Lapidary workshop · Bangkok · Colombo · Shipping worldwide

Precision cutting,
recut & repolish.

The lapidary workshop of Oceania Trading Limited. We cut rough into finished gemstones, recut damaged or worn stones, repolish faces and girdles, match calibrated goods to specification, and execute bespoke design cuts. Work accepted from trade and private clients — dealers, jewellers, collectors, estates, and insurers — as well as from the group’s own trading desks.

Materials
Diamond & coloured
Tolerance
±0.05mm
Minimum size
0.20ct
Turnaround
2–6wk

What the workshop does.

Six service categories covering the lapidary lifecycle of a stone — from mine-fresh rough through to correcting damage on a heritage piece. Every job begins with assessment; what follows depends on what the stone calls for.

01
Precision cutting of rough.
Planning and cutting of rough into finished gemstones. We work from the rough with an eye on yield and on-point colour orientation, cutting to brilliant, step, mixed or fancy designs. Standard ratios and crown/pavilion angles within tight tolerance, or custom to your specification.
Typical Rough → polished
2–4 weeks
02
Recutting.
Recut of chipped, abraded, or poorly-proportioned stones. We retain as much weight as possible while restoring symmetry, proportion and face-up appearance. Common on heritage pieces, insurance replacements, and older cuts that can be brought up to modern grading tolerances.
Typical Weight loss 3–15%
1–3 weeks
03
Repolishing.
Face, girdle and crown repolish for stones that have lost polish through wear or setting. No material recutting, no proportional change — just surface work to restore lustre. Suitable for stones being sent back to the lab for a re-grade.
Typical Surface only
3–10 days
04
Calibration matching.
Calibration of parcels to uniform dimensions for production work. Matched pairs, suites and graduated sets cut to specification for jewellers running consistent collections. Tolerances agreed in writing before work begins.
Typical ±0.05mm tolerance
2–5 weeks
05
Bespoke design cuts.
Custom faceting designs for collectors, designers and competition cutters. Original designs or established patterns — portuguese, barion, concave, flanders, and other non-standard work. Per-stone consultation on what the rough will bear.
Typical By commission
4–8 weeks
06
Origin & treatment advice.
Written opinion on origin and treatment likelihood, based on inclusion imaging and refractometer work. Not a laboratory report — a pre-submission read to help you decide whether to lab the stone, and which laboratory is best suited to the material.
Typical Written report
3–7 days

Four stages, every stone.

Every piece that comes through the workshop follows the same four stages. Nothing starts on the wheel until the assessment is complete and the quote is approved in writing.

01 24–72 hrs

Receive

Stone arrives by insured courier or is brought in by hand. Logged, weighed, photographed from multiple angles against a neutral plate, and added to the job book. Confirmation sent the same day.

  • Insured inbound shipping
  • Photographic log
  • Written confirmation
02 3–7 days

Assess

Hardness, clarity, inclusions, orientation, existing damage, treatment indicators. A written plan proposes the work — design, expected yield, tolerance, turnaround, and price. No work begins until you approve in writing.

  • Inclusion mapping
  • Yield estimate
  • Written quote
03 1–6 wks

Work

Cutting, recutting, repolishing or calibration to plan. Progress photographs at defined checkpoints — rough-in, main faceting, polish — available on request. Any material deviation from plan is flagged and re-quoted before proceeding.

  • Checkpoint photography
  • Deviation protocol
  • Workshop insured
04 3–5 days

Return

Final inspection, photographed finished stone, and a per-stone report summarising what was done and the finished measurements. Returned by insured courier to your specified address, or routed direct to the laboratory of your choice for grading.

  • Finished-stone dossier
  • Direct-to-lab routing
  • Insured return

What we work with.

Two broad categories. Hard material — diamond and corundum — gets the bulk of the precision work. Softer coloured-stone material requires different handling; we do both, with different wheels and different hands.

