A stone sent to a cutter to be recut or repolished, or to a lab to be certified, is still your stock — it is only somewhere else. Track it as a send-out: what went, to whom, and when; then, when it comes back, the carat back, the carat lost, the new shape and measurements, any new certificate and the charge. Keep what the stone cost on the smaller stone and add the charge, so its cost per carat — and the margin when you sell it — is the real one.
Why recut, repolish or certify a stone?
A recut changes a stone’s shape or proportions — to remove a chip, improve the cut or make it brighter — and always loses some weight. A repolish only refreshes the surface and loses very little. Coloured stones are often recut to show their colour better; diamonds are recut for a better cut grade or to remove damage.
A lab report (certificate) is what buyers price a stone from. Coloured stones are often sent to labs such as GRS, SSEF or Gübelin for origin and treatment; diamonds to GIA, IGI or HRD for their grading. Some stones carry two reports from different labs, and a stone may be sent back after a recut to be graded again.
Is a stone at the cutter or lab still my stock?
Yes. It has not been sold, so it belongs in your stock and your stock value — but it is not on your shelf, so it must not be sold, sent on memo or given to anyone else until it is back. Writing it off when it leaves, or only remembering it in a notebook, is how stones go missing between a cutter’s receipt and your books.
What to record when stones go out
- Who has them: the cutter or the lab, and their job or receipt number.
- Why: recut or repolish, or certification.
- Which stones, by your reference — and for a parcel, how many pieces and carats went.
- The date, so you can see what has been out longest.
What to record when they come back
- The carat back and the carat lost, stone by stone.
- The new shape and measurements after a recut.
- From a lab: what it found — colour, clarity, variety, origin, treatment — and the certificate: lab, number, issue date and how long it is valid.
- The charge on the cutter’s or lab’s bill, which you owe them.
- For a parcel, what came back now; the rest stays out until it returns.
How weight loss changes the cost: a worked example
A sapphire of 1.00 ct cost you 1,000 (1,000 a carat). It goes for a recut and comes back at 0.90 ct; the cutter charges 45. Example figures.
What you paid for the stone does not shrink with it: 1,000 + 45 = 1,045 is now the cost of a 0.90 ct stone, or 1,161.11 a carat. Sell it at 1,300 a carat (1,170 for 0.90 ct) and the margin is 125 — not the 270 you would see if the cost were left at 1,000 a carat on the new weight.
Keeping more than one certificate
When a stone has two reports — a GRS and an SSEF, or a GIA report and a later re-check — keep both, each with its lab, number, dates and what it states. Choose one as the main report for labels and listings, but let anyone find the stone by either number. Reports with a valid-until date should be watched, so a stone is not offered on an expired one.
How Avirat handles recut and lab work
Avirat has a Recut & Lab menu for diamond and gemstone companies. A send-out records the cutter or lab, their ref, and the stones — part of a parcel if you like; the stones stay in your stock as At cutter / lab and can’t be sold, sent on memo, issued to a maker or sent out again until they are back.
Receive back records, for each stone, the carat back and lost, the charge, the new shape and measurements and, from a lab, what it found and its certificate. The stone’s cost stays on it and the charge is added, as in the example above; the charge becomes a bill you owe the cutter or lab, shown in Outstanding and paid like any other. Deleting a receipt puts the stone back exactly as it was.
Each stone keeps every certificate it has, with one main; search, the scanner and the stock picker find it by any number, and the Certificates list shows every report, filtered by lab or by expired and expiring.
See how Avirat handles this: Gemstone software