How would you set an asscher cut blue Zircon

[SparkliesLuver]

This picture is much better than what the vendor has on their website, so I worry it might be too dark. Not sure. And since it doesn't have a lot of facets, I worry about the sparkly factor; however, the color seems nice. I am going to wait to hear from the other two vendors later this week before doing anything though.

 

[T L]

This picture is much better than what the vendor has on their website, so I worry it might be too dark. Not sure. And since it doesn't have a lot of facets, I worry about the sparkly factor; however, the color seems nice. I am going to wait to hear from the other two vendors later this week before doing anything though.

When in doubt, always assume it will be darker IRL. It may have a closed c-axis too (the edges appear to be dark) and that can add to the darkness factor.

 

[SparkliesLuver]

That's true. Good call, TL. I could ask if it has an open or closed c-axis and see what they say.

 

[chrono]

It might; hence the reason for that particular cut.

 

[SparkliesLuver]

The vendor said it's on the darker side, so I'll pass.

 

[dk168]

Latest pic on Jeff White's Facebook Wall (or whatever it is called) shows 2 recently complete blue Zircon, one cut as a EC and the other a round, both stones surrounded by Zircon roughs in the photo!!!

https://www.facebook.com/whitesgems?ref=stream&fref=nf

DK

 

[SparkliesLuver]

Thank you, DK! I deleted my FB account about three weeks ago so unfortunately I now lose out on all those happenings. Those are very pretty!

 

[chrono]

JW cuts by commission so if interested, you can reach out to him via email.

 

[SparkliesLuver]

Thanks for the mention, Chrono. I'll keep that in mind based upon how this week goes (with the other two vendors).

 

[chrono]

Note that he is VERY expensive though, and there is a $500 non-refundable commission fee.

 

[SparkliesLuver]

Excellent thing to note! Thank you.

The vendor who is cutting the Montana sapphire rough has been awesome to work with, so my fingers are crossed that this new piece turns out.

 

[dk168]

Note that he is VERY expensive though, and there is a $500 non-refundable commission fee.

That's what he charges as a minimum for a commissioned piece/stone.

He would require at least a 15% deposit upfront, for the remainder to be paid at a later date.

I started a project with him by paying 15% deposit to secure a rough and a cutting slot in his schedule, and he kindly allowed me to transfer the money paid towards another stone when the project fell through as he had not started cutting the rough.

He accepts payment by instalments, as long as the first and final payments are all made in the same calendar year (that's what he agreed with me for my next project with him, a 17mm approx. Danburite for next year). Needless to say, the stone will not be released until the final payment has been made.

Working with Jeff is a breeze, highly recommended.

DK

 

[T L]

Like Chrono said, his deposit for commissioned pieces is non-refundable last time I checked, so if you don't like the stone, you're out significant money. I learned this the hard way. If it's now a $500 non-refundable deposit, that would be horrible. When I bought a stone from him, it was just a percentage of the final price, and around $100. I have to say, I bought two stones from him, and one I returned and the other I sold, which was then resold again and again. I didn't like either, but I know he has his fans.

 

[SparkliesLuver]

Thanks for all the details, everyone. I appreciate it! I'll surely keep those in mind going forward. And I'm sorry you had a not-so-great experience, TL.

 

[dk168]

500 USD is the minimum price for a commissioned piece, not the deposit.

15% non-refundable deposit of the final price is what he requires upfront to secure the rough and a cutting time slot.

It may be non-refundable, however, it was transferable in my case as cutting had not begun.

DK

 

[T L]

Thanks for all the details, everyone. I appreciate it! I'll surely keep those in mind going forward. And I'm sorry you had a not-so-great experience, TL.

Well, that's why I like lapidaries like Gene, Barry, and others, because I don't care for non-refundable deposits, nor any problems with returns either. There is no guarantee you'll love the final product when you get it, even if it's from the greatest lapidary in the world. I will concur with DK that Jeff is a nice guy, but in the end, you don't want to lose a lot of money, as S&H can cost enough as it is with returns.

Just beware that most vendors photograph stones in their absolute best lighting situations, and also against dark backgrounds, which helps amp up saturation in the photo. You need to ask about shifts in color, tone and saturation. Montana sapphires are notorious also for shifting to a darker and less saturated color, so beware of that as well.

 

[chrono]

DK,
Thanks for the clarification. I took a look myself to make sure I fully understand his policies:
http://www.whitesgems.com/policies.html#payment

Please note that there is a $500.00 per stone minimum for commissioned work.
Commissioning a gem requires a 15% non-refundable payment be made up-front. Payment may be made via any of the methods outlined in the "Payment Options" section above. Completion of this payment reserves a specific piece of rough for the client. In addition, it is this payment that allows the job to be added to the official cutting schedule. Payment of the balance is not required until completion of the work, although the customer may elect to pay a portion or all of the payment earlier.

Should the customer decide to return a gem, the general return policy (discussed in the "Returns" section below) applies, with one exception. The 15% deposit is not refundable, barring significant departures from agreed-upon specifications for the gem or gems.
Should the finished gem fall significantly outside the agreed-upon parameters mentioned above, the customer is entitled to a full refund, less associated shipping costs.

TL,
If the stone doesn't meet the agreed upon expectations, you can get a full refund. JW honoured this policy when the pair of blue spinels he cut for me ended up really dark and greenish.

 

[T L]

DK,
Thanks for the clarification. I took a look myself to make sure I fully understand his policies:
http://www.whitesgems.com/policies.html#payment

Please note that there is a $500.00 per stone minimum for commissioned work.
Commissioning a gem requires a 15% non-refundable payment be made up-front. Payment may be made via any of the methods outlined in the "Payment Options" section above. Completion of this payment reserves a specific piece of rough for the client. In addition, it is this payment that allows the job to be added to the official cutting schedule. Payment of the balance is not required until completion of the work, although the customer may elect to pay a portion or all of the payment earlier.

