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Gem cutting - how it has changed over the years (50% of the
original rough diamond is lost during the cutting of a round brilliant
gem)
How does a lump of mineral or crystal become a dazzling diamond, ruby
or sapphire? It・s an amazing process called gem cutting or lapidary and
makes all the difference in the final value of the stone. It was
developed first in Venice in the early 1300・s and was seen in Paris and
Bruges in the mid-1400s.Good cutting is a precise art that catches the
light just so, and captures the beauty of the gem. Poor cutting
destroys it.
Most gems start out actually being sawed with a special lapidary saw
into a rough shape, such as square, round, pear or marquise. It・s then
ground with a diamond-infused wheel to further refine the shape. The
gem cutter uses a series of finer and finer abrasives to get closer to
the clear heart of the gem. Cabochon gems are polished to a smooth
overall surface, sometimes held by hand, but more often fixed or
：dopped； with wax or adhesive to a dowel to hold it while the
lapidarist polishes the stone.
Transparent stones are most often faceted, a process where flat planes
of the stone are cut and polished over the surface in a precise,
symmetrical pattern. It・s critical that the planes match up perfectly,
or the beauty of how the light is captured by the facets will be lost.
If a stone is cut to flat or not polished, the brilliance of the gem
will also be lost. When a stone is properly faceted, it captures the
light so it bounces around inside the stone, giving it the sparkle we
love and that helps determine the value of the gem. If the stone is cut
too flat, or the facets don・t meet precisely, the light doesn・t bounce
off the angles in the facets to maximum effect.
