Gateway Gems: Gemcutting & repair
I also repair scratched or damaged gemstones. This could be minor repolishing of scuffed stones, polishing out deeper scratches and chips, or recutting an entire gemstone.
Most material is sent out to another location (usually Chicago or New York) to be cut or repaired. Having a local service available can save TIME AND MONEY. My rates are reasonable and competitive.
The only difference between standard and custom facet designs is the degree of difficulty. Some custom cuts are actually easier than some standard ones. Other factors affecting the turnaround time for faceting a stone are orientation for peak performance, size of the initial piece for cutting, and hardness. A large hard stone will take longer (not always) than a small softer one.
All my cutting of both cabochon and facet material is at the rate of $20.00/Hour. To give an idea of what this might cost, a 1 carat round sapphire cut from rough material supplied by the customer would take approximately 3 hours to facet. Therefore the cost would be $45.00. A cabochon doesn't take near as long. Usually, it only takes an hour to trim and cut a cabochon. For those who don't know, cabochon (cab-oh-shon) is French for raised or domed. It could be round, square, or oval. As long as it has a domed top it is a cabochon.
If the material to be cut is from my stock, the cost of the material will be added to the cutting fees. The wastage on faceted stones is moderate to high. This is where orientation and shape come in. On average, the percent return is usually 25 - 35 %. That's a loss of 65 - 75 % of the original material. That means that in order to get the above 1 carat finished sapphire, a rough piece weighing around 3 times as much would have to be used. So 3 carats of rough would be used to yield a 1 carat sapphire. Rough sapphire averages $40.00/carat. Resulting in a material cost of $120.00. The total cost of the finished gemstone would be $165.00. This is still below the retail price.
Wastage in cabochon cutting isn't as high as in faceting, and could be as low as 30%. The cost of cabochon rough varies from low to very high. Material runs the gambit from rocks to ruby. I have a nice collection of rough material.
Repairs are also at the rate of $15.00/hour. Repolishing the crown (top) or pavilion (bottom) of a typical 1 carat faceted stone could take as little as an hour. This includes the time it takes to prepare and mount (dop) the stone for attachment to the machine. More complex designs could take longer. Repolishing a cabochon could cost as little as $7.00.
The rate is the same for re-cutting of damaged gems. Slight chips on the girdle, crown, or pavilion once again could take as little as an hour to repair. Major damage probably requires re-cutting of the entire stone. This won't take as long as it would for cutting a stone from rough, but it will take time.
Anyone submitting material for cutting or repair understand that the are no guarantees by myself that results will be successful, or that finished goods from rough material will turn out as the customer may have envisioned them. I will not be reponsible for submitted stones that have internal flaws that might result in chipping, cracking, or seperating. An example would be an emerald. They are notorious for their internal flaws.