buying pre-concave-cut gems?

[raddygast]

I know about www.concavegems.com

Are there other sites that sell stones that are already cut using this exceptionally striking technique? And are there any detractors out there to this technique being used on sapphires or spinels?

On my computer screen the concave cut stones look simply amazing. But maybe it looks gaudy and more "fake" somehow? What do you guys think? And are there others besides Richard Homer who do this type of cutting?

 

[valeria101]

Hm... read this.

and the same article got a rather useful explanation added on Ganoskin - just go down this page.

Smaller concave cut gems do not look like "novelty" to me anymore. Aside the much better optics and color, little else shows. Compared to chemical treatments, clever faceting sounds like a more legitimate form of enhancement to me.
Larger concave faceted stones are a thing apart, but there aren't that many cut of precious material as far as I know. The sculpted pieces of quartz and tourmaline of untraditional shapes made by Richard made me look into this style in the first place.

And no... I am not hunting down your every post

Hope these help...

 

[raddygast]

Hmm. So from what I gather it seems like this isn't the right kind of faceting you'd want in a darker sapphire? It even said that highly saturated gems (like even highly saturated hot pink sapphire) would not benefit from concave faceting because they would end up darker and with more extinctions. IS this true? I am still considering a very rich, deep blue sapphire and in that case maybe the concave faceting isn't the greatest plan.

 

[valeria101]

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On 10/22/2004 2:55:37 AM raddygast wrote:



I am still considering a very rich, deep blue sapphire and in that case maybe the concave faceting isn't the greatest plan.

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I couldn't really tell you this. My guess is that the often mentioned mantra is true. But how about a less deep than usual medium-dark sapphire ? Flat facets would produce a window instead of glitter and I can't really see how concave faceting could hurt. Just theory... I am not trying to advocate concave faceting.

There is something else. You say "rich, deep blue sapphire" and most of whatever is considered "commercial quality" sapphre is cheap because it is too dark. You need strong saturation on a darker sapphire to see blue at all. Is there a representative picture of the color you have in mind ? To me, "rich, deep blue" means this (see the 1.53cts pear).

 

[coldfusion]

Believe it or not, the pics do not even come close to doing them justice. Wink's "rotating" pics on his website better illustrate the light play in the stones. I proudly own two of Richard's stones, they are truly works of art.

It's the jewelry equivalent of owning a picasso. You pay a little more, but the end painting is worth more than the cost of the paint.

 

[day_lily_me]

I agree with coldfusion. I want one of Richard's stone desperately. I'm going to save my money and try for an amythest. Maybe I could get a cheaper valued stone but have the artistry in the cut. I would just love to have something done by him. I haven't been to Wink's site with the turning stone but will right now. It's amazing what we all learn here. Again, I agree with the rest - your aqua is just amazing and if it looks that good in a picture, I can just imagine what it looks like in person. Great choice!

 

[cflutist]

Richard recently recut my "native" cut (poorly cut) sapphire. Considering what he had to work it, I think it turned out pretty nice. It can be found here

 

[cflutist]

Wink just added an interesting article about Concave Faceting on his website