Showing off some of my mates gems I looked at this weekend. All precision cut here in Australia by a professional cutter! I did my best to get good photos but these stones till look way better in person! My old Samsung just doesn't capture the beauty as well as proper photo set up could. Featuring Ametrine and Bi coloured Tourmaline: First up a 9.90ct Ametrine (Natural Bolivian) There are many synthetics and treated Amertrines for sale. The Natural rough isn't too expensive around $2.50 US a ct the cutting is a bit costly as this stuff is a pain to polish (For some reason I have found that you have to take the polish up to 200,000) The Yield is pretty good if you get clean stuff so probably only around $55 for the rough plus 6 hours of cutting. Gemval value charts put this stone at around $241 US. Unless you have good contacts to sell I would probably price around $100 AUD. Would make a very nice pendant! 15x11.49x8.37mm Same as above but only 7.8 cts Gemval puts this stone at $175 US. Because of synthetics and treated material I have hard time selling the natural stuff for more then $10 per ct. This one would only go for $78 14.72x9.27x7.4mm Pink green bi coloured tourmaline is really popular at the moment and finding material that is fairly clean is quite difficult (Which is prevalent when you look on ebay and etsy at all the rough that shouldn't have been faceted is) This has paler colour but still a gorgeous stone with excellent clarity for the size. According to Gemval it should be priced at $378 US Pricing it at this in AUD would put it on the low side of the market due to high demand! 12.35x7.48x6.37mm Same as above but the Pink is more of a raspberry and the green is more green less grey. Using Gemval Prices it should be around $946 US which is in line with retail however I don't have the contacts to sell at that. Wholesale would probably be around $80 a ct (This kind of stone in the rough if you can find it is around $25US a ct, which would work out to about $72 AUD per ct cut before cutting fees) 13.2x6.35x6.05mm Lastly it is not a bi coloured stone but a beautiful multi-coloured stone! A black opal with great fire, back is not polished but it would be covered so it doesn't really matter. its just under a ct at 90 points but still a ripper of a little stone. The grey lines you see in the stone actually separate the colour and the flash rolls across the whole stone. Can't see the Gemval price without a subscription. 7.99x5.61x2.84mm I thought some of you might be interested in seeming some precision cut bi coloured stone, please note that none of these stones are in my possession but I can always pick them up from my mate if anybody is interested! Feel free to PM me if you want to know anything, or have any rough you want cut!
Hi Brisbane coin, i wanted to know the same. How much is the black opal and is there a picture of the bottom of the stone?. Thanks. Kind Regards, Howe.
Hey Howe, My mate is looking for $90 on the opal which is $1 a point. I don't have the stone in my possession but I'll be visiting him on the weekend and can take more photos then. The back is unfinished but should be covered when set, its flat so I didn't bother taking a photo of it. Best regards, Brisbanecoin
Hi Brisbane coin, A question for curiosity sake, the first gemstone, you say 6hours of cutting and polishing, $55 rough and it would sell for $100 aud? $45 for 6 hours, or is it a valuation mistake on owners part for having it polished without know the Australian market?
It's a number of reasons: - A lot of cutting is done overseas for this exact reason; a Thai cutter will charge $4.50US a ct to cut gems (It's based off final ct weight not hours spent, which is why they generally aren't as well cut or polished) They are an acceptable commercial standard because if the meets don't meet exactly but are close they won't take the time to re cut it. They will also cut based off weight ignoring critical angles in order to get a heavier stone as it increases their profit. - Ametrine has also dropped in popularity since this stone was cut. - Gemval still values it at at $241US, if you have the right retail connections you might be able to get that kind of price, Most people will not. -Part of the reason it has dropped in popularity is because of synthetics and treated material which has made it a lot more plentiful on the market. A lot of people don't realize the time it takes to facet a stone or the amount of skill that goes into. This is also why a niche market is forming in gemstones as people realize just how much better a well cut stone looks (The inclusions in these stones look way worse on a computer screen partly because the gems are so much larger then they actually are.) But as I stated in the faceting thread I had, if my mate didn't love doing it, he would be better off flipping burgers at Macca's!
Thank you for the detailed answer. Other than the opal, I haven't even heard of the other crystals. Things one learns.
I spoke to my mate today when I picked up the Opal and he told me he could do a little better on the bi coloured tourmaline's. I forgot to mention the size, the first one shown is 4.95cts and the second one is 5cts....So pretty good sized bi colours!
I love this thread! Thank you for sharing these stones they really are beautifully photographed and I have never seen that kind of refraction before. You just inspired a new interest of mine! Cheers!