where to buy gemstones?

[Dennis]

Yes Marlies, I thought about the colour later and came to the conclusion that if someone had green tourmalines of different greens that would suit you. The only problem I foresee, is that small tourmalines tend to be a bit pale, so go as big as you can manage.

For tube setting ask for them to be graded so that they are all of a size, or you will have to faff around more. Once you have the stones, decide on tube size, which ideally would be 0.75mm to 1.00mm greater in diameter than the stones. You will either have to order standard tubes, or start drawing them down, which is an extra chore. When ordering tube, get a choice of two, as they often arrive a little smaller.

For stones of this size, I bevel the outside of the tubes to create a knife edge and rub them over with round pliers, taking care not to squeeze below the girdle. You need only have a quarter of a mm to rub over. To finish, it helps to have a collet closing set to perfect the round shape. Dennis

[Julian]

hi guys,

I'm looking at buying some gemstones for some of my work, and have been looking online. I'm a bit hesitant with buying from the interweb without seeing the stones in real life however I don't really know where to buy from. My usual supplier in Holland is a bit far away. Any advice where to get stones from? I've found gemselect online and it looks good, any experience? No spam I promise.

Cheers, Marlies

I am sorry to say , but you can rely on gemselects's photos when it comes to color.I am not suggesting anything, but there are to many variables ranging from the color setting on their camera to the settings on you screen. I have however seen claims in other forums that treatments are not fully disclosed. If you need to see them , then Ward's is the way to go.

Unfortunately I dont have anything that matches your requirements in stock, other wise i could do some samples SOR. Then again i am in the NL

Julian

[marlies]

Thanks for all your advice. I'll be back home next week so I might ring my old supplier there and see what they can do. And if I can't find anything I'll ring Wards and see what they have.

Once again thanks, marlies

[Tabby66]

I have always found AE Wards to be very helpful and after a couple of orders were happy to send stones on appro. They are really reliable on stock and stone descriptions when ordering by phone