut will work best to get the greatest return on the weight.

 

[willo1]

Hi Pawny,

I have only just started getting into gems and sapphires. I had some that I sent over to Thailand to get cut. I sent over 42 stones and ended up getting 15 of them cut. The rest were sent back as rejects, although it appeared that they attempted to cut some of the rejects but due to inclusions and cracks they have stopped.
It was amazing to see how small some of the stones were that they cut. I got a few stones back that were the size of a pin head.
It ended up being around $110 Au dollars to get them cut. Be prepared to wait for them though, it took around 3 and a half months to get them back.

 

[Pawny]

lmao 3 and half months? god i would think someone had stolen them and done the runner if i waited that long lol who is it that you get them cut by in thailand? is that Lamberts?

 

[Lefty]

lmao 3 and half months? god i would think someone had stolen them and done the runner if i waited that long lol who is it that you get them cut by in thailand? is that Lamberts?

Gday Pawny. Yeah, that would be Lamberts. My father sends a lot of his smaller stuff to them, I facet some of his better ones for him. It does have a long turnaround time. They generally do an ok job.

If you do have something a bit bigger, better and more valuable then get it cut here in Oz. If you're in Sydney, I would go and see Barney.

Cheers

 

[willo1]

Yeah it was at Lamberts. I stressed for a while as there was no contact by them saying they received them or anything. I was reassured by other member of this site to remain patient which turned out to be the right advice. Eventually they sent an email saying they were done and an invoice. Paid invoice and waited 25 days for delivery....Happy with the result.

 

[Pawny]

Ok so as im new to it all and yet to go out and ger some stones but wat is small that would warrant being sent away? Amd wats big enough to be kept in oz? I was goin through some stuff i got when i was really young on a trip when i went to see me dad up in emerald in queensland and ive got quite a few smaller stones. I weighed them all together and ive got a total of 232 carats of stones. So how do i tell what kind of stones they are and if they are even worth cutting etc? Thanks for all the help so far guys and sorry if my questions seem dumb.
Cheers Justin

 

[Heatho]

Post up some pics Pawny, I'll have a crack at the identification of some of them for you. If I don't know I'm sure others will.

I'd send anything larger than a decent match head that is clear and nice looking over seas.

 

[Pawny]

not the best images i know but the best i can do with what ive got? i might need to acquire some glass so i can put light underneath it but see how you go

 

[Heatho]

Hey Pawny, I think I can see a few Sapphires and Zircons but yeah you'll need a torch light to help with the ID.

 

[Pawny]

ok i got some pics of the gems through glass i had to use the bathroom scales lmao cause i dont have any glass anywhere to use.
sorry quality isnt the best

 

[Pawny]

another thing to note is alot of these arent round as such alot of them are flattish but still have some thickness to them

 

[Twapster]

Most of those gems look like bombs...ie not much you can do with them being flat or cracked all over the place. I guess pretend you are a gem hunter.....can you see a nice little cut gem in any of them.... if they were put to a grinding wheel or sanded so only a nice little colourful bead was left...would that bead have cracks in it ....lots of inclusions...or would it be a possible nice little jewel? My 5+ carat went to about 1.93 I think oval brilliant cut? My 7 carat went to 4 when it was cabochoned

Flat gems are limited in what you can do, other ones can be cabochoned but not cut, lets say if its not a sapphire is it worth the effort? All of those questions come into play. I'm certainly no expert, I would be putting them in "piles of possible importance" and go back to them each day and re examine, you may start to change your mind and swap stones to different piles. You will most likely be left with 1 or 2 standouts.

If you have a bunch of "possibles" then send to Thailand or maybe wait a bit longer after a few GG visits! If less than around 5 carat send to Thailand. Over that if its a good one send to Barney or another cutter, otherwise send all to Thailand. They will sort them and cut the ones worth cutting and send back the ones they wouldn't even bother with. Ive used Langford Gems in SA, about $100 for my cutter and $40 for the cabochon. Same cut in Thailand prob 1/6th the price.

 

[Pawny]

theres only a few gems amongst them that i had a really good look at and didnt see anything inside of them ie. no cracks or fractures or inclusions with my naked eye. one of them being the orange one above the 5cent coin in the 4th picture and in the 5th picture you see a green one next to the 5cent coin. in the light any blemishes look like surface cause i cant really see anything inside of them at all. Theres 2 amongst them also that are clear which seem ok and a light blue one but i doubt there would be much left of it after cutting lol it would be small.

out of all of them id say theres only half a dozen with some possibiblity. But id like someone with experience to look at them because im definately not experienced lol

 

[Twapster]

You may have to join that lapidary class ive been meaning to join! lol Parramatta apparently does faceting, Beecroft does not....anyone correct me if I'm wrong.

Bring them to our next meet up, I'm sure my wife will be able to snatch the cutters from your hands in 3 seconds flat and shes got no experience! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Sluicing Stan]

Hi Pawny
Would like to help if I can, but I am in Brisbane.Would really need to see them closer. 8)
Can you possibly take some macro pictures?
To see the quality a bit better.
Some stones can still be faceted free shape (even when shallow) and still look quite striking - very unique.
I have been cutting and faceting for almost 40 yeas now. If you get stuck let me know.
Stan

 

[Pawny]

I might have to get my good camera out for some macros lol and not the phone hha ill take a pic of a few of the ones i think would be ok
And Twapster i will do just that haha i put them in with my scale so ill always have them with me

 

[Heatho]

Hey Pawny, to be honest mate I don't think there is anything of facet grade there. Maybe a couple of the orange or clear Zircons might be a goer but they are not really large enough to warrant cutting in Oz , slight maybe on a couple of the Sapphs but I don't think so as they are very small.

Get out there fossicking mate, won't take you long to build up a collection. Save the best to be cut here and send the rest overseas is my advice.