Concavegems.Com-Great Stone Purchase from Homer

[Colored Gemstone Nut]

I have purchased before from Richard Homer and have always gravitated back to purchasing from him in the future after I see his stones. I think it''s become a severe addiction that at some point in time I will need a professional intervention.

I saw a yellow sapphire he had on his site which I was really drawn to. Richard emailed me back and relayed to my dissmay that he had sold this stone.

Fortunately Richard had just cut 2 More yellow sapphires which he had not uploaded to his site. One was a 3 Carat Yellow Pear and one was a 2.84 carat Round Concave Brilliant (Both from Ceylon). After very little debate I purchased the stone pictured below and would like to either have a custom man''s ring with this as the center or use it to Replace the missing stone which broke out of my old class ring. I think yellow sapphire is underappreciated in the gem market right now and people who actually like yellow can get a much bigger great looking sapphire vs. the tradional market rates for ruby, sapphire and other fancy colors which are bringing in big market premiums right now. Regina hates yellow, but after seeing this stone was amazed at the dispersion. Out of direct sunlight it eminates a pure tangerine hue. Under the office lights It has more of a "Sunny Yellow" Glow.

Either way Richard as usual was a gentleman and gave me a hefty break (pricewise) on the sale from what his list price was. I was shocked and very appreciative. It goes to show that he takes care of his return customers. I have received the impression from Richard that the guy just loves what he does and he appreciates people that appreciate his work. Profit and money are important in the gem business, but after sharing correspondance with Richard through email it is very evident that he loves what he does wether he makes money or not. A true professional and I can''t speak highly enough of him. Great Person with passion for what he does.

 

[Linda W]

OMG Josh, That sapphire is to die for. Soooooooooooooo beautiful.

Linda

 

[CaraMish]

Gorgeous stone!!! Can we see the pear too???

 

[movie zombie]

that is one gorgeous yellow sapphire! i want to see pictures after its set!

movie zombie

 

[strmrdr]

Im normaly not a fan of yellow but that looks kicken
Cant wait to see it set.

 

[Gemoholic]

Josh, I don''t dig yellow either but that stone is a stunner. I gaze at Richards site every week or so and want something very bad from him.

Sadly, the few times I emailed him the stone that I wanted was still on the site was already sold!

I wish he could update the site as I never know what has allready been sold and I want to see the new goodies.

 

[Gypsy]

I just bought a concave gem and I love it... but it doesn''t hold a candle to Richard''s concaves... so stunning! Can''t wait to pick one of my own up from him! Congrats, I love yellow sapphires.

 

[Jacki]

Nice color on the sapphire, but I think it''s a bit overboard on the concave cuts. I think many or Homer''s cuts are too much, loose the personality of the stone, and tend to look cheap (made in China look). I have seen some concave cutting that is done in moderation and find it more pleasing... to my eye at least.

 

[FireGoddess]

I think it looks great. Some concave cuts are not appealing to me but actually, I saw this one in particular and thought WOW - that looks like a sunburst. Gorgeous.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Oh I think it''s fantastic!

 

[CaraMish]

Date: 8/2/2006 9:11:20 PM
Author: Jacki
Nice color on the sapphire, but I think it''s a bit overboard on the concave cuts. I think many or Homer''s cuts are too much, loose the personality of the stone, and tend to look cheap (made in China look). I have seen some concave cutting that is done in moderation and find it more pleasing... to my eye at least.

Have you ever seen a Richard Homer concave cut in person???

 

[MINE!!]

Date: 8/5/2006 8:52:56 AM
Author: CaraMish

Date: 8/2/2006 9:11:20 PM
Author: Jacki
Nice color on the sapphire, but I think it''s a bit overboard on the concave cuts. I think many or Homer''s cuts are too much, loose the personality of the stone, and tend to look cheap (made in China look). I have seen some concave cutting that is done in moderation and find it more pleasing... to my eye at least.

Have you ever seen a Richard Homer concave cut in person???

I second that question.

 

[pricescope]

Sorry CaraMish and Mine, Jacki can't answer as she(more like he) is a vendor in disguise and is banned. Competition getting ugly has no place here.
And NO we do not getting ANY money from Richard Homer's sales, even thru Wink.

 

[flopkins]

Josh - you must post more pics of that baby...

I have to admit, I am not a huge fan of yellow... sigh. But this sapphire is gorgeous!!

