Buying a rough and have it cut?

[Kashmira]

I just came to think of how much fun it would be to buy a rough stone, having it cut, designing the jewellery and then have it custom-made. Is this a crazy idea?! If not:

* Are there any good and trustworthy on-line vendors selling roughs?
* What cutters can custom cut a rough for me and is there an approximate figure of how much it cost?

 

[Lady_Disdain]

It certainly is possible to buy rough and have it cut just for you: the spinel in my avatar is an example

However, a few words of caution:

- judging rough is very tough! It is hard to judge if there are internal flaws, what the finished colour will be like, if the rough is suited to shape you want, etc. Generally, by the time an ordinary person gets a shot at buying rough, it has been picked over by the mine owners, by local cutters, by top cutters, by gem fair goers, etc. In others words, finding reasonably priced, good quality rough is hard
- Remember that yield is often below 25% (so you need 4 times as much rough), more or less depending on how suited the rough is for your desired shape
- Rough is very, very expensive right now. I have heard of rough selling at approximately the same price as a cut stone of similar quality
- few cutters are willing to cut rough they did not source (because managing client expectation is just too hard, as well as the risk)

I love, love, love my spinel. However, by the time you factor in the price of the rough, the yield and the cutter fee, it was far from a bargain. I also had a spess cut to my especification (although I didn''t quite choose the rough, just saw photos of the lot and gave the go ahead). I got a great deal on the rough (rather inlcuded, smaller than what the owner wanted to cut, good exchange rate) and I had a lot of input on the cut (choosing from Jeff Graham''s design, undestanding what made one cut or the other more appropriate or striking).

Rough vendor
- drop an email to Jason of SelectGem.com. He got me my spinel
- Amethystguy also has rough and is very helpful (he also mascarades as the Amethyst Cruzader, clearing ebay of unethical sellers). He is 770amguy on ebay
- Seriously_gemented has been recommended to me as well (ebay vendor)

Cutters
- Dan Stair
- The Gem Doctor

 

[Kashmira]

Thank you so much for your valuable advices Lady_Disdain!

 

[T L]

770amguy on ebay doesn''t post all of his material in his listings on ebay. You should email him about additional material.