Should the customer decide to return a gem, the general return policy (discussed in the "Returns" section below) applies, with one exception. The 15% deposit is not refundable, barring significant departures from agreed-upon specifications for the gem or gems.
Should the finished gem fall significantly outside the agreed-upon parameters mentioned above, the customer is entitled to a full refund, less associated shipping costs.

TL,
If the stone doesn't meet the agreed upon expectations, you can get a full refund. JW honoured this policy when the pair of blue spinels he cut for me ended up really dark and greenish.

That's great, but he didn't do the same for me.

In my particular case, I was shown the rough, which looked great. I had him cut it, and one of the stones turned out to be a black hole, and the other had the worst case of half/half extinction I had ever seen. He would not refund me my deposit even though the latter stone, was not cut to optimally show it off. So lesson is that a rough stone can end up looking significantly different than the end cut result. The extinction was not apparent to me in the photo of the final stone, but only when I received it. The "black hole" looked much better in his photo than IRL. Both were tourmaline.

I will also note, for the record, that the one "black hole" stone was a full refund because it was not a commissioned piece, but one for sale on his website already. The photo showed a lovely bright stone, but it wasn't IRL, but I did get all my $$ back on it. The commissioned piece was the one with half/half extinction, and that's the one I lost around $100 on. I ended up selling it. I bought one in the same color on ebay, but with no half/half extinction for one fifth the price of Jeff's and it was a larger stone too. It's an Afghan tourmaline. I don't mean to bash Jeff in any way, but I just hope he has learned to take more accurate photos, and there's a lot of happy customers, who are willing to pay a premium for his cutting skills, I get that.

 

[SparkliesLuver]

Well, that's why I like lapidaries like Gene, Barry, and others, because I don't care for non-refundable deposits, nor any problems with returns either. There is no guarantee you'll love the final product when you get it, even if it's from the greatest lapidary in the world.

Just beware that most vendors photograph stones in their absolute best lighting situations, and also against dark backgrounds. You need to ask about shifts in color, tone and saturation. Montana sapphires are notorious also for shifting to a darker and less saturated color, so beware of that as well.

I completely understand. That's why the whole "rough game" is scary, but at the same time I can see its appeal and potential. Right now the vendor I'm working with hasn't charged me anything, and this is the second piece of rough he's working on. Plus, he's been extremely communicative, informative and patient. I appreciate the photography tips as that's something I'm still trying to get a handle on.

Thanks for the link, Chrono!

 

[chrono]

That's great, but he didn't do the same for me.

So sorry, TL. I guess he must have disagreed that the stone falls outside the agreed upon specifications. In my case, it was so obvious that he actually emailed me to let me know beforehand and said that the final colour of the pair even surprised him.

 

[T L]

That's great, but he didn't do the same for me.

So sorry, TL. I guess he must have disagreed that the stone falls outside the agreed upon specifications. In my case, it was so obvious that he actually emailed me to let me know beforehand and said that the final colour of the pair even surprised him.

Well, that's different, because HE was surprised, so consider yourself lucky you got all your $$ back. However, if the consumer is the only one that is unhappy, you're out of luck.

 

[SparkliesLuver]

Hi, everyone. This is from a different vendor - Brilliant Earth. Anyone dealt with them before?

Teal Malawi Sapphire, heated
9.7 x 7.7 mm

This is the only decent picture I have. They sent two videos but I don't think I can post those. I'd love your thoughts.

 

[T L]

Hi, everyone. This is from a different vendor - Brilliant Earth. Anyone dealt with them before?

Teal Malawi Sapphire, heated
9.7 x 7.7 mm

This is the only decent picture I have. They sent two videos but I don't think I can post those. I'd love your thoughts.

You can post links to vendor videos. You just can't post links to videos that you have under your own account, as in a personal youtube account.

 

[SparkliesLuver]

They're not on their site. They just emailed them to me, unfortunately.

 

[T L]

They're not on their site. They just emailed them to me, unfortunately.

Do you know how to do screen shots of the video?

 

[FrekeChild]

If that image is representative of what the stone looks like on a regular basis, I don't think it's for you. It looks darker, the color is nowhere close to the zircons you've been looking at, and the cut doesn't look to be all that great either. But one picture, especially a picture like that, is hard to judge from.

One thing to note, sapphires are going to have a lot more gray than what you've been looking at. So be prepared!

 

[SparkliesLuver]

Here are a couple/the best ones I could capture from the videos. It seems the stone always looks the same, so Freke I'd say this is probably what it looks like on a regular basis. I agree that it looks to be on the darker side and not too well cut. I wasn't sure if it was even worth seeing in-person based upon these images. So far I'm leaning toward no.

I know gray isn't desirable in sapphires but I'm actually okay with that.

 

[chrono]

Sorry but I'm in agreement that this probably isn't the right stone for you due to it being dark (you seem to gravitate towards brighter and lighter coloured gems).

 

[T L]

I would totally skip that stone. In that photo, and the new ones you just posted, it's really dull and dark looking with poor saturation for a sapphire. It may even shift to a more dull/dark color in some lighting as well.

If you don't mind gray in your stones, then I would at least go with a lighter toned gem, so at least you get some sparkle.

 

[SparkliesLuver]

Thank you for confirming my gut feeling on this one. Much appreciated!

Still waiting to hear back from the vendor who is cutting some Montana rough and Prima with their new parcel of tourmalines.