Has anyone purchased from clear cut gems?

[kriskn04]

Would anyone care to share their experiences with Lloyd from clear cut gems? Thank you in advance.

 

[minousbijoux]

I do not have first hand experience, but I know others on here do. I know that people have been happy with their stones from Lloyd, and I know of one occasion recently where the stone was sent back because the buyer did not feel that it looked like the pics...

 

[kriskn04]

Thanks minousbijoux for your response. Do you know if anyone has commissioned anything from him? And if they were satisfied?

 

[minousbijoux]

Thanks minousbijoux for your response. Do you know if anyone has commissioned anything from him? And if they were satisfied?

I don't think I do...Can anyone help out the OP, please?

 

[kriskn04]

Anybody, please?

 

[Millefeuille]

Hello! I'm brand new here, I have been lurking around the forum researching info for buying the gemstone for my E-ring

Anyhow, I just joined today and saw your post the other day, I ended up having Lloyd from CCG custom cut a gemstone for me. I do have his image and unfortunately a really crappy iPhone image that I took that doesn't do it justice at all.

I am very happy with my purchase from him, I specifically requested a dark sapphire (I know, who does that right?). I would say that the stone was ever so slightly darker IRL than the photo he took, however not by much at all. Unfortunately my stone is with the Jeweller right now to be set, I can post images when I get it back.

ETA; the darkness of the stone from my understanding is the nature of the material, a nigerian sapphire. Gonna try and upload his image here....

 

[minousbijoux]

Hey, Millefeuille, welcome! So happy you de-lurked to help. Are you a baker, by chance?

 

[Millefeuille]

Hey, Millefeuille, welcome! So happy you de-lurked to help. Are you a baker, by chance?

Hehehe minousbijoux thanks for the welcome, I was looking around to see if there was an 'introduce yourself' part of the forum but couldn't find it. Alas I only bake at home but I love getting Millefeuille at a good bakery mmmmm.

 

[kriskn04]

Thank you for sharing Millefeuille!! He is currently searching for a rough to cut for me for an E-ring as well. I am just looking for reassurance because I've never purchased a gemstone to be commissioned from a rough! Lloyd has been very helpful through the whole process though. Would you say that the color that he found for you is close to what you were looking for?

Your sapphire is very nice! The cut is beautiful. I definitely look forward to seeing pics of your ring after it's been set.

 

[Millefeuille]

Thank you for sharing Millefeuille!! He is currently searching for a rough to cut for me for an E-ring as well. I am just looking for reassurance because I've never purchased a gemstone to be commissioned from a rough! Lloyd has been very helpful through the whole process though. Would you say that the color that he found for you is close to what you were looking for?

Your sapphire is very nice! The cut is beautiful. I definitely look forward to seeing pics of your ring after it's been set.

kriskn04, I felt good about the process. He was very helpful and super quick to respond which was very reassuring (I've never done this before either!) I would say it was exactly what I was looking for. For me it was important that the colour was dark. I think its important to be sure that what you communicate to the person doing the work for you truly does mean what you think it means. For example I was mixing up the term 'saturated' for 'dark.' I really meant that I wanted a stone that only reflected a bit of its true colour occasionally, so saturated wasn't the best term to describe it.

What kind of stone are you looking for?

 

[kriskn04]

Millefeuille, it does reassure me that you had a good experience and that my experience thus far has been similar. I was able to communicate with him exactly what I was looking for. I even sent him a bunch of pictures as examples. I guess my concerns arose when he sent me pictures of some rough but I didn't know what I was looking at! (which I did communicate with him)

I am looking for a sapphire as well, but on the lighter end of the spectrum. I'm hoping to hear from him by the end of this week if he's found a better rough than the one he has already sent me.

Again, thank you for your feedback!

 

[blingergrrrl]

I do not have first hand experience, but I know others on here do. I know that people have been happy with their stones from Lloyd, and I know of one occasion recently where the stone was sent back because the buyer did not feel that it looked like the pics...

