when a cuemaker uses gemstones,,,,,

[bruin70]

they always charge a lot. a cue with diamonds or some other valuable gem inlay will sky the price.

but aren't stones' value based on things more important than that they're stones? you have different grades of stones and i think how they're cut makes a difference too,,,am i right?

which brings me to,,,what is the value of a gemstone cut for cue inlays? even if high quality stones are used, are they being compromised by cutting them to fit the cue inlay? does a cuemaker get his gem encrusted cue estimated by a jeweler?

 

[deadstroke32]

they always charge a lot. a cue with diamonds or some other valuable gem inlay will sky the price.

but aren't stones' value based on things more important than that they're stones? you have different grades of stones and i think how they're cut makes a difference too,,,am i right?

which brings me to,,,what is the value of a gemstone cut for cue inlays? even if high quality stones are used, are they being compromised by cutting them to fit the cue inlay? does a cuemaker get his gem encrusted cue estimated by a jeweler?

Nat Green
South east q ..

 

[MVPCues]

It is no different than an ivory inlay. The difference in value of a cue with an ivory inlay versus without is more than the raw value of the piece(s) of ivory. You can always grade an individual gemstone in a cue, but if you are buying the cue, you are paying for the workmanship of the cue, and the reputation of the cuemaker building a solid cue.

For that matter, it is the same as a gemstone in a ring. Jewelry mark ups are pretty high. If you buy a ring with a couple of gemstones, you definitely are paying more than the raw value of the little bit of gold in the band, and the individual gemstones.
Kelly

they always charge a lot. a cue with diamonds or some other valuable gem inlay will sky the price.

but aren't stones' value based on things more important than that they're stones? you have different grades of stones and i think how they're cut makes a difference too,,,am i right?

which brings me to,,,what is the value of a gemstone cut for cue inlays? even if high quality stones are used, are they being compromised by cutting them to fit the cue inlay? does a cuemaker get his gem encrusted cue estimated by a jeweler?

 

[bruin70]

It is no different than an ivory inlay. The difference in value of a cue with an ivory inlay versus without is more than the raw value of the piece(s) of ivory. You can always grade an individual gemstone in a cue, but if you are buying the cue, you are paying for the workmanship of the cue, and the reputation of the cuemaker building a solid cue.

For that matter, it is the same as a gemstone in a ring. Jewelry mark ups are pretty high. If you buy a ring with a couple of gemstones, you definitely are paying more than the raw value of the little bit of gold in the band, and the individual gemstones.
Kelly

i understand that you "buy the cuemaker". but even within his line of cues, his gemstone cues will be considerably more than others. therefore they are placing an estimated value on the gemstones, and therefore i would think that the stones value would have to be commesurate with the asking price.

when you buy a ring from tiffany's, you can assume that the stones themselves, the raw value as you call it, must have inherent value. tiffany's will not charge a high price for a ring with mediocre gems. the rings, necklaces or whatever have cut gems that are perfect, i assume. maybe not as great as the sum of its parts, nonetheless the stones DO have great value.

so my question is,,,, are the stones in a cue of high quality, or have they been compromised to fit that cue? a gemstone cut to fit a cue inlay is not the same as a dangling whole gem hanging on an earring, is it?

 

[Purdman]

i understand that you "buy the cuemaker". but even within his line of cues, his gemstone cues will be considerably more than others. therefore they are placing an estimated value on the gemstones, and therefore i would think that the stones value would have to be commesurate with the asking price.

when you buy a ring from tiffany's, you can assume that the stones themselves, the raw value as you call it, must have inherent value. tiffany's will not charge a high price for a ring with mediocre gems. the rings, necklaces or whatever have cut gems that are perfect, i assume. maybe not as great as the sum of its parts, nonetheless the stones DO have great value.

so my question is,,,, are the stones in a cue of high quality, or have they been compromised to fit that cue?

