buying loose gems

grungebox

Hey, guys and gals-

I wanted to buy my gf a gemstone, but I don't like a lot of the gemstone jewelry out there. I wanted to get a loose stone and then set it in a ring I buy elsewhere (a ring designed for diamonds, for example). Is that a normal thing to do? I know lots of people sell loose stones, but I wasn't sure about stone-less jewelry. Also, I don't know anything about what size stone or cut certain rings can take. I also don't want to buy a stone, say amethyst, and lose a lot of it when it gets cut to fit in a ring. Seems kind of wasteful. Just any general advice would be helpful. Thanks.

EclecticGroove

You can buy loose stones that are either cut or uncut.

How much you lose would all depend on what kind of cut you would want it to have.

In general you won't need to cut a gem to fit a ring, you would have a cut in mind and find the ring, or have the ring and find a gem to compliment it.

It is fairly common, but gems are their own little world of knowledge. I only know a little bit about them, but I'd say find what kind of gem you want and just research it with some google fu. After you are done with that you can find a local place that deals in loose gems to go scope them out.

EggyToast

What you should actually do is simply find a ring you like and ask for the different gem. A good jeweler will simply replace the gem in question, and will be able to fill you in on all of the differences.

You can buy a pre-cut gem in a store or online, and then take it in to get a ring made for it, but it's far easier to say "I like this ring, but I don't want this gem. Can I get a different gem, but this same cut?"

There's a handful of birthstone jewelry websites around, and they specialize in "any gem" jewelry. But any jeweler worth its salt will do the same thing, too.

Nitsuj82

EggyToast wrote:

What you should actually do is simply find a ring you like and ask for the different gem. A good jeweler will simply replace the gem in question, and will be able to fill you in on all of the differences.

You can buy a pre-cut gem in a store or online, and then take it in to get a ring made for it, but it's far easier to say "I like this ring, but I don't want this gem. Can I get a different gem, but this same cut?"

There's a handful of birthstone jewelry websites around, and they specialize in "any gem" jewelry. But any jeweler worth its salt will do the same thing, too.

My thoughts exactly.

grungebox

Thanks for the responses.

The main reason I ask this is that my gf only cares for emeralds, canadian non-blood diamonds, non-Sri Lankan sapphires, or something called chrysoberyl, but I know she likes a certain set of rings that I want to get from South Asia. That's why I sort of wanted to buy a gemstone separately online. But you guys are saying that if I go to a local jeweler and say, "Hey, I want an emerald instead of a diamond" they can find one the right cut and everything?

Also, EggyToast, you said it's "far easier" to get the ring and have them replace the gem themselves rather than bring in my own cut gem? Why is that? (I've obviously never bought jewelry that wasn't already assembled before, and never anything extravagant like I'm trying to get here).

EggyToast

It's far easier because they do all the work. In other words, you find the ring, and they find a gem that fits perfectly.

Otherwise, you have to find a gem, bring it in, find a ring that matches, hope it's the right size and cut, and then probably pay more or the same for the gem anyway. If they need to modify the ring or (gasp) remake the whole ring for the gem you picked up, it takes much longer and costs more money.

I'm the same way, mind -- my wife despises diamonds, and wants nothing to do with any of them. One of my first "real" gifts to her was a birthstone ring, an emerald, and the wedding ring was a sapphire. Granted, both were online stores, but when we went in to a local jeweler to get a necklace and earing set made, they are totally upfront about pricing and availability.

At least, a good jeweler is. Don't go to a dinky mall jeweler -- look online to see if you can find local jewelers (that may very well be located in a mall -- ours was) that either make their own jewelry or contract w/ a local guy for the lion's share of their work. Go in and browse a bit, and if you find a ring that's close or similar, ask if they'll use a different gem. Most are happy to make a sale, and having happy customers. The ones that push diamonds, especially after you explain your girlfriend's ethical positions, are the ones to leave

Liquid Hellz

If you ever have the chance or know someone who is going on a cruise, buy the gems in a foreign port. They are much much cheaper there and you can even haggle with them to get the price down to where you want it. Most of the time it is tax free as well. Of course, this takes al little bit more knowledge of what you want and what is good/bad.

citric

The question's been answered pretty thoroughly, but just to verify, yes, a jeweler should have a big catalog or several big catalogs with non-diamond gemstones and rings, etc. I had one picked out for my wife's engagement ring, for the same reasons you cite.

The only caveats: the jeweler will still probably try to talk you into a diamond or something; don't argue, just say you know what you want; and if the jeweler doesn't seem to want to spend the time, go elsewhere. You might need to shop around. It took me a while to find a guy who seemed not to really give a damn about upselling me and who was willing to mill around looking through his catalogs for a while.