Dan''s new garnet - wow!

[FrekeChild]

This is what Dan had to say:

"Time really is my big issue. I work seven days a week usually, and really try not to get into too many things that take me away from cutting. I''m trying to keep my prices down to earth, rather than having to charge everyone more per carat because I spend less time cutting and more time taking pictures, working on the computer, etc. With me, it all boils down to how much stone cutting time I can get in each day. With most stones, I''m still able to sell at about the same prices as I did nearly ten years ago, even though the prices of rough have at least doubled for almost all gem types. I suppose I could try selling tourmalines for $300 per carat like some of the other American cutters, but I''d rather not. If I could though, I''d have a LOT more spare time!"

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 3/22/2009 8:14:51 PM
Author: FrekeChild
This is what Dan had to say:

''Time really is my big issue. I work seven days a week usually, and really try not to get into too many things that take me away from cutting. I''m trying to keep my prices down to earth, rather than having to charge everyone more per carat because I spend less time cutting and more time taking pictures, working on the computer, etc. With me, it all boils down to how much stone cutting time I can get in each day. With most stones, I''m still able to sell at about the same prices as I did nearly ten years ago, even though the prices of rough have at least doubled for almost all gem types. I suppose I could try selling tourmalines for $300 per carat like some of the other American cutters, but I''d rather not. If I could though, I''d have a LOT more spare time!''

Personally, I like this response.
I have also found some of the prices for other certain US cutters to be crazy expensive - at the end of the day, we''re paying for the gem, not the photo or the website, right?

 

[T L]

I think the quality of rough also has a lot to do with the price these gem cutters decide to charge. Some of them are more retail yes, but I think for the quality, Gene and Barry do a great job at providing very fair and reasonable prices, and I am grateful for that. I have not ordered Dan''s stones, so I cannot comment on the value per quality.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Although I feel like having a "sold" notification would have the net effect of saving him more time since he wouldn't have to read and reply to so many more inquiries about the stone. I don't know exactly what interface he uses to make his website, but it might take him 10 seconds to put up the word "sold" under the stone, which might save him a few minutes of read and replying to emails after the gem is already spoken for.

 

[T L]

Date: 3/22/2009 9:55:12 PM
Author: MakingTheGrade
Although I feel like having a ''sold'' notification would have the net effect of saving him more time since he wouldn''t have to read and reply to so many more inquiries about the stone. I don''t know exactly what interface he uses to make his website, but it might take him 10 seconds to put up the word ''sold'' under the stone, which might save him a few minutes of read and replying to emails after the gem is already spoken for.

He does mark many sold, but he doesn''t always get to it right away. The highlight stone isn''t marked sold at all (he typically just swaps it out for another stone).

 

[chrono]

I am no webmaster so I don''t know how quick or difficult it would be to do an automatic SOLD or payment on a website. I do think it would free up quite a bit of time - sorting through tons of emails daily.

As I was a customer of Dan''s in the past, I consider the price he charges is very competitive for the quality. They aren''t super fine gemstones but certainly much better than most stones sold on ebay and in jewellery stores.

 

[karee888]

The spinel I got from him is gorgeous. I took it to my jeweler and he showed it to everyone there. They thought it was wonderful. Very sparkly, full of life. I'm currently awaiting a garnet, and I expect it to be excellent as well. Pics of both to come soon - I had to order a new camera battery charger.

He does mark stuff sold on his site, usually in a reasonable amount of time...but if you think about it from a sales standpoint, it may sometimes benefit him to receive and reply to emails about stones even if they are sold. If a stone has already been spoken for, maybe he has additional rough or something similar that he could get for a person instead. So maybe contacting him even when a stone is sold is beneficial to both parties - he spends his time replying to someone about a stone that's been purchased, but could possibly make another sale with a similar item, in turn making the customer happy. Does that make sense?

 

[FrekeChild]

Yeah it does Karee. I think that''s a good point. And I''ve done that about 25 times. Which has resulted in a few more purchases on my end...which are always good for business on his end.

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 3/22/2009 9:42:35 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
I think the quality of rough also has a lot to do with the price these gem cutters decide to charge. Some of them are more retail yes, but I think for the quality, Gene and Barry do a great job at providing very fair and reasonable prices, and I am grateful for that. I have not ordered Dan''s stones, so I cannot comment on the value per quality.

fwiw, I wasn''t referring to gene and barry. As you know, I have bought stones from both and have been happy with the prices, and would buy again.

 

[LtlFirecracker]

I have never bought anything from Dan. I have the same problems Icekid has. But I have always had issues grabbing stones that come up fast. I can''t gemstone shop at work, and so usually I miss out. But I don''t mind that. I think different vendors work for different costumers. I have been really lucky with ACS over the last few months and have grabbed a couple stones. But I usually know which ones I am going to look at a head of time (b/c of the newsletter). That works for me.

I think the cool thing about Dan is that stones are coming up all the time. Most of the other cutters do not add invitatory that often. I think different vendors focus on different things. I have no problem with a vendor who wants to spend his day cutting more stones and who is making an effort to keep his prices down. Sure I might not be able to get in on it, but there is a lot of eye candy for me to look at, and it seems to be working for a lot of other people.

 

[cushioncutnut]

Another reason Dan may not mark them sold right away may be due to the fact that he wants the buyer to view it in person before he marks it sold. And as long as he has a good return policy, I won''t complain about not having more pictures as long as it keeps his prices reasonable.

