Gemstone Processing Services by Orah Jewels: Beads, Bangles and Faceting
Gemstone Processing Services by Orah Jewels
In-house lapidary manufacturing in Lahore: gemstone bead manufacturing, custom cabochons, lapis and jade bangles, stone drilling, and faceting services. From bulk wholesale orders to individual commissions.
Services at a Glance
Stones and Beads Manufacturing Company was established in Lahore in 2012. Over twelve years of direct work in gemstone processing, we have built a full in-house lapidary operation: grinding, shaping, drilling, polishing, faceting, and bangle cutting, all done under one roof in Lahore with our own machinery, some of which we modified and built ourselves to handle the specific requirements of Pakistani gemstone material.
We sell finished gemstone jewelry under the Orah Jewels brand. We also offer the full range of our lapidary manufacturing as services for wholesale buyers, exporters, gemstone dealers, and individual customers who want specific work done on their own material. This page covers every service we offer, exactly how we price it, and what makes our output different from the standard lapidary work available in the Peshawar and Lahore markets.
We do not offer custom jewelry design or making services. Our services are lapidary only: converting rough gemstone material into beads, cabochons, bangles, drilled stones, and faceted gems.
Gemstone Beads
4mm to 14mm. Uniform size, perfect drill, high polish.
Custom Cabochons
Multiple shapes and sizes. Any cuttable gemstone material.
Lapis and Jade Bangles
Properly rounded interior. Rs. 2,800 per piece.
Custom Drilling
Precision drilling for customer-supplied stones.
Gemstone Faceting
Professional faceting for any cuttable material.
Gemstone Bead Manufacturing
Bead manufacturing is our primary lapidary service and the foundation of what Stones and Beads Manufacturing Company was built on. We produce round gemstone beads from 4mm to 14mm diameter, in a full range of Pakistani and imported gemstone materials, for wholesale buyers, exporters, tasbih manufacturers, jewelry makers, and individual customers ordering single strands.
The difference between our beads and what most buyers find in the market is consistency. Every bead in a strand is the same diameter within tolerance, the drill is centered, and the polish is even across the surface. That sounds like it should be standard, but it is not. Most market beads vary by a millimeter or more within a single strand, the drills are off-center, and the polish is uneven between stones. Buyers notice the difference immediately.
Materials We Work With
The following gemstone materials are in regular production for bead manufacturing at our facility:
Standard Gemstone Beads
Lapis lazuli, nephrite jade, rose quartz, clear quartz, smoky quartz, amethyst, serpentine, red jasper, green aventurine, amazonite, black onyx, tiger's eye, howlite, turquoise, sodalite, unakite, bloodstone, labradorite, and a number of additional materials. If you have a material not listed here, contact us to confirm availability.
Size Range and Drill Quality
We produce beads from 4mm to 14mm in round form. The drill through each bead is centered and clean, sized for standard stringing wire and cord used in bracelet, necklace, and tasbih production. Our beads are calibrated, meaning each bead within a production run is sorted to the same diameter within tight tolerances, so strands lie flat and knotting between beads is even. The polish is applied to a high gloss finish.
Pricing: Per Kilogram
Bead manufacturing is priced per kilogram of finished output, since material yield varies by stone hardness and size. Pricing reflects the grinding, shaping, and drilling time required for different hardness levels.
| Material Category | Bead Sizes | Price per kg |
|---|---|---|
| Standard stones (lapis, jade, quartz, serpentine, jasper, aventurine, amazonite, and similar) | 4mm to 14mm | Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 24,000 |
| Premium stones (peridot, ruby, emerald) | 4mm and 5mm only | Rs. 45,000 |
The price range within the standard category, Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 24,000, reflects material hardness. Softer materials like serpentine and some jaspers cut faster and price toward the lower end; harder materials like nephrite jade and lapis lazuli require more machine time and price toward the upper end. Contact us directly for a quote on your specific material and quantity.
Interested in wholesale bead orders? Contact us to discuss quantity, material, and size.
Contact Us for a Quote →Custom Cabochons
A cabochon is a gemstone that has been shaped and polished to a smooth, domed surface rather than faceted. Cabochons are the standard cut for opaque and translucent stones, for materials with optical phenomena like asterism (star stones), chatoyancy (cat's eye), or adularescence (moonstone), and for materials that are simply too soft or too heavily included for faceting to be worthwhile. They are the workhorses of the gemstone cutting world, used in the vast majority of sterling silver and gold-plated jewelry worldwide.
At Orah Jewels, we cut custom cabochons in a range of shapes and sizes from customer-supplied rough or from our own material stock. Round, oval, pear, teardrop, rectangle, freeform, and custom shapes can be accommodated depending on the material. If you are a jewelry maker, silversmith, or designer who needs consistently shaped stones cut to your specifications, we can work to your templates.
