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Cost of gem recutting?

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m00sie

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Can anyone point me in the direction of information regarding gem recutting? the cost, what shapes can be recut into different shapes, the best stone size and depth for a recut, the cutters that do recuts etc.

I noticed Chrono posted her pink spinel in a recent thread and it looked amazing. I would love to know how much size was lost from the native oval :)

Thanks in advance.
 

Jim Rentfrow

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m00sie,

There are several gemstone cutters who do recuts. The size lost depends on tbe beginning dimensions, shape, chips, scratches etc. There was a post recently where one PS member only lost a few tenths of a mm on her stone recutting. However that was with a perfect stone and the same shape was cut just had some different angles on the pavillion used(I believe I am correct on that assumption). A quiick google search on gemstone recutting services is below

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4ADBR_en___US359&q=gemstone+recutting+services

Costs range from the cutter, you should contact multiple to get a good idea of the costs and estimates of weight loss. If you go from an oval to a trillion there would be extreme losses in weight. The most common recut that is done in my opinion are native recuts and recuts of marquise into pears because of the tips breaking. The cutter will want to know the size of the stone you have, the shape you want it recut to, if there are chips, a quality picture of the gemstone. And you will more than likely have to sign some form of waiver stating you wont sue them for the weight loss.
 

LD

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m00sie - I have a number of lovely (but poorly) cut gemstones and had always assumed that a re-cut was going to improve them. I enquired of a very helpful gemcutter who sometimes posts on here and after examining my photos and being given the dimensions of the gemstone (and bear in mind this is without him seeing the gem in person), he said that he thought the carat weight loss would be significant. In my case, the gem would almost halve in size after the cut because of it''s shallow starting cut.

I''ve also seen a number of threads (and if you search I''m sure you can find them) where people have had re-cuts but then the colour has changed significantly.

So there are risks. Yes, you can get some very beautiful gemstones after BUT it''s not guaranteed.

I was surprised that after I did all my research, I decided not to re-cut anything but to try to hide imperfections with settings!
 

Gailey

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m00sie,

Anthony Lloyd-Rees aka The Gem Doctor is a man who repairs and re-cuts stones as his core business. I am sure he will be able to answer all of your questions.

LD, makes some very good points. It is not a risk free procedure.
 

chrono

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M00sie,
Unfortunately, I do not remember the details of the recut. Jeff White is the cutter and you can contact him for details if you like because he sourced the original native oval for me. With regards to gem cutting, I usually leave it up to the cutter to decide which stone is the best candidate and also the selection of shape because there are too many variables to consider. The risk of something going awry is great; a feather might grow (get larger), zoning might become more apparent, a stone that is too shallow will lose too much carat weight and face up size, there is the possibility of the stone losing saturation (less eye popping colour) and the like. A lot of these variables cannot be predicted and the customer assumes this risk, unless the stone has been sourced by the cutter himself.
 

Barrett

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I would also recommend Tony the Gem doctor..he is called the "doctor" for a reason
 

Arkteia

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I have no personal experience but believe another PS-er also mentioned Bob Kast. There is a guy who trades under the name Osiris Gems at ebay...I believe he also has a regular website under the same name. I remember another PS-er mentioning using his services for recutting. Clearly he is an excellent cutter - you just have to look at his cutting.
I think it was our famous photographer who mentioned it...Jeffrey Hunt? Haven't seen him on PS for a while, he hasn't posted much here.

Yes I just looked it up. The website is: osirisgems.com. This is not an ebay one. The stones sold there are not the most interesting ones (quartz, oregon sunstone) but the cutting is very interesting.
 

Barrett

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Wayne Emery does recutting also..Lisa recommended him to me which is where i got me camera from..Tony the gem doctor has also recommened him to me as a good recutter
 

Gailey

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Date: 3/4/2010 5:26:58 PM
Author: amethystguy
Wayne Emery does recutting also..Lisa recommended him to me which is where i got me camera from..Tony the gem doctor has also recommened him to me as a good recutter
Jason, is this his website:

http://www.thelittlecameras.com/
 

m00sie

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Thanks for the replies :) Very informative.

I will contact some of the cutters mentioned and see what they have to say.
 
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