Gemstones as a hobby

[Avrock]

What I've learnt about gemstones... it is extremely difficult to find natural gemstones..if you do they come with a hefty price tag..the most common advice I hear from people is "buy from a reputable dealer" of course he'll have GIA certification & everything but the price of that stone would include a certain % of the running expense as well as a bit something on the side.Now the appraised value is often a times not the selling price...remember value is not price..

I'm striving to become a small level collector & with the synthetics fakes treated heated dyed fabricated stones out there what should a person do to quinch the thirst..I won't be exaggerating if I say that 99% of the local trade is based upon that..the rest is for the rich & mighty..

With the little knowledge I have about gemstones I went ahead looking for rough precious gems..luckily I'm from a country that produces some decent quality emeralds,some prized rubies & the kashmir blue Sapphire which is treasured throughout the world along with peridot tourmaline kunzite & aquamarine..those are pretty decent names to venture into..so I went ahead bought a small lot of rough emerald purely based upon my instincts my imagination & of course a little bit of what I learnt here & there...just to have a taste of the local market I took the rough to check what kinda response would I get & it was what I had expected..that it's NO GOOD..i was advised to sell it even if I was offered half of the price I bought it for...I took another bold step..I went ahead to get it cut..just one piece..the 5 day waiting period seemed like a year & finally I received the final product...a 4.5 CT emerald cut stone that alone would suffice the price of the whole parcel..now this is called encouragement from mother nature...the parcel was bought for personal use in the first place but it never hurts to know that apart from the history attached with the gem on your finger it has some market value also..although I must admit the history part is much more significant for me..foreigners living in Thailand often get bored with the passage of time..they start looking into passion projects or start looking for pets etc..I'm a been there done that kinda guy so at the moment it's Gems..I'd love to know if anyone has been through a similar process.. Cheers

[fang37]

Quality gems are not cheap. In addition, the markups are large. Buy for beauty - not as an investment.

At least, diamonds, rubies & emeralds have a global market.

Check out India & Sri Lanka.

BUYER BEWARE!

[rak sa_ngop]

Contrary to many peoples perception there is a very honest trade of gemstones in Bangkok. If you go to the Jewellery Trade Centre on Silom you will be able to find nearly any stone from around the world available. Also many shops sell rough, and many dealers and collectors from around the world come to buy and sell at trade prices. There are also many other shops in the near vicinity where you can deal in stones and have jewellery made up. Most shops will abide by a full disclosure policy to tell the buyer truthfully as much as they can about the stones they are selling.

However there may be issues with determining whether a stone has been treated or not. Even some labs may detect heating or glass filling which other labs may not.

If you want to buy fake or synthetic stones you can go to Chinatown. A large number of Indian/Sri Lankan run shops are centred around the southern end of Soi Wanit. These shops also deal with the gemtrade and will not scam you.

I did see some wonderful emeralds in the JTC a few weeks ago. The price was 500 USD per carat. Is your emerald one of these or more like the treated Indian emerald you can buy for 10 baht per carat?

[Avrock]

Contrary to many peoples perception there is a very honest trade of gemstones in Bangkok. If you go to the Jewellery Trade Centre on Silom you will be able to find nearly any stone from around the world available. Also many shops sell rough, and many dealers and collectors from around the world come to buy and sell at trade prices. There are also many other shops in the near vicinity where you can deal in stones and have jewellery made up. Most shops will abide by a full disclosure policy to tell the buyer truthfully as much as they can about the stones they are selling.

However there may be issues with determining whether a stone has been treated or not. Even some labs may detect heating or glass filling which other labs may not.

If you want to buy fake or synthetic stones you can go to Chinatown. A large number of Indian/Sri Lankan run shops are centred around the southern end of Soi Wanit. These shops also deal with the gemtrade and will not scam you.

I did see some wonderful emeralds in the JTC a few weeks ago. The price was 500 USD per carat. Is your emerald one of these or more like the treated Indian emerald you can buy for 10 baht per carat?

Frankly speaking jtc is full of treated heated stones..I have a few close links that have been dealing there & I know that a vast majority of material there has been processed someway or another. For example they claim that the emeralds are only oiled which is acceptable in the trade but I've seen many cases where the buyer took the emerald to the lab & the result showed that they were not only oiled but they found resin treatment as well which drops the market significantly..the shops that do sell natural are extremely expensive & I can understand that.. as of my emeralds I bought 200ct rough..the lot was of moderate quality but the result with that piece came out more then I expected..so I gave another 50 CT to be cut..I mean at this stage I can say it comfortably that it was more then a fair buy

[ravip]

Isn't it a risk to buy rough stones (especially if you are not a experienced gemmologist?)

The value adds when it is cut - and while cutting, if there is the slightest flaw, it goes in to smithereens and into the garbage can!

A good gem is expensive - cheap gems are ...

[Avrock]

Isn't it a risk to buy rough stones (especially if you are not a experienced gemmologist?)

The value adds when it is cut - and while cutting, if there is the slightest flaw, it goes in to smithereens and into the garbage can!

A good gem is expensive - cheap gems are ...

It's extremely risky..even the most experienced think twice before they buy rough...it's certainly not something that I'd advice anyone else...but it has worked out for me..I calculated every step..keeping the worst possible situation in my mind..like I said I wanted something that was meaningful for me & it was creating something beautiful & so far it has been an educational experience..

[rick75]

If you are a member of the gem/jewellery trade you are less likely to be ripped off, it still happens but in most cases the wholesaler is unaware of the problem stones.

They are not going to risk ripping off a repeat client, they can make far more money in the long run by offering good stock at a fair price. As a one off purchaser that theory goes out the window, they know you will likely never buy through them again, so all bets are off.

Even the best will get caught when buying coloured stones its inevitable, the treatments are getting extremely sophisticated.

[50baht]

Where to get Gems cut ? How do they determine price to do the job ?

[Avrock]

Where to get Gems cut ? How do they determine price to do the job ?

Well there are many cutters in Bangkok but it depends on the kind of stone..for precious stones it's best to get it cut from the most experienced..

[Farma]

Where to get Gems cut ? How do they determine price to do the job ?

About 20 or so years ago I was shown a small village about 50 kms west of Khonkaen that was known for cutting stones. It was a dirt track to get to the village.

A lot of the highset houses had rows of faceting machines with 4 or 5 people faceting away. I was told that they cut stones for buyers in Bangkok. They weren't interested in cutting a couple of stones for me as they had big orders to fill.

[Avrock]

There are so many cutters out here as well in chanthaburi but the problem is can we trust them?professional experienced cutters is the only way out to get things done even it costs a bit more...I paid 2000 baht to get a 15 CT stone cut which yielded a 4.5 CT stone..then to check another cutter which was significantly cheap I gave a 2 CT rough which came out to be 0.6 CT but poor cutting & polishing..the thing I decided now is to visit chanthaburi one day & get the complete parcel done..

[Farma]

My father was heavily into cutting semi and precious stones as a hobby. He won a lot of prizes for his stones at shows. Most of his semi precious cabochons are in a small museum now. He showed me how to cut as I was growing up. I faceted amethest to start with then moved onto ruby and saphires. I also have a nice star saphire cabochon that I did.

A close look at some of the cutters finished articles should give you an idea of his work. Look at how the flats meet and the quality of the polishing.

I thought about setting myself up with a faceting machine at one stage but can't justify the costs. You have to look at cutting the stones then dop stick rig etc. Thats before you pay out for various diamond grits. It wasn't worth it plus the squeal as you facet got on my nerves at times.

[fang37]

You can have a good stone but without quality cutting & appropriate certification, the stone may lose 90% of its possible value.