Aquamarine asscher/Peter Torraca

[radiantquest]

I have contacted Peter Torraca about creating a 3 stone aquamarine asscher ring. This ring will have great sentiment to me as my original ering was in DH mind going to be asscher, but do to finances that didnt work out. DH birthstone is aquamarine. Does anyone have experience with Peter and could you show me work that he has done. I did a search and someone suggested him, but I was just wondering if anyone else has delt with him.

 

[DistinctionJewelry]

I have three of Peter''s stones and another pair on the way. They are impeccable in every way. His was my first precision-cut stone purchase, and while I have acquired some from other cutters since, I have a major, enduring crush on his work I only have my own photo of one of his stones right now, and I can tell you it absolutely doesn''t do justice to the fluid brilliance of the stone. It''s the prasiolite/green amethyst in this piece:

 

[Gailey]

Mr Torraca grinds nice rocks.

I also think he is one of the nicest and most honourable men I have ever gotten to know.

Here''s my PT collection.

 

[packrat]

Gailey, the blues bottom left, what are they? That''s the color I''m thinking of for my next project.

 

[SB621]

This is my 1.5ct sunstone asscher from Peter. When it comes to Asschers I think Jeff White and Peter have the best cut personally.

 

[radiantquest]

When I sent the original email to Peter I told him that someone on here suggested his work. I found it through a search. He is so gracious and said to thank everyone here for their kind words. I am excited. I told him I wanted aquamarine in the palest of blues. What Gailey has on the bottom left is almost the exact color that I want. Did I mention that I am excited! What is your experience with pricing? Is he high since he does such wonderful work?

 

[Stone Hunter]

WOW DJ, Gailey, and Sarahbear those are some amazing stones!

 

[marcy]

Lovely collection of stones.

 

[colorluvr]

Those are some beautiful stones!!!!

 

[loriken214]

Date: 5/6/2010 5:56:36 PM
Author: Gailey
Mr Torraca grinds nice rocks.

I also think he is one of the nicest and most honourable men I have ever gotten to know.

Here''s my PT collection.

Gailey,

How did you get them all on one page???

Awesome collection!!!

Lori

 

[loriken214]

Peter is amazing!!! He''s a wonderful person and his gems speak for themselves....

Here''s my aqua asscher.

Lori

 

[loriken214]

My peridot asscher.

Lori

 

[loriken214]

My citrine asscher.

Lori

 

[loriken214]

My pink tourmaline asscher.

Lori

 

[loriken214]

My grossular garnet asscher.

Lori

 

[loriken214]

My step cut green tourmaline.

Lori

 

[loriken214]

And, this is my latest gemstone from Peter....his Morganite asscher. I''ll have her soon.

Lori

 

[virgoruby]

Wow, lots of beautiful asschers!

 

[Allison D.]

This is a recently acquired aqua asscher from Peter

 

[Gailey]

Date: 5/6/2010 6:08:07 PM
Author: packrat
Gailey, the blues bottom left, what are they? That''s the color I''m thinking of for my next project.

Packrat, the oval and the smaller square come from a stone that I inherited. Peter re-cut the stone for me (search for my Isle of Capri thread to read the story). The larger is similar material that Peter sourced.

They are synthetic and as such we are not allowed to talk about them in CS. Peter would happily supply any details. I simply included them for their cut value, as my gallery would not be complete without them.

Lovely colour though eh ....

 

[Gailey]

Date: 5/6/2010 9:15:41 PM
Author: radiantquest
When I sent the original email to Peter I told him that someone on here suggested his work. I found it through a search. He is so gracious and said to thank everyone here for their kind words. I am excited. I told him I wanted aquamarine in the palest of blues. What Gailey has on the bottom left is almost the exact color that I want. Did I mention that I am excited! What is your experience with pricing? Is he high since he does such wonderful work?

Radiantquest,

It''s like most things in life, you generally get what you pay for. You will find cheaper cut stones on e-bay and from some other mass-market suppliers. But unless you are an expert, or prepared to employ the services of a qualified gemologist or lab, then you may not be able to put your hand on your heart and know for certain that what you paid for is what you got. The world of coloured gems is rife with synthesised stones, dubious treatments and charlatans. Of course there are also honest cutters and dealers out there, you just have to find them. Pricescope by it''s very nature holds suppliers to a very high standard and you are wise to choose to deal with someone you see recommended here.

I buy Peter''s stones because he cuts them so beautifully. I also follow a professional forum that we are not allowed to mention, but I can tell you that Peter is highly respected amongst his peer group both as a gemologist and a lapidarist and that was a big plus point for me when I chose my first PT stone, the golden asscher in the centre of my collage.

I have gotten to know him over the last couple of years and I trust him implicitly. I know with as much certainty as the sun coming up in the east, if he sells me a garnet, it is a garnet that will arrive in the mail an not a piece of glass.