 

[mercoledi]

I too have bought things from Dan that were never posted after asking about stones that either sold to someone else or turned out to be something I wasn''t interested in. I''ve also passed on stones that I had ''dibs'' on, so while I can see how the system could be kind of annoying, I enjoy the excuse to chat with Dan. He''s a pleasantly chatty guy. I''ve gotten so used to it that my last efficient vendor experience seemed a little sterile in comparison.

I sent Dan the vendor pic (his) for my blue-green sapph and he mentioned that he''d seen the concerns with/criticisms of his pictures here and had retooled his imaging settings. He commented (I''m paraphrasing here) that now that image looked really bright on his computer, so I would expect that his pictures will be more true-to-life in the future. We shall see!

 

[T L]

Date: 3/23/2009 1:14:23 AM
Author: arjunajane

Date: 3/22/2009 9:42:35 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
I think the quality of rough also has a lot to do with the price these gem cutters decide to charge. Some of them are more retail yes, but I think for the quality, Gene and Barry do a great job at providing very fair and reasonable prices, and I am grateful for that. I have not ordered Dan''s stones, so I cannot comment on the value per quality.

fwiw, I wasn''t referring to gene and barry. As you know, I have bought stones from both and have been happy with the prices, and would buy again.

Thanks for the clarification AJJ.

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 3/24/2009 8:36:28 AM
Author: tourmaline_lover

Date: 3/23/2009 1:14:23 AM
Author: arjunajane

Date: 3/22/2009 9:42:35 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
I think the quality of rough also has a lot to do with the price these gem cutters decide to charge. Some of them are more retail yes, but I think for the quality, Gene and Barry do a great job at providing very fair and reasonable prices, and I am grateful for that. I have not ordered Dan''s stones, so I cannot comment on the value per quality.

fwiw, I wasn''t referring to gene and barry. As you know, I have bought stones from both and have been happy with the prices, and would buy again.

Thanks for the clarification AJJ.

No worries !

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Date: 3/24/2009 8:21:43 AM
Author: mercoledi
I too have bought things from Dan that were never posted after asking about stones that either sold to someone else or turned out to be something I wasn''t interested in. I''ve also passed on stones that I had ''dibs'' on, so while I can see how the system could be kind of annoying, I enjoy the excuse to chat with Dan. He''s a pleasantly chatty guy. I''ve gotten so used to it that my last efficient vendor experience seemed a little sterile in comparison.

I sent Dan the vendor pic (his) for my blue-green sapph and he mentioned that he''d seen the concerns with/criticisms of his pictures here and had retooled his imaging settings. He commented (I''m paraphrasing here) that now that image looked really bright on his computer, so I would expect that his pictures will be more true-to-life in the future. We shall see!

I''ve loved working with Dan. He''s incredibly affable, and you can tell he spends his days cutting.

I think I need one of those octagonal asschers to add to my Asscher collection, though! WOW!

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Also, I''m loving all of his octagonal stuff lately. Urge to design ring like Elmorton''s Mom''s rising . . .!!!!!!!

 

[karee888]

Date: 3/24/2009 1:15:00 PM
Author: LaurenThePartier

Date: 3/24/2009 8:21:43 AM

Author: mercoledi

I too have bought things from Dan that were never posted after asking about stones that either sold to someone else or turned out to be something I wasn''t interested in. I''ve also passed on stones that I had ''dibs'' on, so while I can see how the system could be kind of annoying, I enjoy the excuse to chat with Dan. He''s a pleasantly chatty guy. I''ve gotten so used to it that my last efficient vendor experience seemed a little sterile in comparison.


I sent Dan the vendor pic (his) for my blue-green sapph and he mentioned that he''d seen the concerns with/criticisms of his pictures here and had retooled his imaging settings. He commented (I''m paraphrasing here) that now that image looked really bright on his computer, so I would expect that his pictures will be more true-to-life in the future. We shall see!

I''ve loved working with Dan. He''s incredibly affable, and you can tell he spends his days cutting.


I think I need one of those octagonal asschers to add to my Asscher collection, though! WOW!

LaurenThePartier - Dan just posted his next rough, and it''s another large spess. You might inquire about it if you''re interested...he''s been cutting the large spess roughs into those awesome asschers lately!

 

[FrekeChild]

I like chatting with Dan and Barry. Both of them are awesome guys, and lovely to chat with.

 

[loriken214]

I enjoy chatting with Jeff, Peter, Dan and Barry. They are all very kind and easy to work with, IMO, and I have loved the pieces that I''ve purchased from each of them. As I am fairly new to gemstone collecting, I''ve learned so much from the expert PSers and have stopped impulse buying off of ebay. This has saved me quite a bit of $ and that is why I jump on the unique gemstones that are pictured here.

Lori

 

[T L]

Lori,
Sorry if this is a dumb question, but who is "Peter?"

 

[FrekeChild]

Peter Torraca. He is a cutter. His site is around here somewhere, but he doesn''t have a normal site like Dan''s or Barry''s. Instead he has a flickr and had just started setting up a website not long ago.

 

[karee888]

He cuts AMAZING asschers.

link

 

[loriken214]

Here''s the peridot asscher that I just bought from Peter. She should be here any day now.

Lori