Whether you're a fellow gem dealer or a jeweler, mineral collector or hobbyist, there may be times when you find yourself with beautiful pieces of gem rough that deserve to be properly faceted to maximize their brilliance and scintillation. After nearly twenty years of hands-on faceting experience, and with the completion of several thousand faceted gems behind us, Turet Design is positioned to provide you with some of the highest quality faceting available anywhere in the world today.

If you need to have a few select, high-quality stones painstakingly faceted with the utmost of care, and polished to such high standards that they will surpass even the most discriminating tastes, our "Designer's Choice" quality level will suit you perfectly. Each and every stone of Designer's Choice quality is individually faceted by noted Master Lapidary Douglas Turet, to assure that the highest possible standards of excellence are achieved. It is because of this commitment to excellence and his many years of professional cutting and teaching experience that Mr. Turet was invited to become one of only a handful of official Mentors to the United States Faceting Guild's Faceters' List, a daily listserv which guides and supports gemstone cutters in the U.S., Canada, South America, Asia, Australia and the European Union.

And because of these years of experience and contact with other cutters, Turet Design has access to the literally thousands of faceted gemstone designs that have been created over the past three hundred years, and has developed more than a dozen unique, exclusive cuts of its own. (What's more, if you have the upscale clientele who will appreciate them, we can even custom-design completely new and exclusive cuts for your store's proprietary use. Write or call us for details.)

On the other hand, if your needs run more toward the volume end of the spectrum, and if you have anywhere from 500 carats to several dozen kilograms of material that you need faceted into more cost-effective, calibrated shapes and sizes for large-scale manufacturing (anywhere from 2x2 to 20x15mm), our "Standard Plus" quality level will provide you with everything you're looking for, and at prices designed to maximize your all-important profit margins. In order to accomplish this for you, we have made arrangements with one of Southeast Asia's finest, most accurate and reliable cutting factories. There, the workers have been trained to use modern, indexed-head faceting machines and to produce consistent quality levels that surpass those seen in most retail chain stores. (Because this style of cutting represents such an outstanding value for the cost-conscious supplier who's trying to maintain high quality standards, we refer to it as our Standard Plus level. Its pricing structure appears just after that of Designer's Choice, below.)

Designer's Choice Faceting:

Basic Setup Fee per stone: $65.00
This includes a thorough cleaning of the rough, plus examination under 2.5x and 10x magnification in direct and dark-field lighting environments, evaluation of the extent and placement of internal inclusions, orientation for best color and face-up appearance, the determination of best cutting proportions and cutting strategy, cut selection, mapping of appropriate design angles and cutting order, all sawing, grinding and/or preforming, and the alignment/centering, dopping and transferring of the stone. Faceting is then accomplished with a series of progressively finer grades of Diamond powder on steel laps; polishing is most often achieved with 1/4 micron (100,000 mesh) Diamond powder on either Ceramic or BATT-alloy polishing laps, for the ultimate in facet flatness and thus, brilliance. Turnaround times average between three and five weeks, but may be longer or shorter, depending upon the time of year received. We suggest that you write or call for specifics before shipping, to avoid disappointments.

Designer's Choice faceting of standard cuts, in"easy" stones: (i.e. Gem materials from 4-7 in Mohs' hardness without perfect cleavages, directional hardnesses, inclusion or brittleness problems, such as Quartz, Garnet, Tourmaline, Beryl, and natural or synthetic Spinel.)

3mm to 2.00 ct. sizes: $15.00/finished ct.;
2.01 to 5.00 ct. sizes: $13.00/finished ct.;
5.01 to 10.00 ct. sizes: $12.00/finished ct.;
10.01 to 20.00 ct. sizes: $11.00/finished ct.;
Over 20.01 ct. sizes: price available upon request.

Designer's Choice faceting of standard cuts in hard or "difficult" stones: (i.e. Gem materials from 4-9 in Mohs' hardness, with marked directional hardnesses, perfect cleavages, challenging inclusion or brittleness problems, such as Apatite, Corundum, Emerald, Topaz, Tanzanite, Peridot, Kunzite, and most synthetics.)

3mm to 2.00 ct. sizes: $16.00/finished ct.;
2.01 to 5.00 ct. sizes: $15.00/finished ct.;
5.01 to 10.00 ct. sizes: $14.00/finished ct.;
10.01 to 20.00 ct. sizes: $13.00/finished ct.;
Over 20.01 ct. sizes: price available upon request.

