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I have occasionally found deals on alexandrites but it takes a lot of work and a lot of looking at crazy prices. As a side-note the market technically values a full red-green 'russian style' color change highest, but I much prefer the 'brazilian style' teal blue to purple. You'll never coax a full ruby red out of an alexandrite in normal lighting since we don't eat by candlelight anymore, but the brazilian style will throw off sparks of both colors under mixed LED illumination which you're much more likely to encounter in real life.
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Jan 22, 2022 05:34
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Leperflesh posted:Could be nephrite/jadeite, I've seen it that color before (search for white or pink jade or nephrite to see examples). Whatever it is, it has very very fine grain, which makes it harder to identify from a photo. Some variety of marble is definitely possible. my initial thought was moss agate OP you mentioned a scratch test, what were the conditions and results?
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Jan 22, 2022 18:08
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gently caress. I should have thought of chalcedony. Hardness is 6.7-7, should also scratch steel. I think moss agate tends to have that dark forest-green color in it, that I don't really see in JD's pig, and I also feel like I see a bit of a pinkish matrix that doesn't shout moss agate, but it's another one of those highly variable stones that could be a match yeah.
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Jan 27, 2022 03:01
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Would a 12mm gem look bad on a pendant? This topaz I'm cutting for my gf is looking like it's going to be around that size and I'm conflicted between cutting it down or just going BEEG
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Mar 11, 2022 19:38
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This is going to vary with individual style but you can go much larger than 12mm without looking too big for a pendant in general imo.
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Mar 11, 2022 19:51
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Scarodactyl posted:This is going to vary with individual style but you can go much larger than 12mm without looking too big for a pendant in general imo.  In all seriousness, there's not really a minimum or maximum size for a pendant. 12mm topaz will be fine, just make sure the chain is an appropriate gauge and length for the size of the stone + setting. I think this is a bit too big:  but this is fine: 
Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 21:18 on Mar 11, 2022 |
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Mar 11, 2022 21:16
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Xun posted:Would a 12mm gem look bad on a pendant? This topaz I'm cutting for my gf is looking like it's going to be around that size and I'm conflicted between cutting it down or just going BEEG I have a ~12mm aqua cab in a double-bezel pendant that I like a lot. It's a good size as long as you're not wearing a super-busy pattern underneath it or something.
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Mar 12, 2022 04:02
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I got my hands on a few boule offcuts of LuAG, a turbofluorescent sy thetic used to detect radiation (since higher energy nonvisible light makes it fluoresce too). My friend cut one into a single gigantic stone. Let's see if I can make Tiktok work https://www.tiktok.com/embed/??????????8? (Backup insta link https://www.instagram.com/reel/CbIVIz1ND_7/?utm_medium=copy_link ) If anyone wants some rough I have a little left, mostly smaller stuff though. It has sold very quickly. Scarodactyl fucked around with this message at 23:15 on Mar 16, 2022 |
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Mar 16, 2022 23:13
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Wow, that looks amazing!
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Mar 17, 2022 00:27
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Scarodactyl posted:I got my hands on a few boule offcuts of LuAG, a turbofluorescent sy thetic used to detect radiation (since higher energy nonvisible light makes it fluoresce too). My friend cut one into a single gigantic stone. That look amazing! Is it even more fluorescent than cerium doped YAGs?
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Mar 17, 2022 01:09
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Yup, it is even brighter than Ce YAG.
Scarodactyl fucked around with this message at 01:48 on Mar 17, 2022 |
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Mar 17, 2022 01:44
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How does it compare to the glow of uranium glass? I have some lovely big faceted ug jewels I keep meaning to use for something.
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Mar 17, 2022 05:59
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Similar color but a lot more powerful. It's downright uncanny in the right illumination.
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Mar 17, 2022 06:20
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Can you dm me some prices on the rough you have left? No guarantee it's in my budget but sounds interesting and I'd love to get my hands on a piece!
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Mar 17, 2022 16:05
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Scarodactyl posted:If anyone wants some rough I have a little left, mostly smaller stuff though. It has sold very quickly. I too would be very interested in this. My Alexandrite story, almost twenty years ago a jeweler gave me a tour of his home shop and showed me two gems I'd never seen before, what he stated were 30 and 40 carat natural Alexandrite, valued at about $30,000 and $40,000. I'd never seen anything like it and that started my love of gems. Later I somehow found on SAMart a 30 carat synthetic Alexandrite for only $40, I keep it on my desk to this day, and haven't found anything this size since. Aquila fucked around with this message at 21:48 on Mar 17, 2022 |
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Mar 17, 2022 21:36
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Are you the guy selling it in that Facebook group? Cause I'm gona try to buy some!!!