 

[WinkHPD]

Josh, that is an incredible sapphire, thank you for sharing that with us, and thank you also for the tremendous write up about Richard as a person. He and I have worked together since he graduated from GIA, I was actually his first employer after school and consider myself very lucky to be counted as a friend as well as a business associate.

He is one of the most ethical and also kind men that I have ever known and it warmed my heart to read your compliments about him. He is truly a gentleman and an artist first and actually only a semi good a business man. Like many of us in this crazy business it is so much more a labor of love than business. It is nice to see him recognized as such.

Wink

 

[Shay37]

Josh, I am not a fan of yellow either, but that is not yellow, it is burnished gold. Oh delish. Yummy!!!!! What a beautiful gemstone. I''m so glad you were able to find it. I say get a custom man''s ring. BEAUTIFUL!!

shay

 

[aussiegirl23]

Josh, or anyone else who knows concave cuts:

I know NOTHING about them, so forgive the ignorance!
-to ME they seem to show a ton of lines - white lines... is this the result of the concave cutting? I''m not a huge fan of it, but hadn''t seen it much until recently
-also, this kind of cut seems to lighten the color of the stone (makes blue sapphires more pastel-colored, instead of a vivid, bright blue?)

Maybe I''m crazy, since everyone seems to like these, but I''m a little slow to catch on here...

Anyone able to explain this new look to me? Are non-concave stones now considered ''bad,'' or ''inadequate?'' Do they cut diamonds like this too?

Thanks! Aussiegirl : p

 

[Colored Gemstone Nut]

Date: 8/11/2006 10:35:28 PM
Author: aussiegirl23
Josh, or anyone else who knows concave cuts:

I know NOTHING about them, so forgive the ignorance!
-to ME they seem to show a ton of lines - white lines... is this the result of the concave cutting? I'm not a huge fan of it, but hadn't seen it much until recently
-also, this kind of cut seems to lighten the color of the stone (makes blue sapphires more pastel-colored, instead of a vivid, bright blue?)

Maybe I'm crazy, since everyone seems to like these, but I'm a little slow to catch on here...

Anyone able to explain this new look to me? Are non-concave stones now considered 'bad,' or 'inadequate?' Do they cut diamonds like this too?

Thanks! Aussiegirl : p

Hi AussieGirl:

Not all gems benefit from the Concave Cut. Optimizing color and light is always the first consideration in cutting gems, and lighter toned gems increase up to 100% in brilliance when Concave Cut while darker gems like Rubies might appear murkier and less attractive depending on each individual gem and the characteristics they possess. The advantages of concave cutting is that it distributes light much more evenly through the length and breadth of the stone, lighting the gem up with a beautiful glow.

Concave faceting not only improves body color in light toned stones, it helps hide inclusions, and reduces or even eliminates windowing effects resulting in a more beautiful gemstone . I think when you state concave faceting as making a stone look lighter..In reality the situation is that these gems are lighter toned to begin with and concave faceting increases brilliance in these lighter toned gems and also improves their color, because more light is being let through to reflect and refract within the gem before existing the crown back to your “eye” Certain types of gems benefit from concave faceting: Larger gems demonstrate greater brilliance with this technique than smaller ones, and light to medium toned stones are more dramatically improved than highly saturated gems.

The reflected light is diffused rather than concentrated in a single beam, the body color of a pastel gem doesn't get washed out. Conversely in a gem with a dark color the reflected light isn't strong enough to illuminate the interior of the gem, and the stone appears darker than it would with flat faceting. Richard likes to evaluate each gem before he commits to re-cutting. Concave faceting involves cutting pavilion facets to curve inward, usually in conjunction with some flat facets on the crown. The curved facets scatter more light into the interior of the stone than traditional flat facets, resulting in a more brilliant gem. Imagine a typical flat, square mirror and push the top and bottom closer together so that the reflective side curves toward you. Than take the left and right edges and curve them away from you so that the whole thing is slightly cylindrical. The result would be shaped like a single pavilion facet in a concave faceted gem.If you were to shine a light on the curved mirror's surface, it would act more like a mirrorball than a flat mirror, scattering light away from it in all directions rather than a single beam. In a faceted stone, that reflected light in turn bounces off other facets, and the scattering effect is magnified.