I am also dissatisfied with the stone that I was sent verses his pictures and description. He described the stone as, I believe, "lively" and light lavender. IRL, it has no "life"/sparkle, and is a dull greyish navy in natural light and greyish dull grape kool-aid under artificial lights. My advice, don't buy his winza sapphires, the colours are nothing like the site. I missed the return date (was out of town when it arrived) so I guess I am outta luck. I will give him credit that he said the stone was hard to photograph, but I believe his description should have reflected what the stone looked like in real life (isn't that his job?). I feel that there was blatant duplicity in the description. However, you can see in pictures that he does cut well, so perhaps commissioning a stone will be different. I'm not sure what happened. I want to believe there was a mix up, but...a sellers description of the stone should be accurate if you want repeat business online. I truly hope everything works out for you.

 

[chrono]

Blinger,
I'm sorry the stone looked different to you in person. Have you contacted Lloyd to see if he open to a late return, due to circumstances beyond your control (out of town)? He might hold fast to his return policy but I think it is worth a try.

 

[T L]

Hello! I'm brand new here, I have been lurking around the forum researching info for buying the gemstone for my E-ring

Anyhow, I just joined today and saw your post the other day, I ended up having Lloyd from CCG custom cut a gemstone for me. I do have his image and unfortunately a really crappy iPhone image that I took that doesn't do it justice at all.

I am very happy with my purchase from him, I specifically requested a dark sapphire (I know, who does that right?). I would say that the stone was ever so slightly darker IRL than the photo he took, however not by much at all. Unfortunately my stone is with the Jeweller right now to be set, I can post images when I get it back.

ETA; the darkness of the stone from my understanding is the nature of the material, a nigerian sapphire. Gonna try and upload his image here....

In my experience, dark stones tend to look even darker with checkerboard cutting, or similar type cutting on the table. I think some lapidaries need to figure out the best cutting for a particular tone and saturation, and not just worry about facet meets, and the very technical details of the cutting itself. JMO.

 

[PrecisionGem]

TL I'm wondering how you drew that conclusion about the checker cutting? I would think you would need to see the same material cut two different ways.

 

[T L]

TL I'm wondering how you drew that conclusion about the checker cutting? I would think you would need to see the same material cut two different ways.

It has been my experience, and it's just an opinion. I could be wrong.

I've seen stones that had the potential to be brighter and more lively if only they didn't have that checkerboard faceting on top.

I think the checkerboard faceting tends to reflect more light off the surface than a normal table.

Not a fan of that style of cutting in any case.

 

[PrecisionGem]

By experience you mean seeing the same material cut checker board crown and then a more traditional cut side by side, or you have seen dark stones with a checker board cut crown?

 

[T L]

By experience you mean seeing the same material cut checker board crown and then a more traditional cut side by side, or you have seen dark stones with a checker board cut crown?

Yes, to both questions.

 

[PrecisionGem]

That is interesting since my experience is just the opposite. I have taken identical dark material and done various cuts on it. Checker boards work better than traditional cuts on dark material, and for a few reasons. A brilliant type cut is avoided when working with dark material.

Basisically a dark rough will always be dark, but we all seem to end up with some overly dark pieces of rough, and do what can to salvage them. Commercial cutters will often just cut a ver shallow windowed stone, allowing some light to come up from below. Maybe this is what you have seen in your side by side comparisons. With a checker crown, since the table is either very small or non existent, you can cut the pavilion at lower angles with out a window. This reduces the light path, thus not as dark. Also the checker crown creates it own reflections, which gives the illusion of color and flash, and adds interest to the stone.

I'd be interested to see examples you have that are contrary to my experience.

 

[T L]

I don't have any examples in front of me. Most of my experiences occurred at gem shows, where there were precision cut gems from the same batches, and some were more traditionally faceted, and some had checkerboard crowns. Therefore, I tend to avoid checkerboard cuts, except on light toned material. Some of my experiences also happened with precision lapidaries as well. On darker stones, I tend to prefer supernovas which tend to break up the light more when it hits the the pavilion and bounces it back. As I said before, to me, there's just too much surface glare on dark stones with checkerboard faceting.

I respect your opinion on the subject though.

