Can you rec a vendor for loose gemstone in Sydney, Australia?

[Icy Melona]

Looking for loose sapphires and would love to know if there are any vendors in Sydney. I''ve been to several jewellers but they seem to carry a limited supply of stones and I''ve found it hard to get what I''m looking for even with specifications. Is there anyone who specialises in loose gemstones in Sydney or anywhere else in Australia?

Thanks!

 

[eac]

You know what? I was looking for this recently, too. I live in NZ and I am going to be in Sydney in two weeks, and I thought it would be cool to get an Australian sapphire from a gem dealer while I was there. And I couldn't find one that had Australian sapphires. I did find http://www.gogoanna.com/, but they don't seem to have much of a sapphire selection.

There is a large gem wholesaler called Sapphex, but I called them and they don't deal with the "general public."

I do know that there is at least one large gem show in Sydney every year. This year, it is coming up in October.

http://www.beadandgemshow.com.au/

Can you wait for the show?

I wound up ordering a stone online from a gemcutter/miner in Queensland. Haven't received it yet, so I can't say for sure what they're like. Fingers crossed! They did say they'd be willing to cut a stone to my specifications, which was encouraging.

 

[lavenderlill]

Are you specifically looking for Australian sapphires? Are you will to buy from an online source? I know that there are online vendors that have been mentioned on this forum who will search out stones for you when provided with specific requirements.

 

[Icy Melona]

Ooo..thanks for the links! I didn't know about the beads and gem expo. There is a trade show coming up at Darling Harbour Sydney Exhibitioin Cntr in August/Sept coming up but it seems to be for trade only. I'll probably try using some invoices to try get into that. I'll be the one being forced out by security if anyone is going...

I've looked and asked around B&M jewellers and have received varying quotes on 3ct sapphires (from AUD3000-10,000+) and most seem to be the pale blue ceylon variety. I noticed that sapphires of the pale blue kind seem to be pretty cheap on the online vendors.

I went into Mussons (high end jeweller in Chatswood) the other day and while the owner Olivar Musson was a complete professional and very informative, I didn't really like the selection of sapphires he had. I felt he really preferred the steel blue varieties as that was predominant in his inventory but he did let me know that he updates his stocks regularly so I can come in once or twice a month to see the available selections. Same story with Gold Shop except I felt they quoted more than Mussons for the steel blues.