Watermelon Tourmaline

Tourmaline is such an exciting gemstone, they are a must for every cutter or collector. No two stones are exactly the same and a well cut gemstone is always spectacular. As mentioned in a recent post, we have just received a shipment of excellent quality tourmaline. Tourmaline is such an interesting gem, you could write a book about it – we cant manage a book but will try and do a more detailed article on tourmaline soon.

However, while grading this new parcel, we did find an excellent example of watermelon tourmaline that we thought would make a good subject for a blog post.

Watermelon tourmaline, as the name indicates, is a crystal with a greenish outside “rind” and a pinkish-red interior. These types of tourmaline are often cut in thin slices to display the colour layers to best advantage but are also cut into faceted gemstones which are unusual and beautiful. May also be kept in the rough by collectors who appreciate these tricks of nature. Alternatively, these crystals can feature in amazing pieces of jewellery.

In good examples such as this one, there is a third lighter coloured layer between the green and red. This stone is notable for the strength of the colours but without being overdark or closed on the C-axis. If you would like to see more details on this stone, see the online listing #172  NOW SOLD.

Watermelon tourmaline is very popular because of its unique mix of colours, but also because of its metaphysical properties. Some people believe that this type of tourmaline is harmonising and works to balance the immune system and metabolism. The colours present in watermelon tourmaline are thought to represent different but complementary things – the pink symbolises deep spiritual love and passion while the green represents the physical heart, the will to live, and the healing of emotional pain. According to legend, all colors of tourmaline protect the wearer against many dangers and misfortune – tourmaline dispels fear, negativity and grief. Tourmaline is the birthstone for October and the anniversary gemstone for the 8th year of marriage.

We will be listing more great tourmaline soon including some excellent pink tourmaline – this lot is particularly fine due to its great clarity and will cut some great gems so keep a watch out for this. Take a look at our Imported Rough section for these items.

cheers from now from Aussie Sapphire

Exciting new rough in stock

Just unpacked our latest shipment of imported rough and there are some really great pieces in this lot. No time now to go into details but took a quick picture of the bulk lot to whet your appetite.

Some fantastic tourmaline in this lot including excellent pinks, greens and other types. Some beautiful aquamarine with nice colour with one particular huge piece of 150 carats of great blue. A great lot of African amethyst with lovely deep rich purple colour and some nice Fanta orange spessartite garnet.

We will be cataloguing this material over the next week or so and will be hoping to put some up online as soon as possible. If you are interested in buying a parcel, just give us a call to discuss details – we can offer attractive pricing on trade size parcels. Remember though, our individual pieces are also great value for the cutter or collector so keep a close eye on our Ebay Store over coming weeks.

Cheers for now from Aussie Sapphire

Valentine’s Day Suggestions

Valentine's Day is a wonderful occasion to show your loved one how much they mean to you – and you can't go wrong with a gift of jewellery!

Why not show your love with the extra touch of jewellery with its own story rather than mass-produced look alike pieces. A gift of handmade, limited edition jewellery will show that nothing is too much trouble.

At Aussie Sapphire, every piece we create is like a living thing. We dig the rough gems from beneath the earth to reveal the soul of the stone. We then bring it to life as a gemstone with the best faceting possible to give it heart. Of course one needs more and so a body is lovingly crafted to enhance its beauty. Our designs are carefully planned with soul, heart and body. Remember though that true beauty has character and class – each one of our gems is truly individual complementing each piece with their own style. The last and most important element is love – a gift given with love to complete the process.

There is a huge range of options when choosing a Valentine's Day gift. Heart shaped pieces of jewellery are certainly appropriate and we have a number of simple and affordable designs available now which may be of interest:

Heart shaped sterling silver pendant with matching earrings.
Simple open heart pendant in sterling silver with small centre sapphire.

For something a little more elaborate in gold, this design featuring marquise sapphires may be in order. Remember sapphires symbolise fidelity and sincerity – the perfect message for a Valentine's Day gift.

We have other designs available now on our Ebay Shop or browse our wide selection in the Jewellery Catalogue - contact us if you are interested in any of these pieces.

hat's all for now from Aussie Sapphire and enjoy Valentine's Day.

Sapphire Still Number 1

The latest retail survey carried out by Colored Stone confirms the popularity of sapphire among retail buyers of coloured gemstones. Sapphire retains its number 1 spot in the Top 10 list – given the fantastic qualities of this gemstone, we do not expect this to change. However, the survey reveals some interesting trends with emerald losing popularity and some of the more affordable semi-precious gems climbing the Top 10 rankings.

