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Studio · 02 / 04

Source: gem sourcing and auction sourcing to a brief

A brief comes in describing a stone. What goes back is what the market and the auction calendar can actually put in front of you.

Discuss Source Request a quote: Source
An opal held in tweezers, over the loupe.Watch the film: Source
An opal held in tweezers, over the loupe.

What Source does

  • Gem sourcing

    We source stones for your collections to your brief, through gem dealers and cutters. Special cuts and carvings, inlays and anything gemstone related.

    The brief is written as a stone rather than as a wish: species, colour, cut, size, and what may have been done to it. It goes out to gem dealers and cutters, and what comes back is offered with what is known about it.

  • Auction sourcing

    We search the auctions against your brief. Gems, vintage or estate pieces: your choice.

    Each catalogue is read with a gemmologist’s eye: what a lot actually is, what the description does not say, and what it is worth bidding to.

How it starts

  1. You say what you would like to discuss, and the days that suit you.

  2. We confirm a time by email, within two working days.

  3. A first conversation by video, to hear your brief before anything is agreed.

Every piece of work is quoted to its brief.

Questions

Who is Gemlea for?

Jewellery designers and brands, not private collectors.

What is auction sourcing?

Part of Gemlea Source: we search the auctions against your brief, whether for gems or vintage and estate pieces, and read each lot before anything is bid.

Can we start working with you at any stage?

Yes. Gemlea meets you and supports you at any point of your jewellery business and journey, whether that is a single sourcing brief or a full collection from concept to production.

What about fees, minimums, lead times or NDAs?

We agree this in the brief, project by project, as it depends on what you need from us.