 

[FrekeChild]

I do not have first hand experience, but I know others on here do. I know that people have been happy with their stones from Lloyd, and I know of one occasion recently where the stone was sent back because the buyer did not feel that it looked like the pics...

I am also dissatisfied with the stone that I was sent verses his pictures and description. He described the stone as, I believe, "lively" and light lavender. IRL, it has no "life"/sparkle, and is a dull greyish navy in natural light and greyish dull grape kool-aid under artificial lights. My advice, don't buy his winza sapphires, the colours are nothing like the site. I missed the return date (was out of town when it arrived) so I guess I am outta luck. I will give him credit that he said the stone was hard to photograph, but I believe his description should have reflected what the stone looked like in real life (isn't that his job?). I feel that there was blatant duplicity in the description. However, you can see in pictures that he does cut well, so perhaps commissioning a stone will be different. I'm not sure what happened. I want to believe there was a mix up, but...a sellers description of the stone should be accurate if you want repeat business online. I truly hope everything works out for you.

I'm just curious, but have you taken pictures? I would like to see a comparison...

 

[mastercutgems]

I know as a cutter; we have to choose wisely as to the cut we can execute on a gem mineral to get the best optical return we can.

I am sure Gene as well as myself and other cutters try everything we can on a parcel of saturated rough; to get the best gem we can out of that parcel. But sometimes you can only do so much. I have also used complete faceted crowns like the Choval, pinwheel, etc. to brighten the table as well as cutting a shallow pavilion to aid in the reduction of the overly saturated look that a true proper angle brilliant pavilion can exhibit.

It is not that we cutters are trying to fool anyone; we are just trying to get the best gem we can out of that particular material. I know on a personal note; I usually do not like a checkerboard or choval crown; and I also do not usually like a step cut pavilion; but many times I did not have a choice unless I wanted the gem to be deemed to live it's life at the bottom of a fish bowl

So many times on a saturated gem mineral I will put a trap or step cut pavilion to hold light as the brilliant cut sometimes will concentrate the color and make a less light or bright gem...

I guess that is why there are literally thousands of cuts at the cutters disposal; it is for that reason we have ray tracing programs and the such to help us in many cases to not go through the expensive trial and error or cutting and then observing how bad our choice in design was.

I know we all try to buy as light rough as we can now to escape that trap; but sometimes you do not have many choices in the gem rough buying arena. You either buy and try to work some sort of magic or you do not cut for a while...

But thank you TL for your observation as we cutters truly listen to all of you out there to help us cut the designs that please you; but in turn allows us the best optical return on the gem we are cutting; as we cutters do like to produce gems we are truly proud of; it is not all about the dollar to most of us...

You really have to enjoy this craft to watch a wheel go around and around for hours on end.

Most Respectfully;

Dana M. Reynolds
ASG
Certified Supreme Master Gem Cutter
#96CGE42

 

[minousbijoux]

I would tend to agree with TL. It seems to me that checkerboard crowns have faceting that often either reflects back the light like a mirror, or just appears dark or as one dimensional color, if that makes sense. The ones I have seen do not seem to have faceting that reflects back up from with the gem with great sparkle and depth of color. I find the boring.

 

[PrecisionGem]

You may be seeing this because more dark stones are cut with checkerboard crowns, because that type of cutting works better in a dark stone. The same stone cut as as standard round brilliant design for be totally dead and black.

Look through the designs by the late Jeff Graham. Almost every checker board cut he developed, has the comment "good for dark material".

With overly dark rough, a simple pavilion helps, and using a more complex crown adds interest.

Pricescope customers typically buy very traditional cuts. I think because so many times they are going into stock mountings with a halo. My jeweler customers prefer the more exotic cuts as they are making custom one of kind pieces, so they want a one of kind look in the stone. I notice that I never see anyone posting "fantasy" type cuts here.