All this is good news for the gemstone buyer as increased interest in the huge variety of coloured gemstones means that a trip to your local jewellery store is much more likely to have spectacular choice in colour and style. Add some colour to your life !

Very interesting reading with comments from prominent retailers and designers along with fascinating charts exploring these recent retail market trends. Check it out:

Semi Precious Revenge – Annual Retail Survey by Colored Stone.

Feel free to contribute your comments and thoughts on this topic. Remember to browse our Ebay Store for rough and cut gems of a variety of colours including the ever-popular sapphire.
Cheers for now from Aussie Sapphire

Going International

After good sales into many other countries you may notice that some of our auctions are now being listed on Ebay UK in pounds sterling (GBP). Australian buyers should not be concerned that they cannot bid on these auctions – any of our items are available to buyers from anywhere in the world. Make sure you check our Ebay Store for details on all our listings.

Australian buyers will be charged our normal postage rate of $6 AU for registered mail as always (this charge includes padded secure package). You will be sent a total in Australian dollars based on the exchange rate calculated by Ebay at the end of the auction. When looking at items listed in other currencies, Ebay also displays an estimate of the item in your currency so please note the estimated amounts in Australian dollars as you bid.

International buyers can just bid as normal and payment through your PayPal account will take care of any exchange rate issues. All overseas buyers are charged our standard international postage rate – parcels are sent by registered airmail and includes insurance to the value of $100 AU. The process is quite simple so feel free to bid or buy it now from wherever you are.

That is all for now from Aussie Sapphire

Sapphire in conglomerate rock

Mysteries of nature never cease to amaze us – this is a case in point from our local area.

These very heavy basalt rocks have large amounts of semi hard conglomerate rock stuck on them with a mixture of black spinel, ironstone and red ochre along with other small rocks. These are often indicators of good sapphire wash. The red ochre being common along our creek as indicated by the name of Reddestone (or Red Stone) Creek given over a century ago. Click on the photo to see a larger version.

Some history to go with this find:

This type of rock has only been found in this very localised area despite over 50 years of commercial mining in the region. This photo shows a much larger waterhole just downstream of this find – now just used for the occasional bit of fossicking and fishing – it is also a great breeding area for native wildlife.

This particular spot was one of the richest deposits of sapphire both in quality and quantity ever reported on the famous Reddestone Creek – nicknamed the “million dollar hole” indicating the richness of the wash. While working this patch, we often had to stop the plant every two to three hours to rob the jigs as the pulsators were overflowing with concentrate. Would love to see that these days !

Wash from this area was was processed through the mine plant 4-5 times and still produced viable results although the remaining stockpile of this wash contains only a small amount of this conglomerate type basalt. This wash is not viable for commercial mining but can offer great reward to the fossicker. We have spent many damp days when our black soil flats were too wet to mine the open cut holes, sitting in the shed with a hammer to break up these rocks looking for sapphire inside.

The find was in one particular hole in the creek (almost like a whirlpool) which was very deep (about 50 foot) with an almost 20 foot deep layer of wash. These particular conglomerate rocks were mainly toward the bottom and around the edge of the hole where the sapphire deposits were the richest.

We assume that the natural whirlpool location must have had a major effect on the accumulation of gems and other rocks which over time has created these basaltic conglomerate type rocks. Not being a geologist or gemmologist, this is a only guess on our part. Please contribute your thoughts as to what might have caused this phenomenon. They certainly are interesting with the added bonus of perhaps containing a valuable sapphire inside.

That is all for now from Aussie Sapphire

Guide to Cut Sapphire Buying

As a follow-up to our recent article on buying rough sapphire, we have written the following article to assist people thinking of buying cut sapphire online.

Buying gems online can be complicated and confusing – there is a huge range of gems ranging in price from 99 cent "specials" to very expensive "investments". How do you choose between the vast array of items available ? Here are some tips to help you buy wisely. The price and value of natural sapphire varies greatly with a number of factors affecting the final price. Some of these are discussed below:

Quality of the rough sapphire
As natural sapphire is cut from rough gems, the price of the finished gem obviously depends on the quality of the rough used. Gems cut from inferior rough will inevitably yield an inferior gems. When buying rough, price depends on colour, inclusions, shape (recovery yield) , origin, etc and will vary quite significantly. A quick look at our catalogue of rough sapphire will give you an indication of this.