We work with all the materials in our bead manufacturing range and a number of others. Pricing for cabochon cutting depends on shape, size, and material. Contact us directly for a quote on your specific requirements.
Standard Cabochon Shapes Available
Round: Classic cabochon, most efficient production time.
Oval: The most common cabochon shape globally, standard proportions or custom aspect ratios.
Pear / Teardrop: For pendant and earring applications.
Rectangle / Cushion: For ring and bezel settings requiring straight sides.
Freeform: Organic shapes that follow the natural outline of the material rather than cutting to a standardized form, popular for one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces.
Lapis Lazuli and Jade Bangles
We manufacture bangles from lapis lazuli and nephrite jade. This is one of the services we are most specific about in terms of craft distinction, because the difference between how we make bangles and how they are typically made in Peshawar is significant and directly affects both the quality of the finished piece and its comfort in wear.
The Rounded Interior Difference
Most gemstone bangles produced in the Peshawar market are made as flat-cut rings: the exterior is polished, but the interior is left flat or only lightly smoothed, with little to no rounding of the inner edge. This is faster and requires less specialized tooling. The result is a bangle that can be uncomfortable against the wrist and that, in thinner gauges, can feel sharp at the inner edges.
At Orah Jewels, we cut and polish the interior curve of the bangle to a proper rounded section, using the tools and process required to do this correctly. The interior of the bangle has a smooth, rounded profile that sits comfortably against the skin. For anyone who has worn a properly rounded stone bangle versus a flat-cut one, the difference is immediately apparent.
Bangle Specifications
Materials: Lapis lazuli, nephrite jade
Interior finish: Fully rounded and polished interior curve (not flat-cut)
Price: Rs. 2,800 per piece
Custom sizing: Available on inquiry, as bangle inner diameter varies by wearer
Minimum order: Contact us to discuss
Why Lapis and Jade for Bangles?
Both lapis lazuli and nephrite jade have the combination of toughness, workability, and visual impact that makes them well-suited to bangle production. Nephrite jade is notably tough despite its hardness, meaning it resists chipping and cracking under the stresses of bangle wear better than many harder but more brittle stones. Lapis lazuli, with its distinctive deep blue color and gold pyrite flecks, produces some of the most visually striking stone bangles in the market. Both stones are available in our direct sourcing network: lapis from Afghanistan and jade from the Gilgit-Baltistan and KPK supply chains.
Custom Stone Drilling
We offer precision drilling services for customer-supplied stones. If you have a collection of rough or polished stones that need drilling for stringing, pendant mounting, or any other application, you can bring your material to us or ship it to our Lahore facility and we will drill to your specification.
What We Can Drill
We can drill through most gemstone materials that are cuttable by diamond tooling. This includes all the materials in our bead and cabochon range, plus customer-supplied material of other types. We drill to standard bead-stringing diameter as well as to custom larger diameters for specific applications. If you are unsure whether your material is suitable for drilling, contact us and we will confirm before you send anything.
Drilling Accuracy
The drill is centered from both ends of the stone to produce a clean, accurate through-hole. Off-center drills are one of the most common quality failures in market-purchased beads and drilled stones, particularly in softer or more irregular material. We drill slowly and accurately to avoid cracking and to maintain the centered position of the hole through the stone.
Gemstone Faceting Services
Faceting is the art of cutting a gemstone into the angular faces (facets) that maximize its brilliance, fire, and visual impact. A faceted stone, unlike a cabochon, interacts with light through its geometry rather than its surface, bending and reflecting light internally to create the sparkle associated with diamonds, sapphires, rubies, and other precious and semi-precious gems. Good faceting requires skill, precision equipment, and understanding of each stone's optical properties.
We offer faceting services for a wide range of gemstone materials, from the common semi-precious stones (quartz, topaz, tourmaline, garnet) through to rarer Pakistani material that requires special handling. Our faceting work is done on calibrated equipment with attention to the orientation of the stone to maximize color and minimize inclusions in the finished face-up position.
Pricing
| Stone Category | Price per Carat |
|---|---|
| Semi-precious stones (quartz, feldspar, tourmaline, garnet, topaz, and similar) | Rs. 1,800 |
| Harder or more complex stones | Rs. 2,500 |
Pricing per carat is based on the finished faceted weight of the stone. The difference in price between the lower and upper rates reflects the cutting time required for stones of greater hardness or optical complexity. Specific pricing for your material can be confirmed on inquiry. Minimum quantities may apply depending on the material and the scale of the order.
What We Facet
We facet Pakistani gemstone material including peridot, aquamarine, tourmaline, topaz, garnet, emerald, ruby, quartz varieties, and customer-supplied rough from other sources. If you have rough material from a Pakistani locality that you want faceted with attention to the specific characteristics of that material, we can discuss the cutting approach before work begins.
Have rough material that needs faceting? Contact us to discuss your material and quantity.