The only way you will ever find out the quality of the gems is to remove them.
Maybe they are rhinstones. Only the cuemaker knows for sure.
Purdman

 

[MVPCues]

You don't think gemstones are cut to fit rings? Gemstones are stones, and as far as I know, they get cut. I don't think nature creates a gemstone that is a perfect fit in a ring, or a perfect shape dangling from an earring. A gemstone hanging from an earring is not in its rough form, it is cut into some shape.

I don't know what cuemaker you are referring to. I would suspect that a cuemaker who is going to inlay gems would buy the gems as economical as possible, already cut, and he is only inlaying the gemstones into appropriately cut pockets in the cue. If he is also a jeweler, than maybe he will do more than that. The cuemaker may pay more for higher quality gems, he may pay less for lower quality gems. Like one of the other posters responded, only the cuemaker would know, unless you get the gems graded by a jeweler. Regardless, the cuemaker is not going to inlay the gems for free. You will be paying for the workmanship, the prestige of having gemstones inlayed in a cue, and the difference between that cue and a like cue without the gemstones will be more than the inherent value of the gemstones themselves.
Kelly

i understand that you "buy the cuemaker". but even within his line of cues, his gemstone cues will be considerably more than others. therefore they are placing an estimated value on the gemstones, and therefore i would think that the stones value would have to be commesurate with the asking price.

when you buy a ring from tiffany's, you can assume that the stones themselves, the raw value as you call it, must have inherent value. tiffany's will not charge a high price for a ring with mediocre gems. the rings, necklaces or whatever have cut gems that are perfect, i assume. maybe not as great as the sum of its parts, nonetheless the stones DO have great value.

so my question is,,,, are the stones in a cue of high quality, or have they been compromised to fit that cue? a gemstone cut to fit a cue inlay is not the same as a dangling whole gem hanging on an earring, is it?

 

[bruin70]

You don't think gemstones are cut to fit rings? Gemstones are stones, and as far as I know, they get cut. I don't think nature creates a gemstone that is a perfect fit
Kelly

but there are good and bad cuts, yes? a bad cut can ruin a gem's raw value.

 

[MVPCues]

but there are good and bad cuts, yes? a bad cut can ruin a gem's raw value.

I don't think it can completely ruin a gem's value, but cut is one grading factor, and affects the value. I can't see a cuemaker getting a gemstone in the rough and trying to cut it into a shape himself, again, unless he has those types of skills. From the time a gemstone enters a cuemakers hand, to the point he puts it in his cue, the gemstone itself probably doesn't change in value, whatever that may be.

 

[Sheldon]

When you add something to a cue, you can't expect the extra charge to simply be the cost of the materials.
You have to factor in extra labor, materials you might not know get used to put it there, waste material, replacement costs (in case something goes wrong down the road), and other factors.
A cuemaker cannot regularly sell materials on or off a cue for cost. If they do, they will not last long. It's simple business practice.

 

[Chris Byrne]

The stones are generally cut for a bezel, same as a ring or pendant. When they are set in a gold or silver bezel in the cue. There is generally no change to the cut on the stones when they are used for a cue. I can only speak for the round stones not ovals. I personally know nat green and have played with his $50,000 cue with the 10 diamonds and 100 rubies. If you look at just the cost of the stones and gold settings he has not marked the cue up a ton. It can be hard it is to set all those stones properly. You also are paying for the skill of the builder. Chris.

 

[wawacue]

You don't think gemstones are cut to fit rings? Gemstones are stones, and as far as I know, they get cut. I don't think nature creates a gemstone that is a perfect fit in a ring, or a perfect shape dangling from an earring. A gemstone hanging from an earring is not in its rough form, it is cut into some shape.