 

[digdeep]

+1

 

[selous]

I would just like to respond briefly by saying that I strive to represent each stone as accurately as possible.
One of the reasons many good faceters no longer sell retail to the public is that that certain gems are notoriously difficult to photograph correctly without major Phototshop manipulation and internet customers expect it to look exactly the same.If we were selling pink Ipods it would be a lot easier.
Also everyone has different tastes and many people see hue and saturation differently to the next person,lighting also comes into play.
It would not be to my benefit to purposely try and deceive someone by manipulating a picture only to have a disappointed customer send it back,I can assure you I hate returns as much as the next person,it is inconvenient and wasteful but essential to doing business online.

The next best thing to being able to buy in person is being protected by a good,honest return policy which most cutters including myself offer.I offer a good return time which I believe is enough to decide whether a gemstone is to your liking or not.
If you send a stone back within or by the return date and are refunded your money then quite honestly I don't believe there should be any issue.
Most times I will make an exception if the client warns me they will be a bit late sending a stone back but to be honest,I very seldom have a return.
You may be out a few dollars for shipping but you have had the convenience of inspecting the gemstone in the privacy of your own home with no pressure to buy from some sales person hovering over you.

 

[minousbijoux]

A number of us have observed that if daylight is used as the light source, latitudinal distance between the cutter's photographs and the stone recipient is a determining factor. In this case, it might be working against Lloyd who, given his location, has a stronger ambient daylight source than many of us. This likely accounts for differences seen with Jeff Davies' natural light hand shots as well. Just another factor to consider.

 

[blingergrrrl]

I do not have first hand experience, but I know others on here do. I know that people have been happy with their stones from Lloyd, and I know of one occasion recently where the stone was sent back because the buyer did not feel that it looked like the pics...

I am also dissatisfied with the stone that I was sent verses his pictures and description. He described the stone as, I believe, "lively" and light lavender. IRL, it has no "life"/sparkle, and is a dull greyish navy in natural light and greyish dull grape kool-aid under artificial lights. My advice, don't buy his winza sapphires, the colours are nothing like the site. I missed the return date (was out of town when it arrived) so I guess I am outta luck. I will give him credit that he said the stone was hard to photograph, but I believe his description should have reflected what the stone looked like in real life (isn't that his job?). I feel that there was blatant duplicity in the description. However, you can see in pictures that he does cut well, so perhaps commissioning a stone will be different. I'm not sure what happened. I want to believe there was a mix up, but...a sellers description of the stone should be accurate if you want repeat business online. I truly hope everything works out for you.

I'm just curious, but have you taken pictures? I would like to see a comparison...

I admit I was venting above and I formally apologize.

However, I tried to be level headed and posted my experience and photos to the
topic you started as the stones we had issues with are from the same lot (the Winza's). Looks like the exact same experience! Wish I would have seen your post. Again, the issue I had isn't the return policy but the description of the stone.

Selous/ClearCutGems/Lloyd, you can respond at the following link if you would like. I am NOT picking a fight, I do NOT want to slander, I am just stating what I felt was my experience, as this is a forum for public/retail customers (and yes, we tend to be fussier and ask more questions, but we pay a premium for it). I wouldn't have said anything but the fact that someone else had the same experience, I had to share.

https://www.pricescope.com/communit...periences.196744/page-5#post-3632142#p3632142

 

[PrecisionGem]

One topic I heard over and over again while in Tucson was light bulbs. These new CFL bulbs make almost every stone aside from Chrysoberyl and peridot look horrid. LED are better, but still no match for the old incandescent bulb for many stones. This makes things difficult as each person can have a different mix of bulbs.

 

[blingergrrrl]

Hello! I'm brand new here, I have been lurking around the forum researching info for buying the gemstone for my E-ring

Anyhow, I just joined today and saw your post the other day, I ended up having Lloyd from CCG custom cut a gemstone for me. I do have his image and unfortunately a really crappy iPhone image that I took that doesn't do it justice at all.

I am very happy with my purchase from him, I specifically requested a dark sapphire (I know, who does that right?). I would say that the stone was ever so slightly darker IRL than the photo he took, however not by much at all. Unfortunately my stone is with the Jeweller right now to be set, I can post images when I get it back.

ETA; the darkness of the stone from my understanding is the nature of the material, a nigerian sapphire. Gonna try and upload his image here....

That stone looks amazing! Makes me think of stormy seas and a Kraken attack! lol.