Where to sell sapphires???

[txfire]

Does anyone know where I can sell raw sapphires. We went to Montana and dug through a bag. We found 19 carats of small gem quality stones. Is there a market for them. Thanks

 

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[marinedad]

probably depends on if they are gem quality or not, i have a few hundred carats of sapphires, most from n.c. 'gem mines' 95% of them are not top quality for fine jewelry. they may have inclusions not visible to the naked eye. most of the time you loose about 50% of origional size after cabbed or faceted. im no expert, maybe montana sapphires are bettey quality. good luck.

 

[Cappy Z.]

Post a few pics..please. Thanks.

Never know, someone here might buy them.

 

[txfire]

Sorry, I guess I could have put a picture on here to start with, 19.84 carats gem quality, per the gemologist. Thanks for looking.

They also said that they needed to be heat treated to turn dark blue.

 

[Cappy Z.]

Sometimes its a little easier to view the stones if the photo is adjusted, so I took the liberty. I don't know what they are worth, but the market determines value. Any idea what you might want for them?

 

[Merlyn555]

Funny you should ask.....

I just purchased a rough package of 14 Montana Saphires from the Capistrano Mining Co. weighing in at just over 25 carats and paid $49 for them. Now these were AA rated, facet quality and heat treated.

Your not looking at a whole lot of money for your stones but hey you dug them up yourself so they have some personal value.

You can try to google the Capistrano Mining Co, I don't have their website right now but it shouldn't be hard to find they might buy them from you.

Hope this helps....

 

[Cappy Z.]

Thanks for the name of the company..here's their link:

http://www.capistranomining.com/index.php

They had 20 cts about 27 stones for $29.00.

 

[Merlyn555]

Thanks Cappy that's the place....

The real value of your Montana Sapphires come once they are faceted. A stone that is valued at about $2 a carat rough when cut well will soar to around $100 per carat. A 1 carat flawless stone well cut in a pleasing or unusual design will go into the $300-500 dollar range easily. Now you have to remember the three C's, Clarity, cut, color are what govern price. The deeper the color (within reason) without enhancement the more value.

From the picture you have attached you have a couple of nice sized stones with some real nice color to them.

My advice is to take one or two of the really good stones and have someone cut them and give them to your wife or gf................... as the commercial says "Priceless".

 

[Cappy Z.]

Merlyn555,

I like your idea of finding a reputable faceter to work a couple of the better stones. I have been researching the subject myself. The price range for the 'work' varies greatly, and I mean in terms of hundreds of dollars. If anyone here at TN actually goes through the process it would be a very interesting thread should they post.

 

[phantomfinder]

Well , It's going to cost you from $2.00 to $200.00 per cut per stone . To turn them into some sweet looking gemstones . Good luck finding a gemstone cutter

 

[Lucky Gator]

sapphires

So, I am not sure where you dug them originally, but if you get ahold of Gem Mountain, or Spokne Bar Sapphire mines, either of them can point you to a lapidary here in Montana who can do the work, I believe the price is 45 dollars for faceting up to 4 carats and I don't recall the price for heat reating. Once they are finished, I imagine they will fetch 75 or so a carat, but remember you will lose at least half the size if not more. Still a couple of stones could yield you a couple hundered bucks less the faceting and heating.

Does anyone know where I can sell raw sapphires. We went to Montana and dug through a bag. We found 19 carats of small gem quality stones. Is there a market for them. Thanks

 

[Fullpan]

Members of our rockhounding get together and occasionally ship raw stones to China to be faceted. Its always cheaper per unit if you ship a lot of material.
They go thru a middleman in ore. or wash.? I joined them once and its kinda simple - it gives you choice of several styles and takes about 6 weeks for round-trip. I couldn't bear the thought of 10-12 year olds sweating over the machines, so only shipped once. But it was cheap and stones came back looking good.

 

[Eu_citzen]

As an craftsman I also find it incredibly shameful to ship any good rough to China/Indonesia or what ever when you got skilled cutters in your backyard. Yes, you pay more, but hey you get a work of art - not something "industrially processed".

 

[pippinwhitepaws]

heat treatment, uv treatments...all lower the value of a stone to a purist.

 

[Uncle Jeff]

may also try hiddenite mines the have one of the few and only open to the public gem mines in the USA and have a gemologist on staff to cut and mount your finds..
HGI's Emerald Hollow Mine