Manufacturing
Buying Gemstone Parcels for Jewellery Manufacturing
Per-carat and per-piece pricing describe the same parcel very differently. How to work out what you are actually buying.
5 min read
A parcel is a quantity of stones sold as a lot. It is the most economical way to buy for production and the easiest way to end up with material you cannot use.
Per carat or per piece
The two pricing conventions are not interchangeable, and the gap between them widens as the size range in the parcel widens.
A parcel priced per carat with a stated range of, say, 0.15–0.40 ct can be filled predominantly at the top of that range. You get your weight, and far fewer stones than you costed for. If your production needs a piece count, buy by the piece — or fix the size range tightly enough that the weight implies the count.
Ask for the count and the total weight, not one or the other. Together they tell you the average, which tells you where in the range the parcel actually sits.
Yield is the number that matters
The relevant figure is not the parcel price but the cost of the stones you can actually set. A cheaper parcel with a 60% usable yield is more expensive than a dearer one at 90%.
Yield is affected by size consistency, colour consistency, cut quality and damage. For a first order from an unfamiliar parcel, cost it at a conservative yield and revise once you have run it.
Specifying a parcel you can use
- Size range, stated tightly — a narrow band is worth paying for
- Piece count and total weight, both
- Colour band, with a reference, and how much variation is acceptable across the lot
- Quality floor — the standard nothing may fall below
- Shape mix, if you need one, or a single shape if you do not
- Treatment tolerance
Mixed lots are a different purchase
A deliberately mixed parcel — assorted colours or shapes — 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.
For a production run, mixed lots are usually a false economy. Buy to specification.
We supply both: parcels and lots to specification, and mixed suites assembled to a colour brief. Send the size range, count and colour band and we will work to it.
Have a requirement?
Send the specification and we will come back with what matches.