Contact Us for a Faceting Quote →Why Choose Orah Jewels for Lapidary Work
12+ Years of In-House Lapidary
Stones and Beads Manufacturing Company was established in 2012. We have been doing this work continuously for over twelve years. Our operators understand the behaviour of Pakistani gemstone material, the differences between batches from different localities, and the specific requirements of different end uses for finished stones.
Own Machinery and Modifications
Some of our lapidary machinery has been modified or partially built in-house to handle the specific requirements of our material and production processes. This is not standard at most lapidary facilities, where all equipment is purchased off the shelf. Our custom setups allow us to produce certain results, particularly in bead uniformity and interior bangle rounding, that standard equipment does not easily achieve.
Direct Material Sourcing
Our parent company, Stones and Beads Manufacturing Company, sources directly from miners and suppliers across Gilgit-Baltistan, Swat, Balochistan, and Afghanistan. This means we understand raw material quality from the source, not from the wholesale market, and can advise on material selection for your specific application.
Transparent Pricing, No Minimum Runaround
Our prices are stated clearly on this page. We do not inflate prices for small orders or give one price to large buyers and another to small ones. If you want one strand of lapis beads or one hundred kilograms, the per-unit price is the same. Contact us to discuss your specific requirement and we will confirm the final price before any work begins.
See the Production Floor
We document our lapidary production on our YouTube channel, where you can see bead manufacturing, cutting, drilling, and polishing in action on our actual production floor in Lahore.
Pakistani Jewelry on YouTube
Watch bead manufacturing, gemstone processing, and lapidary work from our Lahore facility. New production videos added regularly.
Visit Our Channel →The channel shows the full process, from raw rough material through grinding, shaping, drilling, and polishing to finished beads and stones. If you want to understand what our process actually involves before placing an order, the videos are the clearest way to see it.
Frequently Asked Questions
There is no strict minimum for individual customers, though we primarily serve wholesale buyers who typically order by the kilogram. If you are ordering a single strand for personal use or a small quantity for a specific project, contact us directly and we will confirm whether the quantity works for our production scheduling. Bulk orders of 5 kg and above are straightforward; smaller orders depend on what material we have in current production.
No. We offer lapidary manufacturing services only: beads, cabochons, bangles, drilling, and faceting. We do not offer custom jewelry design, metalwork, silver or gold setting, or finished jewelry commission services. For finished Orah Jewels jewelry pieces, please browse our jewelry collections. For lapidary services on your own material or for wholesale stone supply, contact us directly.
Yes. We accept customer-supplied rough for bead manufacturing, cabochon cutting, drilling, and faceting. Please contact us before sending material so we can confirm suitability, expected yield, and pricing for your specific stone. We will let you know if a material is not suitable for a particular process before any work is committed.
The interior of a Peshawar-style bangle is typically cut flat or only lightly smoothed, because rounding the inner surface requires additional tooling and time. Our bangles have a properly rounded interior curve that is polished to the same standard as the exterior. This makes the bangle more comfortable against the wrist and gives a more refined finished appearance. The price, Rs. 2,800 per piece, is higher than flat-cut alternatives, but the quality difference is immediately apparent when you compare the two side by side.
Lead time depends on the volume and material. Standard materials that we keep in regular production can often be fulfilled within one to two weeks for moderate quantities. Larger bulk orders or materials requiring special sourcing may take longer. Contact us with your specific requirement and we will give you a realistic lead time estimate before you commit to an order.
We can discuss shipping for finished lapidary orders within Pakistan. For international buyers, please contact us directly to discuss logistics and any applicable export requirements for your country. Note that shipping of cut gemstone material and jewelry internationally from Pakistan involves specific courier and customs considerations that we can walk you through.
Harder stones wear down diamond laps (the grinding and polishing surfaces) faster and require more machine time per carat to achieve the same surface quality. A stone like topaz (Mohs 8) takes significantly longer to facet to the same standard as a stone like amethyst (Mohs 7), and a ruby or sapphire (Mohs 9) takes longer still. The per-carat pricing of Rs. 1,800 to Rs. 2,500 reflects this difference in cutting time. Specific pricing for your material will be confirmed when you contact us.
A bead is a stone drilled all the way through for stringing; a cabochon is a stone shaped and polished on the outside but not drilled, intended for setting in jewelry mounts like rings, pendants, and earrings. We produce both. If you need stones for stringing (bracelets, necklaces, tasbih), you need beads. If you need stones for setting in metalwork, you need cabochons. We also drill cabochons to order if you need a pendant stone or a stone for a specific mounting that requires a drill hole.
Ready to Place an Order?
Contact us to discuss your material, quantity, and specifications. We will confirm pricing, availability, and lead time before any work begins.
Orah Jewels & Crafts is the jewelry brand of Stones and Beads Manufacturing Company, Lahore, Pakistan. Est. 2012.
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