Cutting costs usually depend on size of the finished gem and where it has been cut. While cutting may be significantly cheaper in some overseas countries, often the quality of the cutting is inferior. At Aussie Sapphire, we only choose the best of our rough for cutting and we use only the best quality cutters to work on our stone. There are cheaper options around but why buy an unattractive gem. Our prices are competitive and the quality guaranteed.

Colour of the finished gemstone
Sapphire can come in almost every colour of the rainbow. If we discuss blue sapphire, colours may range from the palest of pastel blue, through the medium tones to an almost black colour. While personal preference should be most important, the more valuable sapphires tend to be in the medium range. Over dark stones (often described as midnight blue) should be discounted and extremely pale blue sapphires are usually valued lower.

Clarity of the finished gemstone
Clarity may be described in many different ways but stones with higher value will be completely transparent and without visible inclusions or flaws. We describe clarity using the GIA system where VVS is loupe clean (very slight inclusions which may be visible under 10X magnification) and VS is eye clean (slight inclusions which may be visible to the eye).

Please note that for sapphire (a Type II gemstone under the GIA system), VVS is the best grade available – a clarity grade of SI (slightly included) should be considered low grade and I (imperfect) is very low grade. Gems that are described as translucent or opaque should be heavily discounted and will not be as attractive.

Normally in trade sales, anything with inclusions that are visible to the eye (VS2 or less) are discounted 50% ore more depending on location and nature of the flaw. Once a stone reaches the SI category, expect discounts of 80% or more off the value of the top grade (VVS)

Cut of the finished gemstone
Quality of the cutting is an extremely important factor influencing the overall beauty of the gemstone. Inferior cutting can be indicated by gems with poor symmetry (an unbalanced look), poor finish and lustre. Quality cutting is indicated by good symmetry, balanced proportions, attention to polish and finish (particularly around the girdle), and general attractiveness of the stone (brilliance, lack of windowing, etc).

Size is also important – as rough sapphire becomes more rare as size increases, the price per carat for sapphire rises in a step-wise fashion as the cut gems become larger. Expect to pay more for gems over 1 carat in size and much more per carat for very large gems. Anything over 1.5 carats would be considered large in sapphire.

Sapphire is available in most shapes. Calibrated sizes are available where gems are cut to standard sizes and shapes to fit commercially available jewellery settings. Custom cut gems are specially cut from select pieces of rough and are suited to custom made jewellery pieces.

Treatment Status
This is an extremely important issue and one beyond the scope of this article – we plan to discuss this issue in a future article but will summarise the pertinant points now. Almost all sapphires available commercially have undergone basic heat treatment – this is a permanent treatment which slightly improves clarity/colour and has been done for centuries. These gems should be valued at basic market price according to the other quality factors.

Fully natural (unheated) sapphire is priced at a premium and should be provided with written documentation from the seller – it is extremely rare to find unheated sapphire and these gems should increase their value over time due to their rarity.

Unfortunately, many sapphires on the market currently have been enhanced with chemical treatments (and in rare cases, irradiation). Terms to look out for are bulk diffusion, lattice diffusion, beryllium treatment and diffusion – the colour in these gems is not natural. These gems should be significantly discounted and will not hold their value over time (and in fact may devalue) as the colour is induced artificially by the use of chemical additives. Diffused sapphires (star sapphire or blue sapphire) are particularly susceptible to damage as the treatment is surface only. Be very suspicious of brightly coloured yellow, orange or "pad" coloured sapphire is it is almost certain these colours are beryllium treated sapphire unless otherwise stated (and able to be proved by laboratory testing).

Aussie Sapphire does not support the use of these chemical treatments as we believe it is misleading to the consumer. We provide written documentation on treatment status (basic heat only or fully natural) for all gems from our mine.

Valuations or RRP comparisons
Many sellers offer their gems with a valuation or recommended retail price for comparison. This is really quite pointless as the prices in many cases are irrelevant to different markets and is really just trying to fool you into thinking that the gem is worth much more than you will be paying. Retail prices vary widely depending on supply source, intended market and markup rates. It is quite possible to find a true bargain among the many items offered on Ebay – we recommend however that you look carefully and have a realistic view of the wholesale value of gems you are intending to buy.

