Can you assemble a parcel to a colour brief?

Yes. Send the colour range, size range, shapes you can use and the piece count. A reference image of the palette is worth more than colour names, particularly in tourmaline.

Are parcels priced per carat or per piece?

Either, and it should be agreed before you order. Tell us which your costing is based on and we will quote on that basis.

Format

Gemstone Parcels & Lots

Quantity lots sold by piece or by weight, for manufacturing programmes, stock replenishment and designers buying to a palette.

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A dense parcel of faceted tourmaline in green, pink, peach, red and olive, cut as ovals, emerald cuts, rounds and pears.

Per carat or per piece

The two conventions describe the same parcel very differently, and the gap widens as the size range widens.

A parcel priced per carat across a range of, say, 0.15–0.40 ct can be filled predominantly at the top of that range. You get the weight you paid for and far fewer stones than you costed for. If your production needs a piece count, buy by the piece — or narrow the size range until the weight implies the count.

Ask for the count and the total weight together. The average between them tells you where in the range the parcel actually sits.

Yield is the number that matters

The relevant figure is never the parcel price. It is the cost of the stones you can actually set. A cheaper parcel at 60% usable yield costs more than a dearer one at 90%.

Yield turns on size consistency, colour consistency, cut quality and damage. For a first order from an unfamiliar parcel, cost it conservatively and revise once you have run it.

Specifying a lot

A parcel requirement we can fill accurately states:

Size range, as tightly as your design allows
Piece count and total weight, both
Colour band and how much variation is acceptable across the lot
Quality floor — the standard nothing may fall below
Shape mix, or a single shape
Treatment tolerance

Mixed lots are a different purchase

A deliberately mixed parcel is bought for variety rather than consistency, and it suits designers rather than production lines. Tourmaline is the species where this makes the most sense, because the colour range is the point of the stone.

For a production run, a mixed lot is usually a false economy. Buy to specification.

Buyer questions