Concave cutting

[GemJunky]

What do you think about concave cutting? Personally, I''m a big fan, unless it''s applied on overly dark-toned gems (concave cutting makes gems slightly darker in appearance).
Like to hear what you think...

 

[MINE!!]

Personally, I love it. But I am a bit bias. I think that it looks good in some stones, while in others, it is not as nice. I think it is one of those things that you either really like or don''t.

A pic of my concave cut Spess. by Richard Homer.

 

[PrecisionGem]

I was slow to move over the the "concave side", but I have ordered a machine and supposedly it shipped Friday, so I''ll see how much fun this can be maybe in a week or so. I don''t care for the stones that have the concave girdles, to me they start to look cheap. My plan is to use the concave facets on moderation... but who know, I may go crazy with it.

 

[GemJunky]

Concave cutting is supposed to be much more difficult to perform, perhaps because facet alignment is harder, but is that really true? A lot of Thai gem sellers have excellent cut concave gemstones but their flat-faceted stones are usually (poorly) native cut. What''s up with that?

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 4/8/2006 12:54:00 PM
Author: GemJunky
Concave cutting is supposed to be much more difficult to perform, perhaps because facet alignment is harder, but is that really true? A lot of Thai gem sellers have excellent cut concave gemstones but their flat-faceted stones are usually (poorly) native cut. What''s up with that?

The more skilled cutters are cutting concave because they can make more money?
More modern and newer equipment?

 

[Richard M.]

I don't care for the stones that have the concave girdles, to me they start to look cheap. My plan is to use the concave facets on moderation... but who know, I may go crazy with it.

Tastes vary all over the place, Gene. I personally don't care for many concave cuts. They have a repetitious appearance to me and I end up less than dazzled by the look. But it depends...I find some individual cuts quite appealing. As for concave girdles, Dalan Hargrave did pretty well with that look in this concaved/spirographic green beryl that won first place in AGTAs Cutting Edge competition.

Richard M.

 

[PrecisionGem]

That look just doesn''t do it for me. I''m sure some people love it, maybe I am bit more traditionalist. To gimicky.

 

[Richard M.]

I agree. I like Dalan''s spirographic work on carvings, especially the big sunstones he''s getting from Plush. But I''m not so fond of it in stones like this even though this is practically shelf-size -- 125 carats, I think.

While concaving can do wonders for certain stones, it''s a look I''m already beginning to tire of. Trends come and go and I agree, the more traditional cuts have greater appeal to me overall. A great Tsunami of cookie-cutter concave designs from Asia is about to thunder ashore here and we''ll see how the market looks in 2-3 years.

Richard M.

 

[GemJunky]

How about this aqua cut by Mark Gronlund? He uses a combo of faceting techniques, I think the result is pretty stunning, but it''s still a matter of personal taste of course:

 

[MINE!!]

Gimiky?
Tiring?
Trendy?
Repititous?

Humph

ETA: Personally I think my stone is rather unique. I have YET (in the public) to meet anyone who knows what type of cut it is or has seen something like it before. EVEN jewelers are a little miffed sometimes. I guess I do not run in gemstone collectors circle, but I personally love my gimiky, tiring, trendy and repititious concave masterpeice and I have not come across many people who disagree. Although they may be plain and boring

I get stopped by people that just need to see my tiring and trendy stone very often.

 

[MJO]

Hello Richard,

I think Dalan''s work is phenomenal. He cuts many different styles not just traditional, concave and spiral. I just sent him some large sunstone rough to carve for me. I can''t wait to see what he does with a specific peice. It''s a 125ct peice of rough that is large but flat so it needs to be carved. The unussual thing about this peice is the dark blue green is on the c axis and the red is on the a-b and it has no shiller. It should make for a very unique peice. He told me it would take him quite awhile to decide on the design.

Regards,
Maurice

 

[Richard M.]

Hi Maurice,

Yes, the fusion of faceting and carving techniques is very interesting. It''s fascinating to see how many effects individual artists can dream up to show off the inherent properties of gem materials. I think Dalan is one of the finest American artists currently producing in a field that has many top names: Mark Gronlund, Michael Dyber, Richard Homer, Henry Hunt, Bart Curren, Lew Wackler, Glenn Lehrer, Sherris Cottier Shank, Greg Scully, Richard Shull, Larry Winn, Arthur Anderson and many, many more.

Next month if nothing intervenes I''ll be visiting the showrooms of some of Germany''s top artists including the Munsteiners to see what''s happening there. While the Germans were traditionally far ahead of American cutters in exploring new shapes and techniques, that situation changed drastically in the 70s and onward. It''s very interesting to me to watch the cross-pollination that''s taking place between lapidary artists around the world now. It''s especially rewarding to see American cutters are finally beginning to show off their vast creative energy.

Richard M.

 

[valeria101]

Don't care much for most of it unless the design of the piece retains some reminder that the object is a natural gem, not reflector glass. A couple of triangular stones cut by Richard Homer make the case quite well. I hope some day there would be some sort of 'free-hand' concave cut out there, a few such stones make the case quite well (e.g online).

It isn't that I do not like the geometric looks of concave cut in traditional shapes - it looks fantastic in modernistic jewelry... which uses synthetics allot. This must have ruined the taste for me, perhaps.


Hm... this is concave cut too, right?

by Christopher Wolfsberg

 

[diamondlil]

I am not a fan of it for myself. It reminds me of high school class rings for some odd reason. I''ve read about it and it''s fascinating, but I''m not drawn to owning one myself. I have an almost 3 carat trillion tanzanite that someone on the board suggested I have concave cut, but I just can''t imaging liking it better than the traditional. I think is a personal preference like RB vs. fancy shapes. Just my 2 cents . . .

 

[widget]

Author: DiamondLil
I think is a personal preference like RB vs. fancy shapes. Just my 2 cents . . .

I agree, DiamondLil!

I must say that some "before and after" pictures of concave cut stones are quite dramatic. They do seem to "liven up" less lively stones.

I prefer conventionly cut stones. I was going to say I''m "old fashioned", but I like Gene''s term "traditionalist" better.

widget

 

[GemJunky]

Concave cut tanzanites aren''t popular, it''s mostly classical cutting with this gem if you look at sales: most of the convave tanz I''ve seen were small, usually a few carats or so. Tanzanite is a rather dark stone especially in bigger gems, so that may be it but maybe most people just don''t want concave tanzanites... Don''t see a lot of concave tsavorites either, btw.

When a conventional flat-facet gemstone is well cut, has the right proportions & polish, I would also prefer it over most concave cuts, but if I''d have to choose between a concave cut and a native cut, well, the native cut looks cheap to me compared to any concave cut...

 

[valeria101]

Date: 4/9/2006 12:59:08 PM
Author: GemJunky


Concave cut tanzanites aren''t popular...

Could it be that the concave cutting mixes the blue and violet colors? Just wondering. I can''t say I have ever met a concave cut cashing in on pleochroism.



... Don''t see a lot of concave tsavorites either, btw.

Any thoughts about this one? LINK

 

[PrecisionGem]

That tsavorite looks overly dark or too much extinction. I belive the concave cutting works better on lighter stones. I think it''s good for recuting native stones too, because you can cut below the critical angle and not window as soon.
I''ll start playing soon, and keep you guys posted.