Lamberts

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Dozzer

Dozzer

Simon-Peter Hedditch
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In the last few days my local jeweller showed me a parcel of small sapphires he had that allegedly came back from Lamberts in Thailand. They were very poorly cut with closed in tops leaving the stones dark in the centre. The story goes that Lamberts had too much work and farmed some of it out to a third party, hence the poor results. This information comes from a third party and as such should be taken with a grain of salt. I have used Lamberts in the past and couldn't speak more highly of their workmanship given the cost however I do have eighty stones with them at the moment and information like this gives me pause.
Has anybody here received stones back in the last few months they were not happy with?
 
Wait for yours for a proper comment. Third party is just that. I am interested how things go as would like to use them ( or was going too) in the future. About how long is the wait time for stones o return ? And about what size are th smallest you send?
Barney
 
Barney, it depends on the stones, 2mm for sapphires, zircons and topaz it depends on the colour. I go down pretty small for a rose pink or gold zircon or peach topaz. I just sit a ruler on the bench as I sort and measure the narrowest side of the stone.
 
Interesting as I just looked up their address to send my black springs sapphires over. Is it a good idea to have them cut to standard size to fit rings etc. I'm looking forward to the results as the colour from sapphire bend is very good. Iv never read a bad word yet and yeah 3rd hand is just that.
 
The jeweller doesn't cut stones and bought the stone in question from Tassie Gemstones who had them cut by Lamberts. The jeweller must have got them cheap!
I'm not looking to bag Lamberts, just wanting to know if anybody has heard of or had such an issue. TGs website has some beautiful stones that appear to be well cut.
 
Hi Dozzer,

I got Lamberts to cut some stones for me and I picked them up in February this year while in Thailand, the job was "good" according to my sister in law who cuts stones, mostly sapphire's out a Rubyvale(Qld).
When I was there the cutters were over run by orders and doing 18-20 hour days - 7 days to finish. While there I saw some stones like that in your first post here and was told the stones turned out when cut too small for a standard setting and the cutters would not waist any more time with them, Lamberts were selling them cheap, very cheap.

Bob.
 
Never had any problems with them. We only send "small" sapphires and the stones come back cut well enough not to see misaligned facets with the naked eye. Put these stones under a 10x loupe, and of course you can expect the facets to not all meet exactly.(and they don't)

Lamberts doesn't profess to cut a perfect stone, and for the price it would be impossible. We never send stones that cut "net" over a carat to anybody overseas, as they're the stones that if cut correctly are worth the bucks. (these stones we cut ourselves). All your garnets, topaz, zircons, etc are cut well enough to set in personal jewelery.

Go into gem cutting with your eyes open....Don't expect a Porsche on a Vee Dub budget, then you won't be disappointed.

Cheers Wal.
 
Happy to cop misaligned facets but that's not what I was talking about. There is a reason they are run off their feet at Lamberts, they do a good job for the price. I'll see what my current batch come back like and go from there.
 
Where would one find a quality gem cutter in australia, and what is an acceptable price per carrat for sapphire? and do they provide a certificate of authenticity, if so how much does this cost. From all the inquiries i have made it almost seems like the value of a sapphire is dependant on the gemologist appraising it, where can one find a reliable valuation for sapphire, and how much would that cost
 
charlie123 said:
Where would one find a quality gem cutter in australia, and what is an acceptable price per carrat for sapphire? and do they provide a certificate of authenticity, if so how much does this cost. From all the inquiries i have made it almost seems like the value of a sapphire is dependant on the gemologist appraising it, where can one find a reliable valuation for sapphire, and how much would that cost
Click to expand...

There are many quality gem cutters in Australia and most are affiliated or members of Lapidary clubs. Most Lapidary clubs have at least a few members who cut in our National Faceting Championships, and the best go on to the World Faceting Championships. In your area, if you check up the Canberra Lapidary club you will find several master cutters.( have a talk to "Ted", and say Wal said hello).

A qualified Jeweler or Gemologist is the only way of getting certification of your stones, and this is certainly worthwhile on the better Sapphires.

Cheers Wal.
 
WalnLiz said:
charlie123 said:
Where would one find a quality gem cutter in australia, and what is an acceptable price per carrat for sapphire? and do they provide a certificate of authenticity, if so how much does this cost. From all the inquiries i have made it almost seems like the value of a sapphire is dependant on the gemologist appraising it, where can one find a reliable valuation for sapphire, and how much would that cost
Click to expand...

There are many quality gem cutters in Australia and most are affiliated or members of Lapidary clubs. Most Lapidary clubs have at least a few members who cut in our National Faceting Championships, and the best go on to the World Faceting Championships. In your area, if you check up the Canberra Lapidary club you will find several master cutters.( have a talk to "Ted", and say Wal said hello).

A qualified Jeweler or Gemologist is the only way of getting certification of your stones, and this is certainly worthwhile on the better Sapphires.

Cheers Wal.
Click to expand...

I can recommend "Ted" :) I have seen some of his master cut gems that is if he still offers his services but he can certainly can put you on to trustworthy cutter.
 
Thanks for the help guys, called up lapidary yesterday, they are just around the corner from me. I spoke to Brian Crisp and he said alot of the cutters are hard to get hold of but he did refer me to a cutter named aurthur main.

A question, Has anyone on this forum been to sri lanka, or madagasca to buy sapphires direct from the mine, if so what are the legalities of bringing them back to australia, it seems it could be profitable if you have a keen eye for dodgy heated stones, and dodgy heated dealers.
 

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