vendors

[Kitten35]

Hello everyone,
I've been a lurker for a long time and now decided to join because I have some questions. A few months ago I had a custom ring made with two stones given to me by my grandparents from other pieces given to me after they died (hated the settings). I had never done a custom setting before with two loose stones, and I loved the process.

I'm now interested in buying some natural stones in various gems and setting them later on (not all at once, of course). I am in the research stage right now but am interested in yellow and blue sapphires (preferably unheated), though I am considering others as well. If I choose eventually to purchase a sapphire, I would like a cushion cut but am not sure if that is possible in a size smaller than a carat--I'm thinking a yellow cushion one, around .5 - .75 cts (I have smallish fingers--the largest I tend to like in stones is around .75 or so). I'm also interested in blue, though I may ask my husband to re-do my wedding set in a few years and set a blue (cushion also) eventually so I think for a RHR I'd do yellow. I found a vendor on Etsy who sells stones at a good price. Has anyone used Rare Earth Gems? The reviews are good, but I am new at buying over the internet. Are there other places I should be looking? Also, are there any good black opal vendors?

Thanks!

 

[T L]

Hello everyone,
I've been a lurker for a long time and now decided to join because I have some questions. A few months ago I had a custom ring made with two stones given to me by my grandparents from other pieces given to me after they died (hated the settings). I had never done a custom setting before with two loose stones, and I loved the process.

I'm now interested in buying some natural stones in various gems and setting them later on (not all at once, of course). I am in the research stage right now but am interested in yellow and blue sapphires (preferably unheated), though I am considering others as well. If I choose eventually to purchase a sapphire, I would like a cushion cut but am not sure if that is possible in a size smaller than a carat--I'm thinking a yellow cushion one, around .5 - .75 cts (I have smallish fingers--the largest I tend to like in stones is around .75 or so). I'm also interested in blue, though I may ask my husband to re-do my wedding set in a few years and set a blue (cushion also) eventually so I think for a RHR I'd do yellow. I found a vendor on Etsy who sells stones at a good price. Has anyone used Rare Earth Gems? The reviews are good, but I am new at buying over the internet. Are there other places I should be looking? Also, are there any good black opal vendors?

Thanks!

I never used them, but I like that they provide GIA lab reports for more expensive gems. Also check selectgem (he has a facebook store) and he regularly obtains nice stones for low prices. He will also send the gem to the lab of your choice.

 

[Kitten35]

Thank you! My jeweler is right here in town, actually, he did a great job on my custom ring the first time, so I won't hesitate to use him again.

 

[Kitten35]

Also, anyone know if it's possible to get a cushion cut in less than 1ct?
Many of the ones I have seen are quite large.

 

[T L]

For sapphires smaller than one carat, especially in cushion shapes, which also face up smaller than normal, I like gemburionline, odysseygem and vvs1gem on ebay (they're all owned by the same person, "Tan."). Good pricing, and he can provide the lab report of your choice.

 

[Kitten35]

Thank you!

Edit: ooooh...he has a .65 in blue cushion... which is just about perfect for my hand! Thanks!

Another question: Are his gems conflict free? I won't purchase if there has been questionable treatment of those who mined/cut the stone or money to questionable cause, etc. If no, anyone know where I can get them?

 

[Kitten35]

Just for the record...this is the setting I am thinking of.
http://www.stuller.com/products/71538/3219122/?groupId=110208

Would this hold a cushion? It says antique square.

 

[pregcurious]

Thank you!

Edit: ooooh...he has a .65 in blue cushion... which is just about perfect for my hand! Thanks!

Another question: Are his gems conflict free? I won't purchase if there has been questionable treatment of those who mined/cut the stone or money to questionable cause, etc. If no, anyone know where I can get them?

Tan's stones are not conflict free. He is located in Thailand, so if you have to return your stone, please be aware of potential issues with returning stones internationally ([URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/how-to-return-gemstones-internationally.168292/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/how-to-return-gemstones-internationally.168292/[/URL])

For the 0.65 carat cushion, make sure you like the dimensions on your hand. Sapphires are denser than diamonds, so a 1 carat sapphire will look smaller than a 1 ct diamond (if cut to the same proportions). Cushions also tend to "face up" smaller than other cuts. (See TLs post above.)

 

[distracts]

Be sure to look at the face-up size and not just the carat size... my 2.06 ct cushion sapphire faces up about 6.5mm square (umm, a little less than that, but I don't have the measurements on me), which is about the size of a diamond cushion of a little over 1 ct. When I bought it, they had a LOT of 1 ct cushion sapphires, and they were teeeeny tiny - like 3.5-4mm across.