I don't know what cuemaker you are referring to. I would suspect that a cuemaker who is going to inlay gems would buy the gems as economical as possible, already cut, and he is only inlaying the gemstones into appropriately cut pockets in the cue. If he is also a jeweler, than maybe he will do more than that. The cuemaker may pay more for higher quality gems, he may pay less for lower quality gems. Like one of the other posters responded, only the cuemaker would know, unless you get the gems graded by a jeweler. Regardless, the cuemaker is not going to inlay the gems for free. You will be paying for the workmanship, the prestige of having gemstones inlayed in a cue, and the difference between that cue and a like cue without the gemstones will be more than the inherent value of the gemstones themselves.
Kelly

kelly-guy

well guys in this forum, when you buy a cue with gemstone inlay you pay more cause you are only buying the cue maker name or his cue. all gemstone have have different grading, aside from diamond to be more expensive. all other stone is pretty cheap compare to diamond, ruby, emerald etc.....
as far as with " lapis, malachite, austria chrysophase, amethyst, opal, m.o.p., abalony, etc...." is pretty cheap & the cue maker can ask the manfacturer to cut them into whatever size or shape they want.
for example: you can buy a cabacon of " an 10 x 14mm oval,square,rectangle in faceted or smooth lapis, malachite, amethyst, opal, m.o.p., abalony etc...."
in the price range of $0.20 - $3.00 per piece.
same thing when you buy a tiffany silver heart bracelet, it cost the the retailer somewhere about $150-250 but in reality cost of that bracelet is only $22.50 plus $10.00 labor. well now, is only matter of the question, how much you love & wish the cue you want & how much are you willing to spend. have to ask yourself that question first before you think why is so expensive with gemstone inlay.
almost the same question came up in my local pool hall. some player there ask me why would i pay 8000.00 dollars for an AE CUE but not pay 10,000.00 for an buska ? well, here my answer, i like the way AE CUE design cause i'm more into fancy inlay works. not that i don't like buska cue, i just think buska is a little more old style for me

 

[wawacue]

You don't think gemstones are cut to fit rings? Gemstones are stones, and as far as I know, they get cut. I don't think nature creates a gemstone that is a perfect fit in a ring, or a perfect shape dangling from an earring. A gemstone hanging from an earring is not in its rough form, it is cut into some shape.

I don't know what cuemaker you are referring to. I would suspect that a cuemaker who is going to inlay gems would buy the gems as economical as possible, already cut, and he is only inlaying the gemstones into appropriately cut pockets in the cue. If he is also a jeweler, than maybe he will do more than that. The cuemaker may pay more for higher quality gems, he may pay less for lower quality gems. Like one of the other posters responded, only the cuemaker would know, unless you get the gems graded by a jeweler. Regardless, the cuemaker is not going to inlay the gems for free. You will be paying for the workmanship, the prestige of having gemstones inlayed in a cue, and the difference between that cue and a like cue without the gemstones will be more than the inherent value of the gemstones themselves.
Kelly

kelly-guy

well guys in this forum, when you buy a cue with gemstone inlay you pay more cause you are only buying the cue maker name or his cue. all gemstone have have different grading, aside from diamond to be more expensive. all other stone is pretty cheap compare to diamond, ruby, emerald etc.....
as far as with " lapis, malachite, austria chrysophase, amethyst, opal, m.o.p., abalony, etc...." is pretty cheap & the cue maker can ask the manfacturer to cut them into whatever size or shape they want.
for example: you can buy a cabacon of " an 10 x 14mm oval,square,rectangle in faceted or smooth lapis, malachite, amethyst, opal, m.o.p., abalony etc...."
in the price range of $0.20 - $3.00 per piece.
same thing when you buy a tiffany silver heart bracelet, it cost the the retailer somewhere about $150-250 but in reality cost of that bracelet is only $22.50 plus $10.00 labor. well now, is only matter of the question, how much you love & wish the cue you want & how much are you willing to spend. have to ask yourself that question first before you think why is so expensive with gemstone inlay.
almost the same question came up in my local pool hall. some player there ask me why would i pay 8000.00 dollars for an AE CUE but not pay 10,000.00 for an buska ? well, here my answer, i like the way AE CUE design cause i'm more into fancy inlay works. not that i don't like buska cue, i just think buska is a little more old style for me .
let me apologize to all cue maker first for letting the public know the cost of most gemstone. as i said, is how much you want the cue & from which cue maker you want it from.

wawacue