Peter is not a hobby cutter, he is running his own business and as such it needs to be a viable concern. I believe there are other cutters out there for who this is not a core business. Bear in mind that there are also many factors that go into the price of a stone, not least of all how much the lapidarist pays for the rough and where he bought it from. A piece of rough bought at Tucson may result in a cheaper cut gem than from a similar piece of rough bought by the lapidarist personally in Tanzania for example. This is just my opinion, so if I don''t have it quite right forgive me, I just employed a bit of common sense.

Personally I don''t find his stones to be expensive at all and I am happy to pay the prices he charges. I seem to have amassed quite a collection, but believe me, I did not pay a Kings ransom for any of my stones.

 

[radiantquest]

Gailey,

Going elsewhere for something cheaper is not an option. I want Peter to do the work. I am just not sure how much it will hurt my wallet. From looking at the peices that he has on sale on the website it does not seem that the prices are high. In fact, I thought they were darn good. It is just that sometimes custom can double prices. There is a ring that is very similar just the wrong shape and that price was incredible. Thank you for telling me so much about him. I am sure that if you have so many wonderful things to say that I will also be happy to pay what he charges. He replied to my email and was concerned about the size stone I wanted being to small for his minimum. I asked if he would let me know what he is able to do. I told him that I trust his judgement, but want it to be understated yet beautiful.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

Peter''s asschers are gorgeous!

 

[radiantquest]

I am a little disappointed that I havent heard anything from him today.

 

[ChunkyCushionLover]

Date: 5/7/2010 4:44:17 PM
Author: radiantquest
Gailey,

Going elsewhere for something cheaper is not an option. I want Peter to do the work. I am just not sure how much it will hurt my wallet. From looking at the peices that he has on sale on the website it does not seem that the prices are high. In fact, I thought they were darn good. It is just that sometimes custom can double prices. There is a ring that is very similar just the wrong shape and that price was incredible. Thank you for telling me so much about him. I am sure that if you have so many wonderful things to say that I will also be happy to pay what he charges. He replied to my email and was concerned about the size stone I wanted being to small for his minimum. I asked if he would let me know what he is able to do. I told him that I trust his judgement, but want it to be understated yet beautiful.

All of my email discussion with Peter recently has been transparent and its clear he charges reasonably for his cutting time and makes efforts to source suitable rough at reasonable prices.
I don't see it as very likely there will be some hidden cost to doing custom, my custom cutting project with him was fairly quoted and broken down into cutting time and cost of the rough.
I am fairly certain if you want synthetic spinel (like Gailey's light blue) it is fairly cheap and you add to it his cutting time and you have a relatively low cost project.

How small a stone do you want?

 

[ChunkyCushionLover]

Allison,

Gorgeous are those earrings or a keychain or ???

 

[radiantquest]

I want to stick with aqua since that is DH birthstone. So, once he cuts the stones I then have to find the ring elsewhere right? Are the stones calibrated so that I will be able to find a ring to put them in? Does he suggest setters to his customers? I went looking for 3 stone asscher settings and it seems that it might be hard. I suppose I can cross that bridge when I get there. Any suggestions would be helpful.

Chunky- I am not sure, but I think that it might be a pendant.

 

[T L]

You know, I was afraid to comment in this thread because PT has his fans, and that's perfectly fine. I know many people love his work, but I wouldn't put all my eggs in one basket. There are some other wonderful and equally fine lapidaries that cut a mean asscher, and aqua is very easy to find in that color.

Therefore, if you have a problem getting in touch with Peter, then other lapidaries that cut very fine asschers are

Jeff White whitesgems.com
Gene Flannigan precisiongem.com
Gary Braun finewatergems.com

I know that people who are really picky about precision cutting find these men to cut stones exceptionately well, and they hold these lapidaries in very high esteem.

I'm sure other people can make some suggestions to you. Good luck on getting your dream aqua.

 

[Gailey]

Date: 5/7/2010 7:18:12 PM
Author: radiantquest
I am a little disappointed that I havent heard anything from him today.

Don''t be. Peter is super reliable. If he''s not answering, it''s likely he''s out of town. Give him a few days.

I know it seems odd in this day and age because we expect everybody to have portable e-mail. I am one of the few people I know that doesn''t have a "crack-berry"!!

 

[Gailey]

Date: 5/7/2010 8:01:33 PM
Author: radiantquest
I want to stick with aqua since that is DH birthstone. So, once he cuts the stones I then have to find the ring elsewhere right? Are the stones calibrated so that I will be able to find a ring to put them in? Does he suggest setters to his customers? I went looking for 3 stone asscher settings and it seems that it might be hard. I suppose I can cross that bridge when I get there. Any suggestions would be helpful.

Chunky- I am not sure, but I think that it might be a pendant.

OK one or two warning bells going off in my head here. RQ, asschers don''t lend themselves to super small stones, you lose the ability to appreciate the steps and windmills below a certain size.

If you look at the darker green stone in my collage, you will see that it is a square cut emerald (an asscher without windmills). That stone is 5.99mm²

If you have your heart set on an asscher, have you considered having a slightly larger centre stone with smaller sides in a square cut emerald?

Just an idea for you to run with. I don''t mean to confuse you more.

In order for us to help you a little more with the setting etc., it would help if you could give us an idea of the budget you have for this ring.