Hi all,
I am just wondering where most of you who also cut gems as a profession or hobby purchase quality facet grade gem rough. I am looking for honest sellers who understand what facet grade means.
I have purchased from a number of reputable sellers (Milstead, Joe Henry, John Garsow, and New Era, to name a few), but also want to check other possible sources as well.
Thanks
Larry
If you are confident in your ability to identify facet rough via photo, you can shop here: Rough Raw Gemstones For Sale | Gem Rock Auctions
The USFG keeps a list of rough dealers. Most of these are “boutique” dealers who deal in select facet rough by the piece at high prices, but they carry very good quality rough and will take returns on unaltered rough. You can do a lot better pricewise with parcel dealers and in-country sellers on line, but these are often variable quality parcels with wildly varying prices and little in the way of return privileges (mostly only exchange for other rough) and difficultly shipping items back anyway. That said, if you know what you are doing, these dealers will often have what you want at a much better price. Your dream would be to find a widow or widower with a substantial horde of facet rough to dispose of and very little idea of how to do that, so plug into your local rock club to learn of such sales, which are infrequent. The USFG Faceter’s Symposiums at Tucson in February and Franklin, NC in July are good sources of rough, with several very good dealers attending each. The collateral shows in Franklin, NC (and other local rock shows) will also have some dealers from Africa showing up with variable quality rough which you will have to pick thru and occasional lapidary dealers with an odd shoebox of rough they will bring out if asked. Also check with Farooq Hashmi and his cousin Amir Hashmi, who always have quality rough. -royjohn
Check out: eurekaeureka.etsy.com Some rough listed, but huge amounts available that are not listed, a complete list can be obtained by contacting shop owner
Thanks!