New rough stones!

I just received a small parcel of new rough stones from my supplier in Africa,these gems are available to be cut at your request.From left to right is a medium blue Mozambique aquamarine 9 carats,will cut about a 8mm square shape/cushion at + - 2ct,next up is a magnificent medium/dark blue Mozambique aquamarine,very well shaped and will cut around a 9mm square cushion and finish approximately 3 ct,this material is very hard to come by and about as good as it gets.Lastly is a peachy colored spessertite almandine mix garnet,very pleasing color which will cut a nice 8mm cushion.

Custom Cut Gems

A nice canary yellow tourmaline trillion recently cut from a clients rough material.

Custom Cut Gems.

Breathing new life into a badly cut stone!

I just finished a re cut on a 15 carat stone for a client and thought it would be a good opportunity to blog on the process.

The gemstone pictured  was badly windowed and lifeless due to a belly on the underside/pavilion of the stone,the client wanted a complete re cut so the material lost in the process was somewhat determined beforehand.The next picture shows the cut and pre polished pavilion and girdle.

This shot shows the finished product which is a huge improvement on the old cut,the finished size came in at 13mm as opposed to the 15.5mm original size,the overall weight was down by around 50% which is not bad considering most of the excess weight was in the useless rounded pavilion which did nothing except save weight initially.To the uninitiated more weight = a better,more valuable  stone...uh...not really.
Good candidates for re cutting are big poorly cut stones which will still yield a good size when re cut,scratched pitted stones usually make good re cutting material because they can just be re polished without removing much material and the original design can be kept the same.
Custom Cut Gems

Never enough time!

Okay,so we've all said it and really meant it at the time but even though it seems like there is not enough of  that precious commodity called 'time',most of us can make time to work out,see friends and family and all the other things we should do,okay maybe not all of them."Where is this leading?" you say!Well I really didn't keep my last promise to be better about updating this blog and I again have no real excuse except that 'I have been real busy' so I'll try to redeem myself by posting a couple images of this weeks stones.
A light blue very bright 1.8ct 8.5x6.3mm,vs  Nigerian aquamarine cut in the one of the late great Jeff Grahams Barion rectangle cushion's called signature #3,the gem is super bright and no light return is wasted,almost no extinction at all,small veil and a few spots hidden away in one place under the girdle not visible with the naked eye but visible under 10x,the blue is prominent enough but light,so it would be good for all day wear but great under any lighting at night which is one of the reasons why aquamarine is know as an evening gemstone.

The second picture is a killer set of  natural Nigerian champagne zircons 3.4ct,7mm,flawless!
they are extremely bright with a light champagne,even color which doesn't quite show in the pictures because of the facets darkened by the reflection of the lens.The cut is one of my personal favorites because of the great light dispersion,for a rectangle this is uncommon as most designs have areas of extinction.The standard size and thinner girdle will make setting easier.

It has been a while since I have had a stone make it to the website,these will probably lot be listed but are available,please inquire for prices.

Paraiba not so much!

Well the so called Paraiba in the last post was sent to one of the best testing facilities in the U.S.A and came back with such a small percentage of copper that it could not reasonably be called copper bearing material.
Oh well,the rough material was a reasonable price and the tourmaline is a gorgeous blue so no harm no foul.

I just finished this very fine set of Nigerian pink tourmalines today,they are cut in a very bright cushion design that really pops.Specs;2.13ct,6mm,clarity (IF).They will be posted on the website soon so if you are on the look out for some super earring stones email me ahead of time and they could be yours.
Custom Cut Gems

Wow time flies by so fast,I can't believe it's been so long since I posted to the blog.I have been busy cutting orders and not had much time to write anything on the blog at all.I recently had a bit of time away from orders to cut some Nigerian Paraiba type copper bearing tourmaline which came out absolutely stunning.
This beautiful stone looks far better than the picture shows but it was extremely difficult to photograph,the stone is very bright,with excellent light return and the color is a much more intense blue and more saturated than the image shows,it has a few small inclusions which are invisible to the naked eye except for a small veil hidden under the girdle which is just visible when turned sideways.It has been sent to be tested for copper just as a formality to reassure potential buyers and will be up for sale as soon as the results are in.

Stone specs;2.2carat,7mm barion cut,clarity(I)

A high quality aqua I finished for a client recently,dimensions 10.5x7.5 3 carats.

Lastly an engagement ring with stones cut and set for another client,the three stones are two 5mm Nigerian aqua's and the middle gem is a 6.2mm mint green/yellow tourmaline.The pictures definitely do the ring and stones no justice,especially the center piece which is a much more vibrant green in person.
Custom Cut Gems