 

[Blue-Seeker]

Kitten, in response to your question about black opal vendors, I saw some beautiful black opals from Christensen & Co. Fine Opals. I met them at when they were in town doing a gem show. They travel to various jewelry stores across the country, but I don't think they sell directly to the public. Your jeweler might be able to contact them for you. They are from Australia, I believe. I took their business card, but I don't think I kept it -- sorry! Their prices seemed fair, and their selection was huge.

 

[T L]

Thank you!

Edit: ooooh...he has a .65 in blue cushion... which is just about perfect for my hand! Thanks!

Another question: Are his gems conflict free? I won't purchase if there has been questionable treatment of those who mined/cut the stone or money to questionable cause, etc. If no, anyone know where I can get them?

Tan's stones are not conflict free. He is located in Thailand, so if you have to return your stone, please be aware of potential issues with returning stones internationally ([URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/how-to-return-gemstones-internationally.168292/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/how-to-return-gemstones-internationally.168292/[/URL])

For the 0.65 carat cushion, make sure you like the dimensions on your hand. Sapphires are denser than diamonds, so a 1 carat sapphire will look smaller than a 1 ct diamond (if cut to the same proportions). Cushions also tend to "face up" smaller than other cuts. (See TLs post above.)

That's a good question, and I'm not sure if Tan's stones are conflict free, so I can't say no or yes for sure. He does obtain a lot of stones from Tanzania, and that's all I know.

ETA: Anyone can say their gemstones are conflict free, but unless you follow them to the mine, it's impossible to verify. Diamonds are different because there are certain mines that are conflict free like argyle, Candian mines, etc . . . and if you buy a diamond that you know comes from a specific mine, than you are certain they are conflict free.

I really like this one, and it's supposed to be untreated, and you can't beat the price. If interested, have Tan send it to a lab, but it's so inexpensive, that you may not feel its worth it.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/0-65ct-UNHE...2502?pt=Loose_Gemstones_1&hash=item35a9ee9756

Here's another one that I really like.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/0-87ct-UNHE...7010?pt=Loose_Gemstones_1&hash=item35a61df1e2

 

[Pandora II]

It depends a bit on exactly what you mean by conflict free.

In Sri Lanka for example, the stones are mined pretty ethically - the mines are generally cooperatives with the profits shared between the miners, landowner, owner of the water pump etc. The government bans mechanised mining to reduce the impact on the environment and help make the industry sustainable for many decades to come.

Ed Bristol at Wildfish Gems is very big on conflict-free, as is Lisa Elser who posts here regularly.

SL has compulsory schooling and an incredibly high literacy rate (something like 95% IIRC) so you are not going to find children down the mines or cutting gems and certainly no slave-labour.

On the other hand, a portion of taxes paid by the workers go towards the struggle against the LTTE. For me this isn't an issue as I have zero sympathy for the LTTE and I'm very glad they pretty much no longer exist.

Places like Burma, I personally don't have a problem with buying their stones. The only people hurt by gemstone embargos there are the small people on the ground. I very much share Richard Hughes feelings on the subject.

Thailand I'm not 100% familiar with, but I know dealers who mainly work out there and they are pretty ethically minded and don't seem to find any issues.

Remember though that Sri Lanka and Thailand are big cutting centres and receive goods from all over the world. I've bought beautiful tsavorites in Sri Lanka - which only come from Kenya and Tanzania.

If you want to be absolutely 100% certain then you could look only at stones from Australia and the USA, but you will be limiting yourself and the stones from both are generally not on a par with those from places like Sri Lanka.


For black opal, it might be worth trying Rick at Art Cut Gems, it's one of his specialist subjects.

If you don't see what you are looking for on a vendor's website, always worth sending an email as they often don't have all their stock online. I don't think I've ever actually bought a stone that was up on anyone's website, and I've been collecting for over 20 years.

 

[T L]

It depends a bit on exactly what you mean by conflict free.

In Sri Lanka for example, the stones are mined pretty ethically - the mines are generally cooperatives with the profits shared between the miners, landowner, owner of the water pump etc. The government bans mechanised mining to reduce the impact on the environment and help make the industry sustainable for many decades to come.

Ed Bristol at Wildfish Gems is very big on conflict-free, as is Lisa Elser who posts here regularly.

SL has compulsory schooling and an incredibly high literacy rate (something like 95% IIRC) so you are not going to find children down the mines or cutting gems and certainly no slave-labour.

On the other hand, a portion of taxes paid by the workers go towards the struggle against the LTTE. For me this isn't an issue as I have zero sympathy for the LTTE and I'm very glad they pretty much no longer exist.

