At Rubble Rock and Gem, we offer two kinds of lapidary services: Overseas production processing and Local. Local services are meant for small batches and singular projects. The overseas production is reserved for bulk processing, and significant quantities of material. Please refer below for our current Local Lapidary Services.
Local Lapidary Services
Faceted Gemstone Repair
Rubble Rock And Gem offers local re-cutting services. We offer recutting of colored faceted stones (no diamonds). If you have a gem that has become scuffed and hazy, let us take care of it for you.
Rates:
Gemstone Anatomy
Delivery/Pick up
You may drop off/ pick up your stone in person any time during our regular business hours.
We will also ship your stone to you once recutting is complete, but this will be at your expense.
If a courier is to be arranged, we ask that you arrange it. We do not offer delivery or pick up services at this time.
Waiver
Please note that what you may think is an easy task may not be so easy. Often wear and tear on stones causes deformation. In faceting, fractions of millimeters count, and so if the abrasion is too severe, the damage is often underestimated by the public and jewelers. We do our best to repair the stones, and understand their sentimental value. We recut to maximize the carat, while maintaining the same cut style to the best of our ability. Because of the nature of faceting, it takes an expert to decipher what is necessary to repair the stone. By agreeing to our service, you are agreeing to let the experts do their work to the best of their ability and trusting that the final finish they provide is the best outcome possible for the stone and your request.
Cabochons
Coming Soon
Drilling
Stone Drilling is done locally in house at rubble rock and gem. If your gemstone is rough, or polished, we can drill it. If it is transparent or opaque, we can drill it. If you need a hole for a chain or wire to go through, or need a hole drilled so you can make a stone into a ring or bangle- we can do it.
Price Sheet
*Depth matters. The average gemstone is about 4 or 5mm. If your stone is thicker, like a raw crystal, the cost double’s because thicker stone requires transitioning between 3 to 6 different types of drills to create a clean hole.
Notes
Glass and seashell are treated same as stone
20% Discount for 10 or more stones
Drilled holes will not be polished inside
Stones smaller than 1 cm may be rejected
Disclaimer: All rocks are different, many have flaws, we are pretty good and rarely break stones. If a stone breaks while drilling, Rubble Rock and Gem is not liable. No charge will be incurred on either side if the stone breaks. Drilling is meant to be a forming process, meant for initial lapidary stages (before sanding). Drilling a polished stone will leave marks- mostly at the exit point where the drill bit breaks through the reverse of the stone. This “blowout’ is difficult to avoid, and may occur on some of your stones.
Rock Cutting/ Slabbing
Have a rock you want to see inside of? Need a rock slabbed for lapidary use? We have production scale water saws, large gravity fed and feed drive lapidary saws. If it’s a rock and you need it cut, we can do it.
Cost
(Currently Unavailable)
(Currently Unavailable)
*No discounts offered for bulk cutting.
Waiver
- Rocks are not a refined material. They have flaws. Many rocks break apart during cutting on pre-existing faults. We can not control this- but will return all the pieces from the saw.
- The cut faces are not polished. Polishing is not included. Small rocks may have crude cuts due to hand cutting.
- Cutting stones causes loss of material. This is called the kerf and has to do with the blade width. Please note that this means weight will be lost during cutting.
- Oil saws are used on rocks larger than 6.5 inches. This means your rock will become saturated. We will wash it, and though we use high grade mineral oil as lubricant, please be aware that oil may stain your rocks. (This is industry standard practice, but I like to inform you that a slight muddling of colours could occur.)
How to lay out cutting:
Leave it to us to decide what's best, or pick a width of your choosing — such as"4mm" or "1/4", etc. Please note however, that slabbing is a crude process and the slabs will not be identical to the size you requested. Expect a +/- 1.5mm margin of error.
Or
Pre-mark your stone for us, and we will do our best to follow the lines.
How to Layout Your Rock
Draw, with a permanent marker (Black) the way you want the saw to go through the rock.