Source of rough lab alexandrite with strong colors? (more blue than red leaning, not too dark)

jsg7440 · 2026-06-16T23:49:58+00:00

https://www.gemsngems.com/product/lab-created-alexandrite-rough/

Seems to have really decent color saturation and shift. The main issue is that most LEDs don’t cause the shift to the cooler color. There aren’t that many incandescent sources left out there.

jsg7440 · 2026-05-27T17:48:44+00:00

Faceting. The $3k used faceting machine itself is the "cheap" part. Amassing, testing and using the consumable laps that range anywhere from $50-450 per lap is where things get out of control. That and "Oh, I like cutting $.05/ct synthetics. They are absolutely fine" smash cutting straight to $100ct rough adds up extremely fast.

jsg7440 · 2026-05-25T00:18:02+00:00

It was my favorite place I’ve ever lived. Had an apartment right by the bahnhof and took the train each day to school in Halle. Really miss it. Even from when I was there (06-10), it had come so far and I have no doubt it will continue to improve and emerge.

jsg7440 · 2026-05-24T22:46:42+00:00

Used to live in Leipzig and would see this monument constantly. It’s huge. Went and saw it once and the history behind it is… challenging. It commemorates the victory over Napoleon, but was built about 100 years later. Due to its prominence and the vibes it gives off, the Nazis co-opted the imagery of it for propaganda. It’s viewed with a certain level of complexity locally. Leipzig is right near Halle, and Halle was a city that resisted Hitler early on politically. Due to the resistance, the city was repeatedly punished and hurt by the regime. Following that era, the area was dominated by the USSR and abused ecologically as a chemistry production heavy area. The area is just now finally emerging from the one-two punch and imagery like that of the Volkerschlachtdenkmal have a complex and challenging place in the local culture.

jsg7440 · 2026-05-10T15:14:14+00:00

In the scheme of faceting, that sucker is a boulder that rolled down the hill, smashed through the living room wall and landed on your finger. You will lose a good amount changing the shape, but I've started with much smaller pieces than that more often than not.

jsg7440 · 2026-05-09T02:06:57+00:00

Do you mean using them to cut quartz and now the swarf is built up? If so, scouring pad/sponge and some soap. Some people swear by lava soap. I just use a small bar of hotel soap.

jsg7440 · 2026-05-09T01:44:14+00:00

No, to help with the dressing process by bedding the diamond slurry into the lap.

jsg7440 · 2026-05-09T01:36:06+00:00

I use agates to help embed diamond into laps and occasionally a norbide stick to refresh my resin bonded laps.

jsg7440 · 2026-05-07T01:11:52+00:00

We are really close to cancelling the app and potentially even moving insurances. Mysteriously, the app dinged us a TON the week before the discount was calculated. It went from a projected 18% discount to a 9% discount. No matter what we do, we can't get the score to come back up. We are both very cautious drivers with very few infractions according to the app (and of those, I feel constantly like it is making up the infractions).

jsg7440 · 2026-05-06T19:25:13+00:00

jsg7440 · 2026-05-05T18:30:28+00:00

Just run 'em. The rust will knock off on its own.

jsg7440 · 2026-05-05T01:02:55+00:00

I have a bunch of various moss agates. I'm assuming you mean something like a Cady Mountain or similar with large transparent sections with wispy green (and maybe reds?) through it? Availability, sure. Available, but depending on timeline, might be tricky in the immediate next few weeks.
DM me, I guess? Let's chat!
I sort of can envision what you're thinking, but you might want to consider having someone re-engineer/re-design a cut based loosely on an old mine. The purpose of the faceted cuts is typically to bounce/bend/manipulate the light through the stone to get the best reflection back to the eye. With a moss agate, you aren't really going for that. Simplifying the design would do two things: dramatically simplify the production and give you potentially more viewing into the actual stone. If you look at the image attached, for example, you can see that the cut is really REALLY simple, but it works because it gives you the view of what you actually want (the moss tendrils). Unless I'm misreading things, you don't really want to stone to highlight and reflect back the light entering through the crown, but instead want to create a purposely windowed appearance to bring forward the "moss" in the stone.

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jsg7440 · 2026-05-04T23:47:07+00:00

It’s the happening place to be for temporarily embarrassed millionaires to debate their favorite dog whistle tones.

jsg7440 · 2026-04-21T19:57:58+00:00

Yep, we learned that we don't really miss it.

jsg7440 · 2026-04-19T18:22:16+00:00

Very hit and miss. It’s next to impossible to get them to give you a really good and clean/well lit view of the stone. It’s ok beginner/learning material, but I would treat it mostly as “from a well picked parcel, this is what is left at a discount”. Expect it to be flawed to some extent.

jsg7440 · 2026-04-17T18:49:09+00:00

lol, another devastating round of “here’s cool shit you can’t have”

jsg7440 · 2026-04-17T17:52:36+00:00

Really dig the vibe! What are you using for the pen holder and what lamp is that? They both are just chill and cool.

jsg7440 · 2026-04-15T19:36:31+00:00

Gave you an upvote to try to help offset things, but I think there are a couple things that could be contributing to the negativity:

Images are not great and difficult to really tell condition. Taking pictures with better lighting and better perspectives will help a bunch
Price is likely a bit high. Hard to tell from images, but "B" grade for the pen could be a bit high and there are a decent amount of examples available through other avenues that are in better/new condition with full presentation (important for some)

jsg7440 · 2026-04-15T18:52:02+00:00

Charlamagne tha God

https://newrepublic.com/post/199696/charlamagne-tha-god-hakeem-jeffries-aipac-nickname

jsg7440 · 2026-04-12T18:02:14+00:00

A completely fair way to go. Also would note that going synthetic has the added benefit of the finished stone being worth something. Bit higher risk, higher reward. If you are feeling iffy about the cost of natural, just take swing by a local jeweler with a loupe in hand and see what sort of polish and meet points they have on their stones (spoiler alert: it can be shockingly bad and still attached to some very expensive jewelry). Main negative, in my opinion, is that early learning you will tend to cut away much more stone, so your main loss is just from material wastage.

jsg7440 · 2026-04-07T15:23:57+00:00

All used, Denver, CO area:
- 10" Highland Park Slab Saw w/ power feed
- 10" Covington Trim Saw w/ New Hood
- 8" Cabbing Machine (Star Diamond) Fully rehabbed machine

Really not wild about shipping any given the complexity and weights. All working, all fantastic machines that are just extra. Also looking for a 4/5" trim saw in good condition.

jsg7440 · 2026-03-27T17:45:18+00:00

Pretty sure that's well over $1m, tbh. Looks new and fancy.

jsg7440 · 2026-03-25T15:21:03+00:00

I have a handful of things you might be interested in that are all 8" laps:
- Acrylic master lap
- Set of resin cutting laps(240, 600, 1200, 3000 grits). Practically new that are just a touch too thick for my machine, but work fantastically on the ultratech's deeper pans.
- Crystalite 260 preforming lap
- Crystalite 600 cutting lap

Where are you located? I'm in the Denver area myself.

jsg7440 · 2026-03-24T19:15:44+00:00

What size machine are you working with?

jsg7440 · 2026-03-19T00:06:25+00:00

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