Diamond & corundum

Mohs 9–10 · Precision work

The workshop's primary material. Cast-iron scaif for diamond, bonded diamond wheels for corundum. Tolerances of ±0.05mm on calibrated work. Separate equipment for natural and lab-grown diamond to prevent cross-contamination in the workshop.

  • Diamond 10
  • Ruby 9
  • Sapphire 9
  • Chrysoberyl & alexandrite 8.5

Coloured & semi-precious

Mohs 6.5–8.5 · Careful hands

Emerald, spinel, tourmaline, garnet, tanzanite, aquamarine, and softer semi-precious material. Different speeds, different polishing laps. Emerald handled with particular care — oil-filled fissures are logged and discussed before any work begins.

  • Spinel 8
  • Topaz & aquamarine 8 · 7.5–8
  • Emerald 7.5–8
  • Tourmaline & garnet 7–7.5
  • Tanzanite & peridot 6.5–7
Nothing begins on the wheel until the plan is on paper and the client has signed it.
— Workshop principle

Who is behind the bench.

PrecisionCut is the lapidary workshop of Oceania Trading Limited — the bench where rough sourced by the group’s trading desks is planned and cut. External work from trade and private clients is accepted on the same terms. Every stone is cut by the cutter who agreed the plan.

Bench-trained, not factory-trained.

Over a decade of lapidary practice across diamond, corundum and coloured material. Trained in Antwerp on diamond and in Bangkok on coloured stones. The workshop runs from two benches — one in Bangkok, one in Colombo — each fully equipped for faceting, cabbing, polishing and calibration, with work routed to whichever location suits the stone. Specialty designs (portuguese, barion, concave) executed on commission from either bench.

Bangkok works the full range: diamond, ruby, coloured stones of every hardness. Colombo specialises in sapphire and the spinel-garnet-tourmaline family, reflecting the Ceylon cutting tradition and the material that moves through Beruwala. In practice the two workshops operate as one: the same cutters, the same standards, the same assessment-before-cutting protocol.

We accept work from trade buyers and from private clients on the same terms — the difference is in volume and in shipping arrangements, not in how the stone gets treated on the wheel. Insurance-recut work and estate stones are routine.

If you'd like a conversation before sending anything in, the direct line is below. Dealers working to price or under time pressure are welcome to skip the intake form and email the desk directly.

Accreditations

  • GIA Graduate Gemologist On staff
  • Lapidary Journal member Active
  • Trade references On request

Lab routing

  • GIA Carlsbad · New York
  • AGL New York
  • GRS Lucerne
  • SSEF Basel
  • Gübelin Lucerne

Equipment

  • Faceting machines Fac-Ette · Ultra Tec
  • Scaif & bonded wheels Diamond & corundum
  • Polishing laps Cerium · tin · diamond

Shipping, insurance, timing.

How to send a stone, how we handle it while it's here, and how it gets back to you. Pricing for the work itself is quoted after assessment — shipping and insurance handled per shipment.

01

Inbound

Ship by insured courier only — FedEx or equivalent, declared value at market, signature required. For valuable stones, use of Malca-Amit or Brinks is recommended and can be arranged at cost.

Carriers FedEx · DHL · M-A · Brinks
Cost By shipment, at cost
Address Provided on confirmation
02

In workshop

Stones are logged into a tracked job book on receipt. Workshop is covered by a jewellers block insurance policy for the full value of material on the premises. No stone leaves the workshop mid-job for any reason.

Coverage Jewellers block
Log Per-stone job book
Access Principal cutter only
03

Outbound

Returned by insured courier to the address you specify, or routed direct to a laboratory for grading. Lab routing saves a shipping leg if you know the stone is destined for GIA, AGL or equivalent.

Returns Insured, signature
Lab route GIA · AGL · GRS · SSEF · Gübelin
Tracking Supplied on despatch

Tell us what the stone needs.

Fill the intake form and we'll confirm receipt within one working day with a shipping address and a reference number. Or email directly — some dealers prefer that.