Places like Burma, I personally don't have a problem with buying their stones. The only people hurt by gemstone embargos there are the small people on the ground. I very much share Richard Hughes feelings on the subject.

Thailand I'm not 100% familiar with, but I know dealers who mainly work out there and they are pretty ethically minded and don't seem to find any issues.

Remember though that Sri Lanka and Thailand are big cutting centres and receive goods from all over the world. I've bought beautiful tsavorites in Sri Lanka - which only come from Kenya and Tanzania.

If you want to be absolutely 100% certain then you could look only at stones from Australia and the USA, but you will be limiting yourself and the stones from both are generally not on a par with those from places like Sri Lanka.


For black opal, it might be worth trying Rick at Art Cut Gems, it's one of his specialist subjects.

If you don't see what you are looking for on a vendor's website, always worth sending an email as they often don't have all their stock online. I don't think I've ever actually bought a stone that was up on anyone's website, and I've been collecting for over 20 years.

No offense to Ed or Lisa, but how do they prove they're conflict free. They are welcome to discuss, as I would love to know.

 

[NKOTB]

It depends a bit on exactly what you mean by conflict free.

In Sri Lanka for example, the stones are mined pretty ethically - the mines are generally cooperatives with the profits shared between the miners, landowner, owner of the water pump etc. The government bans mechanised mining to reduce the impact on the environment and help make the industry sustainable for many decades to come.

Ed Bristol at Wildfish Gems is very big on conflict-free, as is Lisa Elser who posts here regularly.

SL has compulsory schooling and an incredibly high literacy rate (something like 95% IIRC) so you are not going to find children down the mines or cutting gems and certainly no slave-labour.

On the other hand, a portion of taxes paid by the workers go towards the struggle against the LTTE. For me this isn't an issue as I have zero sympathy for the LTTE and I'm very glad they pretty much no longer exist.

Places like Burma, I personally don't have a problem with buying their stones. The only people hurt by gemstone embargos there are the small people on the ground. I very much share Richard Hughes feelings on the subject.

Thailand I'm not 100% familiar with, but I know dealers who mainly work out there and they are pretty ethically minded and don't seem to find any issues.

Remember though that Sri Lanka and Thailand are big cutting centres and receive goods from all over the world. I've bought beautiful tsavorites in Sri Lanka - which only come from Kenya and Tanzania.

If you want to be absolutely 100% certain then you could look only at stones from Australia and the USA, but you will be limiting yourself and the stones from both are generally not on a par with those from places like Sri Lanka.


For black opal, it might be worth trying Rick at Art Cut Gems, it's one of his specialist subjects.

If you don't see what you are looking for on a vendor's website, always worth sending an email as they often don't have all their stock online. I don't think I've ever actually bought a stone that was up on anyone's website, and I've been collecting for over 20 years.

No offense to Ed or Lisa, but how do they prove they're conflict free. They are welcome to discuss, as I would love to know.

Here is a thread that is a few years old, in which Ed (amongst others) makes a few statements around this subject (I hope I'm allowed to link to this, if not, well, I guess it will be removed): http://gemologyonline.com/Forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4974

Also, Lisa has recently added a section to her website called "Giving Back" : http://www.lisaelser.com/giving_back.html

Not to answer for them, of course...

 

[lelser]

Conflict free mostly hits diamonds. Coloured stone rough doesn't have the same high potential for profits, and with the exception of places like Burma where one could claim the whole meshugenah government is a conflict, most coloured gems don't have a conflict problem.

They can have environmental, social and economic problems, though. That's a much tougher call. I do my level best to buy in country, and pay a fair price. I'll often buy locally cut gems and recut them, which means a faceter gets paid as well as the miners and brokers. At the end of the day, unless you own the mine and spend your time there it is extremely difficult to have any say on the conditions of the miners.

What Tom and I have chosen to do that IS within our control is to make grants. Right now we're donating half our profits, but as the business grows we'd like to make that more like 25%. At some point my husband will start classifying himself as unpaid slave labour for all the work he does on the photography and database, and the gem cutter doesn't get paid that well either

We're focusing on things that offer real economic opportunities in the gem producing countries and targeting mining villages for wells and sanitation as well as education and business grants to women's cooperatives. That puts gem money into the hands of local people in ways that help them prosper for the long term.

I'd been involved with a foundation briefly, but left due to disagreement on means, transparency and goals. It wasn't operating in a way that felt appropriate to me, so Tom and I are back to making our own donations.

Cheers,

Lisa
www.lisaelser.com

 

[T L]

Thanks for chiming in on this Lisa!

