I make a bracelet which uses 5 matched 15mm cabs - rhodo, malachite,
whatever I can find. And frankly, what I can find has not been much.
It may be my inexperience in buying this sort of material, but few
suppliers I have found stock cabs in that number and size. I would be
pleased to hear any supplier recommendations members might have.
I have found an offshore supplier - Gemsbiz (gemsbiz.com) - which
appear to be up and up. What I worry about is how one resolves a
dispute with someone half way around the world. I guess it’s the
modern world but at 69 I guess I’m far from modern.
Would love to hear from anyone with experience with this company
(off line is fine). Thanks
It may be my inexperience in buying this sort of material, but few
suppliers I have found stock cabs in that number and size. I would
be pleased to hear any supplier recommendations members might have.
Try www.zarlene.com, not much on their website, but contact them and
see what they have.
Try Capilano Rock & Gem, 1406 Pemberton Avenue, North Vancouver,
B.C., Canada V7P 2S1. ph: 604-987-5311. Alas, they are not yet on
the web. They carry a large amount of cabochons and sell in bulk,
wholesale and retail. They sell to Canada and the US and have been a
great resource for me for many years. They also attend Tuscan and
make yearly trips to China to buy in bulk. Just a very satisfied
customer for over 10 years.
I personally never have problems dealing with Thai gemstone sellers-
the Chinese are a completely different story- I have had many many
many bad experiences over many years mainly in their selling
material billed as spinel, zircon, and sapphire that turn out to be
synthetic,with rubies and other corundums same deal- synthetics, and
glass. The returnability of those Chinese materials is basically nil
as the dealers change names, business identities, etc. because the
intent was to decieve in the first place.Thai sellers have great
return policies when and if you receive a parcel you are not happy
with or that is not what you ordered. In most cases I have had 100%
satisfaction with distributor/vendors I have dealt with adding
lagniappe to the returned order, and paying all costs of return and
resending out correct material. finished and rough. As for US and
Canadian dealers,reselling stones,I tend not to deal with them
largely because they buy and sell Chinese stones- though not
intended to politicize the trade, I personally do not want to support
China and I do not buy gem materials of Chinese origin, preferring US
or central and south american mined materials…This brings into
discussion the choices of gem materials one chooses to use in
designs, and ultimately who benefits from your choices.
From N. American garnets, sapphires, emeralds, rubies, peridot, raw
diamond, quartzes,tourmalines, gold-in-matrix, pyrites, rainbow
hematites, covellite, water opals and a variety of lesser minerals,
etc. I have plenty of choices that are bought often direct from the
source…I do encourage you to thoroughly investigate the return
policies of whatever seller you choose, and if you are not happy
with a particular article contact the seller and try to renegotiate
your specific terms if you are planning on buying regular quantities
of x material. another appraoch is to negotiate the acceptance on
approval of a sellers gemstone, etc. materials- that way you loose
nothing and put out no monies in advance and the vendor pays the
initial cost of getting their samples to you.Then with a net 30
account the vendor knows what your requirements are and that if the
goods do not meet your specifications the articles in term that you
negotiated prior to any agreements signed support your standards of
acceptability. This drastically cuts down the number or frequency of
returns that might be necessary. Another note regarding dealing with
foreign gem sellers is to always deal with the same sales person, or
owner of the establishment. If that person is not available, wait
until their return to place orders.
I personally never have problems dealing with Thai gemstone
sellers the Chinese are a completely different story
The dealer in question is Indian based in Jaipur.
negotiate the acceptance on approval of a sellers gemstone, [huge
snip] Then with a net 30 account the vendor knows what your
requirements are and that if the goods do not meet your
specifications the articles in term that you negotiated prior to
any agreements signed support your standards of acceptability.
NO one with sense will offer memo terms for small scales, first
order, internet sales.