Busy busy busy!

This post has been a long time coming but the last two months have just been hectic with cutting custom orders and getting the new website up and running.My current priority is a 15 stone necklace and set of earrings for a talented custom jeweler client of mine so I will not be starting any cutting orders for the next two weeks or so.If you have an order in the pipeline then you already know your expected delivery date so please be patient,I will give your order the attention and respect it deserves in due course and I'm sure you'll be happy with the results.

In the meantime here is a  Barion cut mint blue/green Nigerian tourmaline which I have not had the time to send out on mailing list or post on the website,the picture does the stone no justice at all,1.71ct,8.4x6.35mm,graded SI(slightly included but eye clean).If you are interested please call or email me,I will be listing it on the website for sale in about a week or as soon as I get the time.

The other stone is a 3+ carat Nigerian bubble gum pink tourmaline in one of my popular cushion cuts which was a commissioned job for an overseas client.The pictures are in the incorrect order as I'm sure you've noticed!

Mint tourmaline.

I just got a small parcel of mint green tourmaline and cut this one today,it has a lot of facets on the domed crown which look a rose opening it's petals.This stone has very fine crystal with a couple of minor inclusions,
8.4mm and  2.8 ct.This one will definitely make some ladies day,it is very bright in all types of light.

Gems and photography.

Besides my family,cutting gems,sailing and a few other pleasurable pursuits photography is another love.Here's a couple of recent pics.I've been cutting and will post new stone photos soon.

Latest news!

I have a sale on gems until the end of march,I need to clear out some older inventory so here's your chance to take advantage.
I cut the last of the Nigerian spessertites today and it's a real beauty and flawless which is extremely rare for spessertite.It came out at 1.99 cts and 6.6mm,it's very bright and cut in a classic dome square checker.Enjoy!

Custom Cut Gemstones

New stones!

I cut a few stones for my inventory the last couple days,first up is a 7mm 3.3ct spessartite garnet set.This material is from Nigeria and is very clean for spessartite.Second is a honey zircon at 2,2cts.It's a very bright stone and flawless.Zircon got a bad reputation many years ago when it was sold as diamond because of the high refractive index,many people also mistakenly associate the name with cubic zirconia.This reputation is totally undeserved as zircon is a natural stone except for blue zircon which is almost always heated.Some day zircon will go the same way as spinel in price,spinel used to be passed off as sapphire and buyers wouldn't touch it for many years,these days it commands almost the same price as it's cousin sapphire.
Custom Cut Gemstones

Latest news!

Well after a hectic holiday season January has as usual been fairly quiet.This has given me some time to cut for inventory instead of filling custom orders.On the rough stone front things have been extremely quiet for months and even quieter recently,none of the usual rough suppliers have much in stock and what they do have has sold quickly.The reason for this is that the rainy season has closed a lot of the mines in Africa temporarily and the general slowdown in the world economy over the past two years has taken it's toll as well.The demand for good quality gemstones is recovering fast but the supply of rough material has so far not kept up.

On a more cheerful note here's a couple pictures of the latest stones which will be up for sale on the website soon. A nice bright orange spessartite garnet in a classic cushion design at 1.7ct and 6.4mm and a lovely flawless honey zircon in a unique barion oval design at 2.56ct and 9x6mm.Enjoy!

Custom Cut Gems

Big rhodolite garnet

I cut this 6ct pink/red purple rhodolite from a 25 ct piece of  Tanzanian rough.The rough stone was perfectly shaped for a triangle but I opted for a rectangular shape instead.This resulted in a lower yield but I am very pleased with the final result.The stone changes from red  in artificial light to the typical rhodolite pink/red/ purple in natural light.I got rave reviews on this stone on the forums so I don't expect it to last too long in my inventory.I've priced it at the smaller stone per ct price because it is medium/dark in saturation,if it were a shade or two lighter it would sell for twice the price! Nevertheless it is perfectly cut and 10x loupe flawless and would make a killer ring or pendant stone.
Custom Cut Gems