Why Rare Bird Corundum?

Countless Sapphires, Rubies Other Colored Stones & Diamond Inventory to Choose from 

 Why limit your colored stone and diamond choices to a few stones you find in a jewelry store when almost all gem manufacturers and wholesalers list their inventories on line?  Because of the large number of precious stone and diamond manufacturers I have dealt with over the years, I have access to billions of dollars worth of stones listed in their on-line inventories. I can e-mail you pictures or videos of stones with G.I.A. reports or we can look at the on-line inventories together in my office and bring in the stones you want to see before making a decision as to whether you want to buy them. I also have a small inventory of precious gemstones that I personally buy from overseas manufacturers to show you.

Lowest Prices for Top Quality Precious Colored Gemstones and Diamonds  

I generally buy stones from wholesale-to-the-trade diamond manufacturers and colored stone wholesalers.  Because I no longer maintain a large inventory and have extraordinarily low overhead expenses, I am able to offer sapphires, rubies and other colored stones as well as diamonds for what amounts to a low brokerage fee rather than retail prices.

Lowest Prices for Jewelry, Especially for Custom-Made Jewelry

After you’ve chosen your stone(s), I offer a wide range of jewelry that can be customized to your specifications. On their website, Stuller provides thousands of Computer Assisted Designs (CADs) for rings, pendants and other jewelry items that can be customized to your personal specifications. https://www.stuller.com/browse/3c-collection/  You can choose any of these items and change the size and shape of the stones, choose the type of metal as well as make modifications to the basic design. After you’ve approved the CAD (a detailed picture of the jewelry we are creating), we use it to produce your jewelry at a cost significantly below labor-intensive custom work performed by a jeweler. I can also make CADs and produce jewelry from pictures or images of pieces you provide to me.  Using this method, it generally takes from three weeks to a month to make a customized piece of jewelry.

 In addition to customized jewelry made with Computer Assisted Designs, Stuller also offers standardized jewelry  (www.Stuller.com). If necessary, I can also make custom jewelry from scratch without the use of CADs.

Sapphires, Rubies and Other Colored Stones

I will help you select the best stones from thousands listed online by wholesalers and manufacturers on www.Polygon.net. I also travel frequently to Asia (primarily Bangkok) to buy top-quality sapphires and rubies. All of the sapphires and rubies that I sell are certified by the Gemological Institute of America. It’s just as important that any significant colored stone you buy has a G.I.A. grading report as it is for a diamond. The colored stone grading report from G.I.A. tells you if the stone is natural or synthetic if it’s been treated to enhance color, and what method was used (e.g., beryllium diffusion, heat, etc.), and the probable country of origin.

If you’ve worked with me before, you know I’m very particular about how well diamonds are cut and sell only the best cut stones.  If you stay within a reasonable range of color and clarity, cut is the most important factor in determining the beauty of a stone. The life, scintillation and overall brilliance of a diamond is determined by the cut. When buying a G.I.A. certified* round diamond, most stones that have a cut grade of Excellent are not cut well in my opinion.  If you want to know how to evaluate the cut of a round diamond go to  http://www.dimonz.com/giaagsreports.htm  which gives you an in-depth discussion of how to evaluate the cut of a round diamond.  This link also tells you what to look for in terms of color, clarity and fluorescence.

Fancy shape diamonds are any shape other than round—Ovals, Cushions, Princesses, Radiants, Emerald cuts, Asschers, Pears, and Marquises.  A G.I.A. report does not provide enough information to determine if a fancy shape diamond is properly cut. G.I.A. certified fancy shape diamonds of the same color, clarity and carat weight may vary in price by up to 50% depending how well they’re cut.  A quote from Rapaport Diamond Report (the trade’s Bible, regarding wholesale diamond prices) addressed to members of the diamond trade:  "Fancy shape diamonds are more complex than round diamonds and much harder to valuate. The quality of cut, proportions and overall shape of the fancy shape diamond all have great impact on price” ….as well as the beauty of the stone.  If it’s difficult for members of the diamond trade to evaluate the cut of fancy shape diamonds, how can you do it?  The quick answer is, you can’t.  In my opinion, up to 90% of fancy shaped diamonds are cut improperly. I will explain what to look for in the cut of any fancy shape diamond and help you find an excellently cut stone with a beautiful shape and remarkable brilliance at a reasonable price.    

*In my opinion, all diamonds over .30 carats should have a diamond grading report from the Gemological Institute of America. Personally, although I have some issues with the cut grading system, I find the G.I.A. diamond grading reports to be the best available and are the only ones that I use.

Smaller Diamonds (.01 to .22 carats)

The small diamonds used by Rare Bird Corundum are head and shoulders above the quality used in most jewelry stores and by on-line vendors, especially in terms of cut.  Cut is the primary determinant of the scintillation and overall beauty of small stones (as well as larger ones).  I use the finest Thai and Russian cut diamonds in the jewelry that I produce. Only a small percentage of the total output of small round diamonds are cut in Russia and Thailand, which are generally recognized world-wide for producing the best cut small stones.  Up to 90% of smaller diamonds are manufactured in India or China, where the stones are not cut as well and don’t display the brilliance that Russian and Thai stones do.              

I will always use my knowledge of the jewelry trade to help you find the best prices on top quality gemstones, diamonds and jewelry.