(For more complex patterns, such as Barions, checkerboards and rose or apex cuts, add 20% to the above labor rates.)

Standard Plus Faceting:

The Standard Plus faceting labor costs shown are per stone, and are based upon the average finished weight of each stone, assuming that these stones are to be calibrated to standard sizes and shapes. Standard Plus faceted stones are cut using modern equipment modeled after the fine (American) Raytech-Shaw and (Japanese) Imahashi faceting machines, and all stones are polished with 50,000 mesh Diamond powder for finishes far superior to those possible with the "industry standard" 14,000 mesh. Please note that "Princess-style" squares and brilliant-style heart shapes are priced the same as similarly-sized trilliants. All pear shapes are priced the same as similarly-sized ovals, and both feature "Portuguese"-style multi-faceted pavilions and brilliant crowns. (If you prefer, we can also arrange to have your stones cut to any non-standard shapes or sizes, or to your own special, proprietary designs, for just slightly more per piece. Write or call us for details.)

Standard Plus faceting of "easy" stones: (i.e. Gem materials from 4-7 in Mohs' hardness without perfect cleavages, directional hardnesses, inclusion or brittleness problems, such as Quartz, Garnet, Tourmaline, Beryl, and natural or synthetic Spinel.)

Round---------Oval------------------Trilliant---------------Octagon---------Marquise--------Price
2mm-----------3x2mm----------------------------------------------------------4x2mm---------- $0.80
3mm-----------4x3mm--------------2x2mm-----------------3x2mm----------5x2.5mm-------$0.85
4mm-----------5x3mm--------------3x3mm-----------------4x2mm----------6x3mm---------$0.90
5mm-----------6x4mm--------------4x4mm-----------------5x3mm----------8x4mm---------$0.95
6mm-----------7x5mm--------------5x5mm-----------------6x4mm----------10x5mm-------$1.05
7mm-----------8x6mm--------------6x6mm-----------------7x5mm----------12x6mm-------$1.20
8mm-----------9x7mm--------------7x7mm-----------------8x6mm----------15x7mm-------$1.35
9mm-----------10x8mm-------------8x8mm----------------9x7mm----------18x9mm-------$1.55

In sizes larger than these, labor rates are calculated by weight @ $2.00/finished carat.

Standard Plus faceting of hard or "difficult" stones: (i.e. Gem materials from 4-9 in Mohs' hardness, with marked directional hardnesses, perfect cleavages, challenging inclusion or brittleness problems, such as Apatite, Corundum, Chrysoberyl, Emerald, Topaz, Tanzanite, Peridot, Kunzite, and most synthetics.)

Round---------Oval------------------Trilliant---------------Octagon---------Marquise--------Price
2mm-----------3x2mm----------------------------------------------------------4x2mm---------- $1.10
3mm-----------4x3mm--------------2x2mm-----------------3x2mm----------5x2.5mm-------$1.25
4mm-----------5x3mm--------------3x3mm-----------------4x2mm----------6x3mm---------$1.45
5mm-----------6x4mm--------------4x4mm-----------------5x3mm----------8x4mm---------$1.65
6mm-----------7x5mm--------------5x5mm-----------------6x4mm----------10x5mm-------$2.00
7mm-----------8x6mm--------------6x6mm-----------------7x5mm----------12x6mm-------$2.25
8mm-----------9x7mm--------------7x7mm-----------------8x6mm----------15x7mm-------$2.55
9mm-----------10x8mm-------------8x8mm----------------9x7mm----------18x9mm-------$2.85

In sizes larger than these, labor rates are calculated by weight @ $3.00/finished carat.

Terms: there are no basic setup fees with Standard Plus faceting. However, there are some international shipping fees and customs tariffs to be aware of. Shipping and overseas customs clearance generally amounts to $100 USD per kilogram (kg.) or portion thereof, and we recommend adding additional postal insurance. Parcels of less than 1 kg. are typically processed in 10-12 weeks, including time spent in transit. Larger parcels may take slightly longer, depending upon time of year ordered, but will qualify for a 5% volume discount. All prices shown are in U.S. Dollars, and are effective as of January 1st, 2004. Payment is due upon our notification to you of completion of order. Please refer to Customer Service page for terms and payment options.)