 

[Kitten35]

Kitten, in response to your question about black opal vendors, I saw some beautiful black opals from Christensen & Co. Fine Opals. I met them at when they were in town doing a gem show. They travel to various jewelry stores across the country, but I don't think they sell directly to the public. Your jeweler might be able to contact them for you. They are from Australia, I believe. I took their business card, but I don't think I kept it -- sorry! Their prices seemed fair, and their selection was huge.

Thanks! My jeweler actually mentioned them I believe.

 

[Kitten35]

Conflict free mostly hits diamonds. Coloured stone rough doesn't have the same high potential for profits, and with the exception of places like Burma where one could claim the whole meshugenah government is a conflict, most coloured gems don't have a conflict problem.

They can have environmental, social and economic problems, though. That's a much tougher call. I do my level best to buy in country, and pay a fair price. I'll often buy locally cut gems and recut them, which means a faceter gets paid as well as the miners and brokers. At the end of the day, unless you own the mine and spend your time there it is extremely difficult to have any say on the conditions of the miners.

What Tom and I have chosen to do that IS within our control is to make grants. Right now we're donating half our profits, but as the business grows we'd like to make that more like 25%. At some point my husband will start classifying himself as unpaid slave labour for all the work he does on the photography and database, and the gem cutter doesn't get paid that well either

We're focusing on things that offer real economic opportunities in the gem producing countries and targeting mining villages for wells and sanitation as well as education and business grants to women's cooperatives. That puts gem money into the hands of local people in ways that help them prosper for the long term.

I'd been involved with a foundation briefly, but left due to disagreement on means, transparency and goals. It wasn't operating in a way that felt appropriate to me, so Tom and I are back to making our own donations.

Cheers,

Lisa
www.lisaelser.com

Thank you! This is the kind of info I am looking for. I understand it's impossible to be able to know everything about where the stones come from, or to be absolutely sure there is no abuse of power involved in the production of the stones, but I do want to eventually make as much of an educated purchase as possible.

 

[Edward Bristol]

Ed Bristol at Wildfish Gems is very big on conflict-free, as is Lisa Elser who posts here regularly.

No offense to Ed or Lisa, but how do they prove they're conflict free. They are welcome to discuss, as I would love to know.

It is a long story.

Yes, you have to be close to the mines in order to influence or at least know what is happening.

Here is something I wrote about the tigers before they were extinguished:

Do gems finance the Tamil Tigers?​

The Tigers say they started fighting for political independence because the Tamils were hindered from participating in the then booming Sri Lankan economy.

In regard to the gem business, this was true: Traditionally Tamils were not part of the gem trade. The simple reason for this was not racism on the Singhalese side, but geological circumstances. Despite the fact that 80% of Sri Lanka is said to be gem bearing, no significant gem deposits are found in the east-north Tamil Tiger areas.

As for the other reasons the Tigers come up with, yes, I do remember that 25 years ago when driving from west to east, roads would become bad and public infrastructure would decline. The Singhalese say that was because the Tamils are lazy (which is definitely not true) but in any case this is no excuse to invent suicide bombings.

Today one may say "Fortunately no gems are found", because the Tigers are broke, and that is good news. They have run down their areas and have not, as promised, brought them to independent blossom (for whatever reasons). Now there is not enough cash to recruit even children (the cheapest soldiers) anymore, let alone to buy new more sophisticated weapons. Therefore they have started to work with landmines washed out of the army camps by the tsunami. The latest attacks, including the air attacks, are hopefully the final death rattle of a deeply sick organization.

The Sri Lankan civil war has completely lost its reasons, direction or purpose. For the Tigers terror has become the only form of self expression and the only way by which somebody will pay any attention to the wrecked east of some island in the Indian Ocean. Needless to say that all this is deeply sad for the normal peace loving Tamils, who are in the majority, but are understandably too scared to speak up.

I do not doubt that there were good reasons to oppose the Singhalese rule those days, but time has shown that violence does not produce any desirable result, but instead has laid the country in ruin. While Singapore, Thailand and South Korea have become self sufficient economies, Sri Lanka has decayed to life on western aid. Though blessed with sun, rain and all natural resources a country could possible wish for, Sri Lanka is today not able even to feed its own people without foreign help, let alone to produce anything that would pay for the huge trade deficit.

In addition to the circles of hate that have lately escalated again, alcohol has become a huge problem in the east. Being left to isolation and terror for over two decades the bottle of arrack or worse the illegal "toddy" has turned out to be the only pleasure for the locals and the much needed fuel for the remains of courage amongst the Tigers.

Thus, as things stand, the country can be truly grateful that no gems are found in the Tiger areas.

In regard to mining, the worst thing about the civil war is that the government has other things to do than to worry about illegal mining and its ecological effects in the mountains.