Worldwide from Sydney
Shipping & insurance
Everything ships insured and signature-on-delivery. Postage is a flat rate for your destination plus transit cover on the value of the stone — priced exactly as the carrier prices it, so there is no margin built into it.
What it costs
| Destination | Transit | Carriage | Total on $500 | Total on $2,000 | Total on $5,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 1–3 business days | $16.00 | |||
| New Zealand | 3–6 business days | $42.00 | |||
| Asia & the Pacific | 4–8 business days | $48.00 | |||
| USA & Canada | 4–9 business days | $56.00 | |||
| United Kingdom & Europe | 5–10 business days | $56.00 | |||
| Worldwide | 6–14 business days | $64.00 |
Worked examples on three stone values are shown on a wider screen. Carriage is the flat rate for the destination. Transit cover is charged on top per $100.00 of value — $2.50 within Australia, $4.00 overseas — with the first $100.00 included, so the total scales with what is actually being insured rather than being averaged across every order. Your figure is shown at checkout before you pay. Carriage rates are currently indicative and are being confirmed against live carrier quotes.
How a stone travels
Stones go out in a sealed gem jar or a folded parcel paper inside a rigid box, in plain outer packaging with no indication of what is inside. Everything is sent with tracking and requires a signature — cover is void without one, and a signature is also the evidence that settles a “never arrived” dispute.
Orders are dispatched from Sydney, Australia once payment has cleared, and you get the tracking number when the parcel goes.
Above $5,000
Ordinary carriers stop being an option well below the value of a good stone. Australia Post caps transit cover at $5,000; DHL Express bans loose gemstones outright, listing “loose … stones, cut or uncut, polished or unpolished”among its prohibited items; and FedEx’s high-declared-value programme for jewellery is restricted to US-based account holders. Above that ceiling there is simply no standard service that will both carry a loose stone and insure it.
So stones above $5,000 are not sold through the basket. They go by a specialist insured service, quoted for your destination, and settled by bank transfer — which also keeps a card fee off a sum that size. Send an enquiry and we will come back with the figure.
Duty and tax at your end
Import duty, VAT, GST and customs charges in the destination country are the buyer’s responsibility. They are not included in anything shown at checkout, and we have no way to collect or pre-pay them. Parcels are declared accurately at full value, as they must be — under-declaring is both illegal and voids the cover that protects you.
Two things worth knowing before you order, because both changed recently:
- United States. The old US$800 de minimis exemption no longer applies — it was suspended indefinitely in June 2026 — so US buyers should expect a customs entry on any value. Australian-origin goods also currently attract an additional tariff. Cut, unset gemstones have historically carried a Free rate of ordinary duty, but check the current position for your own order.
- United Kingdom and European Union. Consignments above roughly £135 (UK) or €150 (EU) are assessed for VAT and duty at import rather than at the point of sale.
None of the above is tax advice, and rules change. If a charge at your border would change your decision, ask us before you buy and we will tell you what we know.
Australian orders
Sent express with signature. GST is included in the price shown where it applies. Exports out of Australia are GST-free, which is already reflected at checkout.
If something goes wrong in transit
A stone that is lost or damaged in transit is our problem, not yours. Tell us and we will refund or replace, and deal with the carrier ourselves. You are never asked to make a claim on our behalf, or to wait for one to be settled before you are made whole.