I am living in Venezuela and have a trip planned to the UK (Gerrerds
Cross in Buckinghamshire ) and the USA (Dallas Texas) I thought it
would be a great opportunity to do some shopping - specifically for
jewelers and or lapidary supplies. So I thought to ask the Orchid
community if anyone knows of a good supplier in the GX (UK) area and
the Dallas Ft Worth (USA) area where I could do some shopping… Any
help would be appreciated as I can’t get much of what I need locally
and Internet shopping from here is not always an option…
there are very few decent lapidary suppliers in the UK, but I will
point you to R Holt of 98 Hatton Garden for a very large range of
interesting cut stones. Whilst you are in Hatton Garden it is worth
looking into Cookson’s Exchange Findings, Blundells and Rashbel,
which are both in Hatton Wall off Hatton Garden. they both stock
precious metal, findings, tools etc. The only other big
stockist of lapidary supplies is Manchester Minerals in Stockport,
greater Manchester.
I attended a local gem show recently an I was the only person
selling rough rock for lapidary and that is only a side line for me,
the rest were selling fossils, mineral specimens and new age
"healing" stones etc.
I have lived in Buckinghamshire all my life. I am only a few miles
from Gerrards Cross and know it very well. Please let me know exactly
what you require. The family home which I grew up in is
only 3 miles away.
For Jewellers supplies, the nearest place is London.
I don’t know what kind of items you are looking for, but here’s a
few suggestions for the Dallas area. For good prices on many common
gemstone beads and some Bali type silver Globe Union (dba Texas
Beads) in Plano, the Rock Barrell in Richardson has all type of cabs
and beads. If you have any interest in vintage beads and findings,
you need to make an appointment to go over to Ft Worth to Beads by
Sandy (beadsbysandy.com). They have a faboulous collection of vintage
items, the web site barely stratches the surface of their stock. If
you email Sue (by friend and boothmate) she would be glad to help
you. She doesn’t work there full time, however. We are about to head
into our heavy show season, so she be off a little more. (We’ve
applied to do 5 major shows in a 6 week period in May and June–we
may be crazy).
A good source for stones and mountings etc. is Internationaldiamondservices.com in Scottsdale arizona
1-866-945-gems. They are wholesale to the trade only. You will have
to contact them first to get approval and an appointment. If you are
not in the trade do not even think of going in. I have been a
customer of theirs for 20 years and have never had a problem.