At Aussie Sapphire, our store prices for cut sapphire closely match our wholesale prices. Since you are buying from the source (direct from the mine), there are no extra steps in the supply chain to add extra markups to the price. This can make our cut gems quite cheap in comparison to a retailer who has had to buy through a chain of wholesalers. Occasionally, we run 99 cent start auctions as promotion for our gems but you can easily see what we think the value of these gems are by browsing our store items. On the other hand, if you are looking at very cheap gems from sellers who provide little description or information on their items – perhaps the deal is too good to be true.

General Notes
Photography: Please note that gemstone photography is an extremely specialised and difficult task. Some sellers do it very well and can make a poor stone look very good. Some sellers are less skilled and may have very good stones which are not displayed to their best advantage in their photographs. Here at Aussie Sapphire, we do all website and photography work ourselves to keep our costs down and pass savings on to our customers. Our main aim with photography is to display the stones honestly and describe them accurately – in most cases, they will look better in real life than in the photo. Please contact us directly if you have any questions about our photography and lighting methods or specific questions about any of our listed items.

Return Policy: When buying online, it is extremely important to look for a return policy. Most reputable sellers will offer a refund on the purchase price if the buyer is not satisfied with their purchase – we recommend you do not buy from anyone who does not offer this basic buyer protection. Things to look out for are expensive restocking fees – these may make it too expensive to return a disappointing purchase. Aussie Sapphire does not charge restocking fees.

Postage Charges: Some sellers who sell extremely cheap gemstones may attempt to retrieve some of their profit via expensive postage charges. Before buying, carefully check the postage charge to work out the total cost of your purchase – less than generous combined postage discounts may cause your "cheap" gemstones to work out surprisingly expensive.

Aussie Sapphire does not profit from postage – we charge one flat rate and offer combined postage at no extra charge for any gems which fit in one envelope. We do not charge extra for additional items that are posted together. Postage overseas is no problem – registered airmail is cost effective and convenient. Insurance is available and highly recommended for more expensive purchases (just contact us for a quote on additional insurance).

Traps for the Unwary: The reputation of various sapphire producing locations greatly influences the price. For example, a sapphire from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) will usually cost more than a sapphire of equivalent quality from a less desirable location. This leads to the temptation for some less honest sellers to describe the origin of some gems in a misleading way. We recommend buyers should buy sapphire based on beauty and not on some perceived idea that a certain location is automatically superior in quality. Sri Lanka produces gems of the highest quality but we know for a fact that many equally superior gems are being misleadingly described as being from that location. If you are unsure, ask questions of the seller and be wary if they are not able to answer them in detail.

Similarly, be wary of synthetic gems being passed off as natural. Synthetics are becoming very sophisticated these days and it has been reported that synthetics are being introduced into the supply chain at various points in many countries (see our previous article on ethical gemstone purchasing). If you are browsing the Natural Gemstone categories of Ebay, do not assume that synthetic, lab or created gems are not present in the list – sometimes these are listed in the Natural categories so check the listing details carefully.

We hope that these notes have been helpful to you – if you have any further questions just contact us any time. Cheers from Aussie Sapphire

Natural shape pendants

A couple of enquiries recently led us to think of the use of natural shape gemstones as pendants. This is one really great way of creating an absolutely unique design so here are some ideas using sapphire.

Both enquiries were looking for relatively flat attractive pieces of sapphire which could be worn as a pendant without faceting the stone. Unfortunately, we did not have anything suitable at the time but it did pique our interest. Since then, we have found a stone which we think would work really well for this purpose:

This stone is extremely flat on one side – almost as if it had been sawn although it is natural straight out of the ground. It is blue on both axes and is an attractive rich blue colour, typical of our Reddestone blue sapphire. Although quite thin for faceting, it could be cut in half and faceted as a matched pair of gemstones. However, as a free-form pendant, I think it would really shine. See our store if you would like more information on this item.

The other type of saphire which is particularly suited to this type of unusual pendant is our dog tooth sapphire crystals – so called because they are shaped a bit like a sharp tooth. Recently we selected a few good example of these crystals and used them as pendants with just a simple polish of their natural shape.

For some other design ideas see these examples from other sites we have found:

This one is a pale blue crystal from Wild Fish Gems in Sri Lanka – see here for more information: Sapphire crystal pendant
Quite large and appears to be transparent but has a noticeable ridged surface and is quite pale in colour (typical of many sapphires in Sri Lanka).

This one is a corundum crystal and so is not transparent. Green in colour with silver surround from 1st Place Jewelry. See here for more information: Green corundum crystal pendant
Interesting and unusual but not gem quality sapphire.