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Mar 18, 2022 03:25
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Well, he did it again, this time with an even bigger piece of the classic Ce:YAG https://www.instagram.com/reel/CbYhEdKv47U/?utm_medium=copy_link It may not be quite as bright as the LuAG but at 764 carats it makes up for it in mass.
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Mar 22, 2022 00:17
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I got my chunk of LuAG yesterday but it was overcast and raining all day so it didn't look like anything to special. Today it's clear out and just sitting on my desk it is literally glowing. Now I'm torn between looking into getting it cut somehow, or just keeping it as it is.
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Mar 29, 2022 16:52
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Hey I’ve been married about a year and we are thinking of getting some gold wedding bands does anyone have recommendations on where to shop for these, I’m in LA. Thanks
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Mar 30, 2022 03:14
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Today we launched a new material, a rising star in high end technical applications but previously unknown in the world of gems. https://www.tiktok.com/embed/7101361097814543662 https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTdn7CCdH/ Gadolinium Aluminum Gallium Garnet, or GAGG. It is like a classic GGG but with added aluminum which significantly increases hardness (to 8). It is like Ce YAG but brighter, a bit greener, has a 'snappier' look like luag and it glows in the dark! Scarodactyl fucked around with this message at 06:23 on May 25, 2022 |
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May 25, 2022 06:07
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Scarodactyl posted:Today we launched a new material, a rising star in high end technical applications but previously unknown in the world of gems. Do you have pictures of it in a more natural light? The pictures in your shop looks to be indoor.
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May 25, 2022 09:12
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Scarodactyl posted:Today we launched a new material, a rising star in high end technical applications but previously unknown in the world of gems. Have you upgraded to making materials yourself now? Or getting them custom made to your specs?
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May 25, 2022 18:56
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Scarodactyl posted:Today we launched a new material, a rising star in high end technical applications but previously unknown in the world of gems. Can I buy some of this cut?
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May 25, 2022 21:54
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Claes Oldenburger posted:Have you upgraded to making materials yourself now? Or getting them custom made to your specs?
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May 26, 2022 07:33
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Scarodactyl posted:Not yet but we're looking into it. That's awesome!
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May 26, 2022 16:37
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 Thank you so much Scarodactyl, this gem is incredibly shiny.
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Jun 3, 2022 19:15
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A friend of mine who's into gem collecting recently told me that she's hearing rumors of shortages in gem synthetic rough (corundum, chrysoberyl, beryl, and so forth) due to places closing down/not making it anymore. I tried googling for more info but didn't see any. Have any of you cutters/gem goons heard anything similar, or is a synthetic materials shortage just a rumor?
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Jun 9, 2022 05:32
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Some materials will never be in short supply, but a surprising number of companies that once sold synthetic rough to faceters are either gone or don't do it anymore (ie Chatham only sells jewelry now, Djeva's gone, The Gem Factory closed its doors, Tairus lost their Russian half a while back). Once-classic materials like strontium titanate have had very spotty availability as rough, and even some of the flame fusion sapphire and spinel colors are out of production. That said I think there will be enough interesting synthetics just from the industrial stream to keep faceters in rough for the foreseeable future. We have a variety listed on our etsy page ( https://turtleshoard.etsy.com ) and keep finding more cool stuff--lots of parcels vaguely inbound. We just got more LuAG rough in as well as a bit of old stock synthetic alexandrite (the real synthetic alex, not the V-doped sapphire often sold as alex).
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Jun 9, 2022 05:51
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Rip Djeva. I still have a big box of rough from there waiting for me back in the US. Some people have been collecting FF sapphire and it's really sad seeing the cool colors that are no longer being produced
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Jun 9, 2022 08:03
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Scarodactyl posted:Some materials will never be in short supply, but a surprising number of companies that once sold synthetic rough to faceters are either gone or don't do it anymore (ie Chatham only sells jewelry now, Djeva's gone, The Gem Factory closed its doors, Tairus lost their Russian half a while back). Once-classic materials like strontium titanate have had very spotty availability as rough, and even some of the flame fusion sapphire and spinel colors are out of production. That said I think there will be enough interesting synthetics just from the industrial stream to keep faceters in rough for the foreseeable future. We have a variety listed on our etsy page ( https://turtleshoard.etsy.com ) and keep finding more cool stuff--lots of parcels vaguely inbound. We just got more LuAG rough in as well as a bit of old stock synthetic alexandrite (the real synthetic alex, not the V-doped sapphire often sold as alex). Really stoked I got that 8g chunk of LuAG from you. It's weird getting into the synthetic game now with things dropping out, but at least it's easier than trying to find nice natural sapphire rough 
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Jun 10, 2022 23:56
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Claes Oldenburger posted:Really stoked I got that 8g chunk of LuAG from you. It's weird getting into the synthetic game now with things dropping out, but at least it's easier than trying to find nice natural sapphire rough Are the shortages in rough due to the current global supply chain issues hitting every other industry, or are deposits drying up, too? So much of what I know about gems is on the retail side and I want to learn more about the acquisition/cutting process, but it seems like a rough time all around.
