Recutting a sapphire... Who would you recommend?

[Taylorbug!]

I am new here and I know there are lots of seasoned PS''ers. Please help!

I am interested in having a sapphire recut. Probably in the same shape, I just don''t feel that the current cut is "the best". Any suggestions on a gem cutter.

 

[chrono]

There are several favourite gem cutters here among the regulars:
Jeff White of www.whitesgems.com
Peter Toccara
Gary Braun of www.Finewatergems.com
Dana of www.Mastercutgems.com

 

[arjunajane]

Hi Taylorbug,

I can personally highly recommend Jeff White of Whites Gems - he cut the sapphire in my av <------ which was a re-cut.

He is quite renowned for getting a high yield and great results - although of course many things depend on the gem in its current state.
If you like the current shape of your stone, something you could potentially consider is a pavilion only re-cut. This will result in less material lost, but can still drastically change the stone's appearance.

As far as I know, the ones Chrono have mentioned above are the only other cutters who will re-cut clients stones..(?).

Good luck, and please do share the before and after photos!

 

[chrono]

Below is the recut Jeff did for one of my projects. He also sourced and selected the native stone himself.

 

[Taylorbug!]

arjunajane, your stone is gorgeous. Do you have before/after pics of it?

 

[chrono]

StepCutGirl also had a good experience with Jeff White for her blue sapphire.
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/what-would-you-do.136731/

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 3/8/2010 10:16:36 AM
Author: Taylorbug!
arjunajane, your stone is gorgeous. Do you have before/after pics of it?

Thankyou taylorbug!
I definitely enjoy it every time I wear it, it just has an incredible sparkle and play of light (and of course colour

).

Sure, plenty of pics around!


Here is the thread when I received the stone..

and here is the thread with the finished anniversary ring

This is a before and after collage I made; you can see how minimal the weight/size loss was, this was a full re-cut from a native stone that Jeff sourced.
I hope that helps (and it wasn't overkill, lol)

 

[Taylorbug!]

WOW arjunajane.....thank you so much for sharing your photos and story. You definately have some beautiful gems. I will try to contact Jeff to see if he would be able to help me. I am also glad to see that with your recut, you only lost minimumal amount of weight. That is AWESOME. Do you have any idea what the price range is to recut a sapphire?

 

[LostSapphire]

You might want to keep in mind that not all cutters will recut stones sourced by other people due to the risk involved. As far as I know (though he has perhaps changed his policy, you can check), Jeff White won''t recut stones other than his own.

LS

 

[chrono]

LS,
That is a very good point. In looking through other posters’ experiences with Jeff, all the stones seem to be stones that Jeff has personally sourced. I do know that about 3 years ago, he accepted “outside” stones but do not know if he still accepts a customer’s stone today.

 

[stepcutgirl]

I''m pretty sure LS is right, I asked Jeff a while back about a recut on a stone I had and he said he did not do recuts of stones that were not his. Thanks for the link to my thread of my beauty though!

I know Michael E of the GemShoppe does do outside recuts and what he quoted me to do a pavilion only recut was super reasonable.

 

[LostSapphire]

Date: 3/8/2010 11:46:59 AM
Author: Chrono
LS,
That is a very good point. In looking through other posters’ experiences with Jeff, all the stones seem to be stones that Jeff has personally sourced. I do know that about 3 years ago, he accepted “outside” stones but do not know if he still accepts a customer’s stone today.

It came up in another poster's thread a while back. I also *think* (am not 100% sure) that when he recut mine, we had a discussion about recutting in general, and why he chose to avoid the risk of cutting other people's stones. He might have done it years ago, but not any more. In fact, he might have posted something on his website. I'll go have a look....


LS

ETA: In the FAQ section he specifically comments that he will not cut rough unless he has sourced it himself. I'd imagine that applies to recuts as well, but can't say for sure.

 

[Taylorbug!]

What about [email protected]? Anyone use him for gemstone recutting?

 

[chrono]

Date: 3/8/2010 12:24:54 PM
Author: Taylorbug!
What about [email protected]? Anyone use him for gemstone recutting?

I did not suggest Barry from ACS because he does not do recuts with the exception of “fixing” damaged stones that he has cut in the past.

 

[Jim Rentfrow]

That seems like it is pretty common in the cutting circles. The reason for this is that if you source the rough yourself you often times have a good relationship with your dealer. You will know the material is untreated, not diffused, not irradiated etc. A lot of times you know that certain dealers have better clarity in their rough as well.

Knowing all this, you can then be more certian of the final color and clarity then if you took a stone off of the street.