This interesting piece is a slab of moldavite set in sterling silver from Mineral Miners. See here for more information: Moldavite jewellery
Moldavite is the green gem form of tektite – an interesting stone formed by the impact of meteorites on earth. You can see the natural surface markings on this piece which is unpolished and simply surrounded by silver.

This work of art is a custom made pendant by Bernadine Fine Art Jewelry featuring natural amethyst crystals on a pendant slide. This site has some truly wonderful creations, fantastic information on a huge range of gemstones and is well worth a visit.
See here for more information on this Amethyst crystal pendant
Definitely something out of the ordinary.

That’s all for now from Aussie Sapphire
Remember to check our website for information and links to our online catalogues.

Auctions Resumed

Just a quick note to let everyone know that our 99 cent auctions have now resumed with a nice selection of rough sapphire and some cut gems (sapphire, zircon and black spinel) up for grabs.

Click here to see our current list of auctions.

Good luck ! Someone is sure to find a bargain among this lot but keep in mind these items are all of top quality. These auctions are run as promotions for Aussie Sapphire – any lucky buyer has the opportunity to snag an item at well below market value so dont miss out.

cheers from Aussie Sapphire

Guide to Buying Rough

Buying rough can be a very complicated undertaking. The following article present some notes that may be useful to consider when buying online. There are broadly three main types of rough: facet rough, cab rough and specimen or collector rough. Of course in reality, there are hundreds as they are all unique.

FACET ROUGH:
The first and most widely used is facet rough. When purchasing facet rough online you should be aware of the following:

1. Pictures are usually magnified so buyers can have a better view of the stone (a kind of "virtual loupe"). This will obviously make the stone appear much larger than it really is. To avoid being surprised when you receive your purchase, we recommend that you carefully check the dimensions given for a piece of rough. A useful tip is to sketch it on paper to get a real idea of the size.

2. Pictures may be enhanced to make the stone look much better than it is in real life. Honest sellers will only ever adjust pictures in order that the image matches the colour seen in real life as closely as possible. Colour may vary between computer monitors and under different lighting conditions but the aim with gemstone photography is always to present the most accurate image possible.

Unfortunately, a dishonest seller can tweak the photographs so drastically that it bears little relation to the rough you are buying. Difficult to get around this problem but we recommend that you look at the photographs very carefully and look for evidence of excessive retouching. Comprehensive description of the rough including highlighting of any potential problems is a good sign of an honest trader.

3. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is ! Synthetic rough can be made to look just like the real thing – inclusions are now being deliberately manufactured in synthetics in order to fool buyers. Buying from a trusted seller with a rock-solid return policy will reduce your risk of bad buying. Buying as close to the source as possible reduces the chances of synthetics being slipped into the parcel – buying direct from the miner is as close to the source as possible.

4. Chemical enhancements are widespread in many countries. These treatments drastically change the colour of the original stone and are often still sold as natural. This stone is not as valuable as fully natural untreated rough and will not appreciate in value like a truly natural gemstone. Honest sellers will clearly specify what treatments (if any) have been done.

In sapphire, be especially careful of yellows, orange-pink (often described as padparascha colour) and oranges as most of these colours available in the market currently are the result of Beryllium treatment (bulk diffusion). Natural rough in these colours will be clearly identified and be priced at a premium (treatment status should be guaranteed in writing by the seller). If treatment is not mentioned, you should probably assume that the rough has been treated. Sapphire may even be coloured blue by diffusion treatment with titanium – this is less common in rough as the colour is surface only and easily detected – something to watch out for though.

5. Recovery percentages in sapphire for cut from rough is usually only around 25% ( this varies but this is a good rule of thumb). So if you are aiming for a 2 carat finished gem, you need to look for at least an 8 carat piece of rough. Recovery percentage may be lower if the piece of rough is poorly shaped – sometimes rough with excellent colour and clarity may be discounted for this reason.

6. Some shapes are harder to obtain from sapphre rough – for example larger rounds are less common as there is normally more wastage from the rough to achieve this shape. Ovals, cushions and emeralds are far more common due to the typical shape of sapphire rough. Although dog tooth crystals are often passed over, these can be cut in very attractive pears and briolette shapes – keeping in mind that colour zoning is sometimes a issue in these crystals (colour is often lighter at the crystal tip).

