Find your diamond
Find your jewelry
shape
carat
color
clarity

Woooohooooooo, new release from Peter

Okay Gailey,
I'm probably going to get creamed, but he's rather expensive for the quality. I mean $250 for a yellow citrine that is 2.8 carats???? Gene, Dan and Barry are much more reasonable. Okay, you can kill me now. I just had to say something because I don't see any exceptional material, and it seems way overpriced. I also don't believe in overspending per carat on a gem just because it's an asscher cut. Okay, I said it, you can all kill me now.
 
wow.
speechless.
 
ok sure thats kinda high for a citrine, but it is a real nice one and the cut is new, likely this stone is the prototype and special to him. I do like the deep rays bursting forth. It''s a sunny stone. I think it would be excellent north/south in a pendant. The spinels are real nice, c''mon how can you knock that little bright red one, yes red, or the larkspur like blue one with the charlie brown shirt stripes? And really, if I were buying which Im not (just got 2 oz 24k gold to work with and impulsively bought a tourmaline I think) but if i were I would certainly take the aldalusite. Mostly it just looks like backlit mud and this one had color and light. It''s not like he gets to cut a wittlesbach a month but then probably couldnt sell one a month either.
 
Oh, and quality? I have a number of Mr T''s stones in custody at the moment, and they are exceptional in cutting, orientation and quality of the rough. Both deep and sparkly, and cheerful, not brooding. Now these are qualities that I think are important. I don''t expect anyone to agree with me. Im not saying he''s better than X, Y, or Z. They are all excellent with their own styles.
 
Date: 4/28/2010 12:16:40 AM
Author: VapidLapid
ok sure thats kinda high for a citrine, but it is a real nice one and the cut is new, likely this stone is the prototype and special to him. I do like the deep rays bursting forth. It's a sunny stone. I think it would be excellent north/south in a pendant. The spinels are real nice, c'mon how can you knock that little bright red one, yes red, or the larkspur like blue one with the charlie brown shirt stripes? And really, if I were buying which Im not (just got 2 oz 24k gold to work with and impulsively bought a tourmaline I think) but if i were I would certainly take the aldalusite. Mostly it just looks like backlit mud and this one had color and light. It's not like he gets to cut a wittlesbach a month but then probably couldnt sell one a month either.
Click to expand...

It's your money, you can do what you will with it, but I cannot justify spending that much on a mediocre colored citrine, even if it was the best precision cutting in the universe (not saying that his is, but just as an example). For that money, I can buy a much rarer and finer colored stone from the other precision cutters I mentioned, and I think Gene can give PT a run for the money any day in some of those fancy cuts. I'm sorry Vapid, I guess you and I have to agree to disagree on this one.
2.gif


The one orange red spinel is so dark, that it's very unattractive to me, and the pinkish red, is just not saturated enough for the price point. Swala has more saturated colors for the same pricing or less per carat for that size stone (less than 1.5 carats). I do shop around quite a bit ya know.
2.gif
I am really sorry to all the PT fans out there, but as a consumer, I felt I had to say something. I'll go over in the corner now.
 
You don''t have to go to the corner, diversity of opinion and tastes makes the world go round.
 
Vapid,
That''s very sweet of you. I appreciate it. Again, it is just my opinion, and I know people may vehemently disagree.
 
Gailey, which one did you get?
 
I really like that rose quartz
18.gif
 
Date: 4/28/2010 12:05:02 AM
Author: tourmaline_lover
Okay Gailey,
I'm probably going to get creamed, but he's rather expensive for the quality. I mean $250 for a yellow citrine that is 2.8 carats???? Gene, Dan and Barry are much more reasonable. Okay, you can kill me now. I just had to say something because I don't see any exceptional material, and it seems way overpriced. I also don't believe in overspending per carat on a gem just because it's an asscher cut. Okay, I said it, you can all kill me now.
Click to expand...
Nah, I'm not going to kill you TL. Not tonight anyhow. I'm way too excited.

But I do think you make an interesting point and as it's my thread I'm going to give you my take on it.

I think stones that are cut in the US are probably always going to be priced higher from their counterparts from places such as Thailand. The standard of living is more expensive for the cutter. I think they probably pay more for rough too. Many of our US cutters travel to Africa to buy rough. The cost for these trips like so many other expenses has to be factored in to the retail price of all their stones.

But here's the thing I identify with most. Peter, like Gene, like Lisa etc, are all self-employed small business owners - just like me. I decide based on a variety of things what my hourly rate is going to be for my work. Some of the deciding factors are, what does my overhead cost, my materials cost, my maintenance of equipment cost? Loss has to be figured in too. For instance, I bought a whole bunch of bedding plants last year and a bunch of them were spoiled in a late frost. It didn't necessarily mean the cost of the remaining plants had to cover the cost of the spoiled ones, but at the end of the day, that cost has to be covered somewhere. If I don't make a reasonable margin I can't afford to be in business. I am sure that lapidarists who are small business owners put a cost on their hours as well as their material too. That is going to vary from cutter to cutter. A guy cutting stones in the diamond district in NYC is going to have a higher overhead than a guy sitting in Tucson for instance. I don't think when you consider these things it is unreasonable to expect pricing to differ.