 

[Gailey]

I think you will find that most precision lapidarists will not re-cut other people''s stones. Never hurts to ask of course.

One gentleman who might evaluate your stone for a re-cut would be Anthony Lloyd-Rees aka "The Gem Doctor". He repairs and re-cuts stones as his core business I believe. As one of our posters mentioned recently, "there''s a reason he''s called the doctor".

 

[Michael_E]

Date: 3/8/2010 12:49:25 PM
Author: Gailey
I think you will find that most precision lapidarists will not re-cut other people's stones. Never hurts to ask of course.

Much of the decision about re-cutting someone's stones revolves around their expectations. It's very hard to turn lead into gold and it can be just as hard to turn a losing stone into a winner. It all depends on the type of stone, how it's presently cut and most importantly on what the owner thinks can be done as compared to what can actually be done. Here are my views on the progression of best to worst candidates for re-cuts:

1.The best candidates for re-cuts are stones which are already close to what a client wants. Something with a pattern which could be improved by making it more symmetrical for instance. These require a small amount of cutting to remove an "overweight belly" for instance.

2. The nest best candidates for re-cutting are stones which are a tad too dark, are cut rather deeply, and which will be cut in their existing shape. These are easy since they often only require a pavilion re-cut to improve their looks dramatically. Sapphires which are a little too dark and have a low number of inclusions are perfect for this, since they are tough, durable and rarely have problems while cutting. Tourmalines are iffy and may not be good candidates since they may be dark due to a closed "C" axis.

2. The last group of candidates for re-cutting are stones which have good color and adequate depth, or have obvious external defects like chips,scratches, slightly off center culets or even shallow crowns, (assuming the pavilions are deep enough). These can often be re-cut to a slightly smaller size and be improved by a huge amount.

3. Some stones are marginal as to their ability to be re-cut to a person's advantage. These are stones which will be cut into a different shape, are very shallow, or have obvious defects which can't be removed. If they are large enough and deep enough to get a decent sized stone or good color from them, then they may be well worth re-cutting. Dichroic stones like large sapphires which are cut shallowly and show a lot of green around their perimeter are often a good choice for re-cutting, since a deeper cut, particularly on the crown, will direct light more along the blue axis and give you a much smaller, but much more blue gem. Stones which will be cut into a different shape lose a lot of material in the re-cutting and must be fine material to be worth recutting. On all of these the starting price is usually the determining factor as to whether it's worth doing, (since a re-cut can cost from $100 to $300+).

4. Some stones are just not worth re-cutting. These are either too small, of poor color, highly included or so poorly shaped that a re-cut would leave you with a fine 3mm stone worth $20, (at a cost of $100+....not a good deal). One thing to keep in mind with some of these sorts of stones is that if they are large enough, they might make a decent cab. Re-cutting a big, cheap stone to a cab can be quite inexpensive and give a very fine looking cab in a shape which may not be commercially obtainable. With this in mind you have the advantage of being able to see the internal structure of a cut stone as compared to trying to pick a suitable piece of rough.

5.No stone should ever be wasted, so when you get down to the dregs, you can always make your fish happy by decorating their house. I also visited a fellow once who had a huge pile of what most would call junk. The end result was a concrete patio whose entire surface was inlaid with "gems". Sounds goofy, but it was truly a very attractive feature of his house and definitely an ice breaker at gatherings.

 

[blithesome71]

Hi TaylorBug, do u have some photos of your sapphire? Pls do share some. TYVM

 

[ChunkyCushionLover]

Date: 3/8/2010 10:05:54 AM
Author: Chrono
Below is the recut Jeff did for one of my projects. He also sourced and selected the native stone himself.

Chrono pardon me for asking, love the recut into an asscher what was the original weight of the oval?

 

[T L]

Date: 3/8/2010 10:05:54 AM
Author: Chrono
Below is the recut Jeff did for one of my projects. He also sourced and selected the native stone himself.

I didn''t know your pink spinel was a recut. It''s so much more even in color now without that gaping window.

 

[chrono]

Date: 3/9/2010 2:04:06 AM
Author: ChunkyCushionLover

Date: 3/8/2010 10:05:54 AM
Author: Chrono
Below is the recut Jeff did for one of my projects. He also sourced and selected the native stone himself.

Chrono pardon me for asking, love the recut into an asscher what was the original weight of the oval?

Unfortunately, I have absolutely no idea and didn’t think to ask Jeff then. I don’t know if he still remembers as it has been 3 years since he cut the pink asscher spinel for me.