7. Plans for the shape and size of a cut often need to change as preforming is carried out as even the best expert can miss a hidden flaw or inclusion when inspecting the rough. Remember that this is a natural product and perfection is exceedingly rare – if you want perfect rough at bargain prices, we suggest you buy synthetic. We find though that good cutters who want their work to be interesting and challenging appreciate working with rough made by Mother Nature. Please note that Aussie Sapphire accepts returns on rough in original condition only so please inspect your rough very carefully before starting any work.

8. Rough of most gemstones including sapphire almost always has inclusions that need to be worked around. Perfect rough is very rare and if found is extremely expensive. When buying rough online, you should inspect the photograph and description carefully – good sellers will always highlight any noteable points about each piece of rough to assist you. Feel free to ask questions before buying. A no-fuss return policy is critical when buying online but it is easier for everyone concerned if this is not necessary – the need to return rough will be far less likely if you look for detailed descriptions and ask questions before buying. Some sellers list their rough with almost no description but we suggest that you are buying at a higher level of risk in these cases.

9. You normally get what you pay for. We try and price our rough according to colour, clarity,and estimated percentage of waste. Therefore, in most cases, paying slightly more per carat will work out cheaper in the long run.

CABOCHON ROUGH (CAB ROUGH):
Cab rough should be much cheaper than facet grade as it has some inclusions, may be a darker colour or is less transparent (translucent or opaque instead of fully transparent).

Star sapphires are sometimes achieved from this type of rough but are rare and difficult to pick and take some skill on the part of the cutter to achieve a good star. Much of the rough being sold on Ebay as suitable for cutting star sapphire will be disappointing – dont buy a pound of this stuff at bargain basement prices and expect every piece to produce a star.

Note that diffused star sapphires are very common in the market and are extremely cheap. These are produced by a treatment on the surface of the finished gem and are worth only a fraction of the value of a natural star sapphire.

Cabs are great fun as they are cheaper and faster to make, quick and easy to learn and can produce a fantastic, attractive gemstone.

COLLECTOR ROUGH:
Some rough is far more valuable in its natural state and may never be cut.

No two pieces are ever the same and price is determined by rarity along with other factors such as large size, interesting or unusual shape and colour, type of inclusions, etc. Dog Tooth sapphire crystals are a good example of ones to collect as these come in a variety of forms with interesting appearance.

Sometimes this type of rough does not officially enter the marketplace but are offered directly to collectors who have standing orders for exceptional pieces. If you are interested in purchasing collector rough, it is a good idea to develop a relationship with a small number of sellers who can keep you informed when something interesting turns up. This way, you have a better chance of purchasing some of these off-market special pieces.

SOME GENERAL COMMENTS:
The easier and best resources of the worlds sapphire have already been mined. New areas will be discovered but the chances of bulk amounts of higher quality rough coming back on the market are low. Prices for rough sapphire are very low by historical standards so any sensible purchase of good quality natural sapphire can only increase in value from current levels.

Often, if you need a specific size in a finished gem, it may be better to purchase a cut gem to your specifications. This way, you know exactly what you are buying without the risk of a piece of rough not cutting as expected. Often for specific orders, we may have to use two or more pieces of rough before we achieve a perfect result. Depending on your needs, it may be a better option to select from our extensive range of cut sapphire and other gems.

One last point – we are often asked why we are selling both rough and cut sapphire when cut sapphire is worth so much more per carat. One person asked "if this piece of rough is so good, why dont you cut it yourself ?" – he passed out on that piece thinking it was somehow inferior and it was snapped up quickly by another more astute buyer. We answered his question quite simply: demand is strong for high quality rough sapphire in small lots or individual pieces while the market for cut sapphire is still generally slow.

We have good inventory of cut sapphire and do not need to cut every good piece of rough we find. There is unmet demand in the custom cutter and hobbyist lapidary market for good rough. We keep a portion of our best production for this purpose as it is quite clear that there is little good product around. A simple search for rough sapphire on Ebay will find many very small pieces which are difficult to cut resulting in a tiny gemstone or many large pieces that are quite clearly only cab grade or worse. We find that many of our customers appreciate being able to buy high quality rough close to the source with guaranteed quality and status as it allows them to cut gems of higher value.

Hope this article has been of interest – please feel free to comment on this or any other of the posts here. Thank you to our customers who have supported Aussie Sapphire in 2005, we appreciate it very much and look forward to doing business over the coming year. If you have just discovered us, check out our website and Ebay Store for lots of great bargains.

Cheers from Andrew and Leah at Aussie Sapphire