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Jun 11, 2022 05:23
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Nae posted:Are the shortages in rough due to the current global supply chain issues hitting every other industry, or are deposits drying up, too? So much of what I know about gems is on the retail side and I want to learn more about the acquisition/cutting process, but it seems like a rough time all around. I would guess it's simply that these are/were all small private enterprises wholly reliant on the fast and cheap international shipping that was available pre covid.
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Jun 11, 2022 09:51
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A lot of instability in African gem sites (Ethiopia's civil war for instance), supply chain issues, covid travel issues. The Tucson gem show has had very few international dealers the last couple years and that's the major way new materials get to market. On the synthetics side most of the big ones have realized that they are more profitable just cutting their own synthetic gems in house, and many of the others have gone out of business.
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Jun 11, 2022 17:39
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Nae posted:Are the shortages in rough due to the current global supply chain issues hitting every other industry, or are deposits drying up, too? So much of what I know about gems is on the retail side and I want to learn more about the acquisition/cutting process, but it seems like a rough time all around. Sapphire was tough anyways purely because of demand. Any rough is going to go through a lot of bigger players before I see it, and some countries (specifically Sri Lanka) I believe have made it illegal to export rough, so the stones are cut within the country. It's a good policy that helps them, it just adds another layer to what's available. That was all pre covid, which has added even more things as others have mentioned.
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Jun 13, 2022 16:33
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I want to buy a pair of diamond stud earrings for my wife. Is there any reason not to buy the from Costco? Seems like their prices are tough to beat.
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Jul 7, 2022 22:09
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Residency Evil posted:I want to buy a pair of diamond stud earrings for my wife. Is there any reason not to buy the from Costco? Seems like their prices are tough to beat. Honestly, it depends how deep into the weeds you want to get with assessing the quality. I just looked at studs on the Costco website and there's a lot of information they're not disclosing, namely: who graded these diamonds for their the color and clarity? Diamond grading is a subjective process, and some graders are going to be more 'forgiving' than others. This means that you could have a diamond that one grader says is colorless and free from visible defects, while another says they can see some yellow in it and some defects. So who's right? If you don't know who certified the diamonds (and you're not a trained professional), you don't know who to trust, which means you don't know if you're getting screwed or not. Now, I have no idea how forgiving Costco's diamond graders are (though I suspect they're more lenient than most, but not as egregious as some), and they don't appear to include any kind of certification to tell me. When you buy from independent jewelers, whether brick and mortar or online, they can typically tell you who graded their diamonds for their quality, and whether or not they're a trusted source. If it's important to you to know that you're getting exactly what you're paying for, you may want to pay extra for a place that certifies their diamond grades through independent sources. If you're willing to put your faith in Costco and accept that what you're buying may not be the same level of quality as stated on the website, then Costco's not a bad deal. It all comes down to what you personally want from the purchase, and how you choose to spend your money. Little addendum here: I only mentioned color and clarity here since Costco doesn't show any grading information about the quality of the cuts, but cut quality does make a big difference in the brightness and the sparkle of your diamonds. I can give you more details if you want, but I'm loath to get into it unless you're really curious, because it can get overwhelming fast and I don't want to make the process any more confusing than it already feels.
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Jul 8, 2022 01:20
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Sent you a PM!
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Jul 8, 2022 12:47
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Does Costco definitively trace their diamonds from an ethical source?
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Jul 8, 2022 17:47
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Leperflesh posted:Does Costco definitively trace their diamonds from an ethical source? Does anyone? The kimberly process works as well as any system is going to, so the vast majority of stones now are going to be above board. That is solely from the aspect of human rights issues, and not from the ethics of mining for them at all, or power usage from coal for lab grown stones etc.
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Jul 8, 2022 18:43
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Claes Oldenburger posted:Does anyone? The kimberly process works as well as any system is going to, so the vast majority of stones now are going to be above board. Sometimes I hear people say 'oh I got an emerald/sapphire/ruby engagement ring because I didn't want a blood diamond' and I just kind of shake my head, because who the hell knows where/when some of those stones came from? I love colored stones with my whole heart, but you'll never catch me saying they're more ethical than diamonds. poo poo, even Montana sapphires involve you giving money to the state of Montana, and that's just unthinkable.
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Jul 8, 2022 19:18
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