Help locating tsavorite rough or stone for custom cut

[rimshotsnap]

Hi all,

Long-time rock/gem geek and short term lurker - I am blown away by these forums and feel right at home here!

Well, in September I will be proposing to my girlfriend who currently lives overseas (light at the end of the tunnel!), and I am in the process of building a tsavorite ering, but I need help locating the stone. I have a cutter I would like to use for a unique design I think she will love. So my options are to find the rough, or a bigger stone for him to recut. If I found a perfect pre-cut stone, I suppose I'd be willing to forego the custom cut, but really shooting for the custom work. I am hoping for a finished stone between 0.8-1.2 cts, with a visit true green (or slightly darker) tone. Quality much more important than size. My budget is about 500-600 for the rough.

Anyway, I would love your help! I am a total notice when it comes to locating/evaluating rough, and it seems cost prohibitive to take a large high quality stone and cut it down to half size. I would greatly appreciate any assistance from this community in locating rough or a bigger stone to cut, or any other ideas/suggestions/pointers s I go down this path.

Thank you in advance for your help!

 

[SparkliesLuver]

Hello! Welcome to the forum. I'd definitely check out Hilmar Bosch for rough:
http://www.africangemstones.co.za/plate9.htm

 

[chrono]

Ummm, I'm not sure your budget is high enough for good quality tsavorite rough. In order to end up with a 1 ct piece, you have to start with a 4 ct piece of rough, and tsavorite pricing seems to be at its peak at the moment.

 

[MJO]

These days rough is more expensive than the finished stone. If you don't mind a non standard cut this stone is over a carat for $895 . Maybe you could have it recut into a shape you prefer and still come out with one over .80 cts

http://www.litnon.com/index.php?page=viewgem&id=10508

 

[minousbijoux]

No, your budget is too low for high quality rough. Your best bet these days is to find a good quality faceted stone. Unless you have access to a lapidary at no cost, I doubt that with your budget you will be able to find a quality stone you desire and have it recut. Even then, there is more risk inherent in recutting than in buying a precut stone. Sorry for the less than cheery news.

 

[rimshotsnap]

Hi All,

Thanks so much for the input so far. I have a question for those who say my budget is too low to make this work. Looking at the link that SparkliesLuver shared, prices for rough seem to be $110-$130 per ct. So, a 4-5 ct rough (should be enough for a 0.8-1.0 ct cut stone)might run in the $500-600 range), which is well within my budget. Am I missing something?

Thanks again for your guidance and look forward to gaining clarification.

 

[SparkliesLuver]

I think your budget for rough is fine, but maybe more experienced members will have other opinions.

I'd contact Logan and tell him what you're looking for, and include your preferences in order. I forgot to ask: does she have a shape in mind? Some rough pieces are more suitable for certain shapes, so if you're open that's great. Do you have a lapidary/cutter in mind, if you go the rough route? If so, I'd have the rough sent to that person first for inspection (since they usually have a better eye). Just my two cents.

 

[chrono]

The colour of the rough shown in the link are not the colour you wrote that you are looking for. The colour of those are more of a good green gossular (or mint) garnet.

 

[rimshotsnap]

I am thinking about numbers 16 and 29, that appear to be in the color range I'm looking for. I'm assuming the final color will look pretty close to the color of these roughs? Is that a fair assumption?

I do have a cutter in mind, and I would plan to have him review/inspect initially. He works in Europe, however, which makes things a little more complicated. I am fairly flexible with shapes, as well.

I am surprised at the cost of the rough relative to the cost of cut gems. So interesting that I can get a finished gem for the same price or less than the rough itself!

 

[SparkliesLuver]

http://www.africangemstones.co.za/Plate%209A.jpg (click again from here)

I assume you zoomed in, but based on that, I'd ask Logan about what you see in 29 despite it's AAA grading. Maybe it's just surface stuff. I'd also ask him the dimensions of each one, depth included. That could help determine some things.

 

[minousbijoux]

Sorry, I misread your post before - I was thinking that your budget was $500-$600 all in, not just for the rough. The rough you are looking at appears to be good quality but not trade ideal as they appear to have a slight yellow modifier. You would have to discuss with your cutter, but I would think that recovery on 16 might be higher than 29, but that the rule of thumb of 1 gram of rough to 1 ct of finished would apply - in other words, 20%. So you would likely end up with a stone of about .8 ct. of good color within your budget unless there were problems encountered by the cutter.

 

[GregS]

Evaluating rough in person is extremely difficult let alone from a single picture online. That being said 16 appears to have the best color and looks best suited for an oval. All appear to have a yellow modifier instead of the blue modifier often associated with top color Tsavorite.

 

[chrono]

16 could be your best bet if you aren't going for top colour. However, you'll better close up picture to better evaluate the shape, colour, inclusions and etc. Given that the lapidary you are using is in Europe, you are taking major risks in that:
1. The final colour could end up different than expected
2. Final shape and size could end up different than expected
3. It will no longer be refundable and you have to keep the end result, whatever it will be.

 

[SparkliesLuver]

Not sure how you feel about concave cuts, or the slight yellow modifier, but I came across this garnet and thought it'd be worth mentioning.

1.03 cts
6.3 x 6.3 x 3.75 mm
Untreated
$665
*If you're interested, I can post the link.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Your best bet would be to have your cutter source the rough themselves. They will probably have better contacts (their livelyhood depends on it!) and cutters are well trained to evaluate the colour, inclusions, shape, etc in a piece of rough.

 

[minousbijoux]

Your best bet would be to have your cutter source the rough themselves. They will probably have better contacts (their livelyhood depends on it!) and cutters are well trained to evaluate the colour, inclusions, shape, etc in a piece of rough.

Excellent point - I wish I had said it!

ETA: and they likely will get better pricing than us mere mortals.

 

[rimshotsnap]

Thank you all - this thread has been tremendously informative! By the time I have the ring together, I will kind of know what I'm doing

I've let my cutter know to be on the lookout for good quality rough, but he didn't seem confident he could find some until October. Who knows, though? Given my timing, unless the perfect rough falls into my (or my cutter's hands soon), I think I will probably have to forego having a custom-cut stone and find one pre-cut. Disappointing, but at least I know for sure I will be getting a great stone.

That said, I would love your help in locating my new stone! Again, my specs are:

• 0.75-1.2 cts

• True green, or slightly on the darker side

• Eye clean

• Under $700 or so

• Flexible on cut, but leaning toward a cushion

Overall, prioritizing quality over size to stay within my price range. I hope it isn't a faux pas to post a new thread about this since it's a different topic than locating rough!

Thanks again for your help to this point!