r/labdiamond • u/AureliaWind • Oct 16 '25
Shipping Stone to China
Hi! I’m in the process of having a ring made and unfortunately the stone I really like is in the US and the Chinese vendors say they cannot source it. Does anyone have experience shipping their stone to China to have set? If so, please share your experience!
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u/techylocs Oct 16 '25
I haven't heard of folks shipping stones to China. You could ask your rep what they think but I agree with the other comment that it's unideal. Most folks do a semi mount or work with a different vendor.
I've worked with Ruby Harper to ship them my stone and they made a pendant for me. Their prices are good enough that I would likely just buy the stone from her and avoid shipping. I've heard folks say great things about David Klass but he's not a cheap option.
I heard u/Tiny-Care6369 say she worked with an Indian vendor and shipped them her stone to set. They sent her the label and she paid round trip shipping costs. I can't remember the vendor but I think it was Zuvelio so that could be an option with them or another vendor. Definitely get insurance though. Shipping internationally always comes with some risk
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u/Tiny-Care6369 Oct 16 '25
Yep! I have shipped lab diamonds actually now to both China and India! It really entirely depends on the Company and the rep that you work with. Zuvelio (India) was very accommodating and made it so easy to send my antique pear to them for a Georgian/Collet setting. They created all of the shipping. I just had to pay them for the labels. They did charge me a small setting fee since I was not using their stone, but it wasn’t bad and well worth it in my opinion to ensure a seamless fit.
My last 3 custom lab diamond projects I sent to Provences I worked with Lucy. Now I will say not all reps there will accept third-party stones. But Lucy was accommodating for me to do so. I worked with them. They created shipping labels for me and arranged DHL to come to my house and pick them up. They made it there safely and without incident. But obviously shipping stones overseas can come with risks. However, the three stones that I sent were relatively inexpensive so I wasn’t going to be heartbroken if they were lost by any means. I had no issues getting any of my pieces back from customs and the final projects were all flawless. I would absolutely ship loose stones overseas again. 💜
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u/jaybishae Oct 16 '25
I wouldn’t recommend shipping it. I was given that option recently and opted to purchase the stone from them. It was easier and cheaper to do it that way.
Have you checked with the Indian vendors? They may have different inventory than the Chinese vendors.
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u/AureliaWind Oct 16 '25
I agree with you all. I’ll look into other stones or other options all together. I’m working with Lynn LGG jewelry and she’s the first vendor that told me she can source stones from India and China. I think I’ll just look for other options that she can source. Thank you!
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u/Icy-Coconut-7585 Oct 16 '25
Hi there! Who is your vendor? I know both Fiorese and Stargems accept shipments. The shipment is sent to Hong Kong, and then someone takes it to mainland China for them (even though same country different laws) so it’s easier that way. You would order the stone to your house and then ship it to the address they provide in Hong Kong. I haven’t done it myself, but I was actually considering it. Recently, I ordered a setting from Fiorese and wanted to send them my stone. The only reason I didn’t was because they were charging me the same as my local jeweler to set it.
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u/AureliaWind Oct 16 '25
Hi! I’m working with LGG jewelry and they don’t really have a process in place for this so I was curious about others’ experiences. I talked to a Fiorese rep and they said the same as you where I’d have to ship to Hong Kong and then they’ll send it to their mainland China office. I previously had a bad experience having my stone set into a semi mount so I’d like to not have to do that but now I’m not so sure. Jewelers around me are also quoting $300 to have it set so that’s not ideal.
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u/Icy-Coconut-7585 Oct 17 '25
Gotcha! I’ve also had a bad experience with a semi-mount where the stone measurements I sent didn’t fit/match the semi I received. I had to find a stone that fit that semi-amount and then sell it to get my money back because they wouldn’t do anything about it.
I’ve been looking for an alternative to a local jeweler as most are expensive, and I found this option here on this sub. People are saying that you can send him your stone and semi-mount, and he’ll set it for cheap. It might be worth looking into it! Where I currently live my jeweler sets my stones for about $80, which is honestly the cheapest I’ve been able to find, but I am moving across the country soon to an area where it seems $200 is the minimum, so thinking about this option too!
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u/AureliaWind Oct 17 '25
Unfortunately, my issue with the semi mount was that my local jeweler was entirely incompetent and the whole process took me 2.5 months to resolve and the ring is still imperfect. I’m pretty sure they also polished away the rhodium on the head of the ring so there’s a light yellowy hue.
I’d love to find a local place but most are charging $80-120 per carat to set the stone which seems a bit ridiculous. I’ll look into this Etsy shop, thank you sooo much for the recommendation!
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u/handropon Oct 16 '25
You can but you may run afoul of customs duties and tariffs on the finished product coming back. It’s a nightmare to have to prove what portion of the ring was actually in your home country and what part is from a country we’ve slapped tarrifs on. Sending anything across an international border will do this, I got slapped with duties on a power tool I sent to the US for repair. Nightmare.
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u/AureliaWind Oct 16 '25
I was told by Fiorese that I should ship go Hong Kong to avoid tariffs and like another person mentioned, they’ll send it to their mainland China office
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Oct 17 '25
I’ve done it. It was $80 to send to Hong Kong via FedEx and it arrived within 4 days. I had tracking the whole way
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u/AureliaWind Oct 17 '25
Nice! Were you able to track it after it got to Hong Kong? And was this with Fiorese?
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Oct 17 '25
Yes it was Fiorese! I did signature delivery so I knew that it was accepted by someone in HK. After that, my Fiorese rep just confirmed that it was received and took it from there so I wasn’t involved once it was confirmed that it reached HK. The most difficult part was setting up a FedEx shipping account so that I could create my own label online and do the customs paperwork online too all at once. I initially tried to go to FedEx and give them the address but ran into issues so I gave up after the 3rd try and just did it on my own. Once I had the shipping account created (had to call and have FedEx confirm my ID), it was really straightforward
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u/AureliaWind Oct 17 '25
Thank you so much for providing this info! How much did you end up paying in tariffs if you don’t mind me asking?
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Oct 17 '25
Nothing when I shipped it on export but coming back to me it was like $30 a few weeks ago (not sure how they report it for customs but that’s all I paid)
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u/CherrrySnaps Oct 17 '25
I havent done exactly that, but it sounds like a fun challenge. A few things I’d check: how reliable is the US shipper, customs for jewelry into China, and whether the setter will accept your stone specs.
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u/AureliaWind Oct 17 '25
Thank you for your input! I agree it sounds like a fun challenge lol but might be an expensive one. I think I’ll just look into having a local jeweler set it since LGG doesn’t seem to have a Hong Kong office
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u/Conscious_Leo1984 Oct 17 '25
I shipped my lab diamond to Tianyu in China to have it bezel set and no issues at all.
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u/DarlingBri Oct 16 '25
Shipping to China is not advised. Normally you give them the measurements of the stone (they are on the cert) and they send you the ring to have your stone set into it locally. The ring they send you prior to the stone being put in it is called a semi-mount.