Here's another angle. I don't know anything as like as much as you do about gems. I don't know enough to trust just my own judgement in some cases. But I know what I like. So I choose to buy from one or two select lapidarists that I have gotten to know a little bit and who I trust and trust emphatically. I don't mind paying a premium for that because I know that if I were to buy a pad sapphire from someone like Peter - if he tells me it's a genuine, un-treated sapphire, I know that he has taken the time to find that out. I know and trust him enough to believe what it is he tells me, so I don't feel the need to send out my stone to a lab.

One proviso with that last statement for the benefit of people reading this thread. If I were to spend a lot of money, and I'm not sure what the threshold would be, I just know I haven't reached it yet. But let's say for arguments sake I was going to spend more than $1000, then I would get a lab report, as well as a professional appraisal, just for insurance purposes.

Now, never mind all that, have you guessed what I bought yet?
 
One other thing TL. You are a colour connoisseur, known for the fact. Me, I''m a cut queen, and believe me, Peter''s cuts are the cream of the crop.

I''m kind of glad we are different and looking in different markets, otherwise we might be chasing the same stones, and I''d hate for you to get pipped at the post time and again
emwink.gif


Now c''mon guess .......
 
Hi Gailey!

Thank you for taking the time to elaborate on this subject. I''m a small business owner myself and you voiced many opinions that I share.
 
Flipping heck MT, are you just coming off the night shift or are you just up really, really early?
 
I hope you got the blue spinel or the pink tourmaline...i think both are gorgeous but out of budget for me right now since I have 2 major projects going on with both Sally and JKT. Can''t wait to hear about what you got!

I do agree that Peter is expensive. I have only bought from him once- but I do love his asschers.
 
I''ll bite.
I think you got the victoria brilliant pink tourmaline
 
Nope, already got a baby pink tourmaline from Peter a couple of years ago!
 
Date: 4/28/2010 1:03:06 AM
Author: Gailey
One other thing TL. You are a colour connoisseur, known for the fact. Me, I''m a cut queen, and believe me, Peter''s cuts are the cream of the crop.

I''m kind of glad we are different and looking in different markets, otherwise we might be chasing the same stones, and I''d hate for you to get pipped at the post time and again
emwink.gif


Now c''mon guess .......
Click to expand...
Tee hee, as soon as I get some kind of job (read: $$$) I''m comin'' for you Gailey.

You either got the spinel or the tourm (BLUE for both). I''m hoping for the spinel. Duh.
 
Likewise, please tell me its the second spinel!
 
in the corner with TL. the best of the lot in my eye and per my monitor is the rose quartz because usually such material is more milky.

mz
 
Early bird, Gailey
2.gif
 
Thanks Gailey for your thoughtful and well put reply, and providing your points.
1.gif


I hope it wasn't the citrine, especially after I dissed it (sorry about that).
 
Did you get the Umba Sapphire?
1.gif
 
I have to agree with TL and MZ that for the colour, the stones seem rather expensive when fairly compared to other US precision cutters. I do hear that US cutters are finding it difficult to get nice rough at a decent price these days though.
 
Lovely stones.
 
While there is no question he is very talented I do also wonder about the pricing. That said I love the fact he does so many different types of cuts and how well he does them.

As for which one you picked I am guessing London Blue Topaz (love the color) or 0.95 Red Spinel (though hope it isn''t too dark)
 
I think the topaz is the one....

As a total newbie I initially thought that TL''s posts were harsh (the written word). As I have lurked and read more and more I have really come to appreciate what TL has to say. It makes me look at the stones in a different way. I have a million sites bookmarked and am still trying to determine why some stones are priced so much higher than others. I really like these forums and what everyone has to say...
 
Hi Gailey!
35.gif


Which one did you get???? I''m really excited for you!!!!
36.gif


I have a number of Peter''s gemstones and they are all amazing!

Lori
 
Good Morning ladies (and a very Good Afternoon to Liz!)

I got the blue spinel, isn''t she beautiful. Never been attracted to anything blue before. I hope Losty will be proud of me.

Blue spinel for Gailey 01.jpg
 
What happened? Did you lose a stone, hence “Losty”?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
GET 3 FREE HCA RESULTS JOIN THE FORUM. ASK FOR HELP

Featured Topics

Jewelry Blog
PriceScope-Concierge-Ad
Find prime cuts.
Top