Concave faceting also results in approximately 10 percent greater material loss than traditional faceting techniques,.The higher weight loss in concave faceting also increases the price of these gems, as does the additional labor required to cut a gem using this technique. There is always a trade off with cutting and one of the trade-offs is weight loss but in most circumstances since the pavilion is only re-faceted the “size” Look “Diameter” of the gem stays the same.There is a lot more labor to do this than standard cutting, so as a result stones are more expensive As outlined by a couple people in earlier posts. This type of cutting is not for everyone and there are people out there looking more at price per carat, and concave faceted stones are not viewed as being competitive when compared strictly on price.

To answer your question..Are concave faceted stones considered “bad” or “inadequate” I would say..NO.. and Despite the advantages of concave faceted gemstones, there is a market for both and concave faceted stones have their place in the market just as those traditionally flat faceted stones. It is a unique style and it involves a different take on artistry in cutting gems. I am obviously a big fan, but also retain a taste for fine traditionally faceted gems. I just purchased a fine heated Mong-Hsu Ruby with Has excellent Crystal, color and depth which I wouldn’t trade for the world. I like both, but 4 out of my 5 recent purchases have been concave faceted stones. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I believe Richard has the unique talent of combining artistry and science with a new spin on traditional faceting in which the advantages heavily outweigh the disadvantages.

 

[Colored Gemstone Nut]

Date: 8/10/2006 6:35:31 PM
Author: Wink

Josh, that is an incredible sapphire, thank you for sharing that with us, and thank you also for the tremendous write up about Richard as a person. He and I have worked together since he graduated from GIA, I was actually his first employer after school and consider myself very lucky to be counted as a friend as well as a business associate.

He is one of the most ethical and also kind men that I have ever known and it warmed my heart to read your compliments about him. He is truly a gentleman and an artist first and actually only a semi good a business man. Like many of us in this crazy business it is so much more a labor of love than business. It is nice to see him recognized as such.

Wink

Hello Wink:

it was nice talking with you today and I second your comments about Richard doing things for a labor of love rather than the love of the "business". Any business, especially the gem business I see as a 90/10 split. 90% of the business is knowing how to relate to people and form a friendship and bond mixed with meeting their needs and accomodating them throughout the whole Process. 10% of the trade IMHO has a small percentage of having good business sense. If you can relate to people in a positive way the business end is that much easier to accomplish because customers will always end up coming back.

 

[aussiegirl23]

Yikes - THANK YOU Josh for your thorough and understandable explanation... Yet again I''m amazed how people on here take some SERIOUS time and effort to explain things to those less informed...

You rock! Yes, bad pun intended....

Good luck with your sapphire - what is it going to become?

Aussiegirl : p

 

[Colored Gemstone Nut]

Date: 8/12/2006 1:15:12 AM
Author: aussiegirl23
Yikes - THANK YOU Josh for your thorough and understandable explanation... Yet again I''m amazed how people on here take some SERIOUS time and effort to explain things to those less informed...

You rock! Yes, bad pun intended....

Good luck with your sapphire - what is it going to become?

Aussiegirl : p

Hi AussieGirl:

I was glad to help and glad to see many of the regulars stick around and contribute and ask questions.

The sapphire will going in to my old class ring which was in some serious need of some TLC. It is 14 Karat Yellow gold and is a little rough around the edges (Needs to be Polished) and the glass stone crack when it was dropped a while back. My vision was to get the goldsmith to fill the center with a either "yellow gold" or "white gold" metal plate to fill the void or hole and than set the sapphire in the center. I was thinking "gypsy set" at first because this is a secure setting, but if I go that route the girdle of the stone would be covered. I was thinking more along the lines of something with prongs which would raise the stone up a little and let light not only through the crown but through the bottom of the stone also which would distribute even more light throughout the stone than "gypsy setting" it.

It will work out abd I''ll post pictures when I''m done.

 

[MINE!!]

I too... am not a yellow sapphire fan.. but that is one very scrumptous sapphire... It is a good exmaple of what concave cutting can do for a lighter colored stone...

Wow... beautiful!!

 

[WinkHPD]

Date: 8/11/2006 10:35:28 PM
Author: aussiegirl23
Josh, or anyone else who knows concave cuts:

I know NOTHING about them, so forgive the ignorance!
-to ME they seem to show a ton of lines - white lines... is this the result of the concave cutting? I''m not a huge fan of it, but hadn''t seen it much until recently
-also, this kind of cut seems to lighten the color of the stone (makes blue sapphires more pastel-colored, instead of a vivid, bright blue?)

Maybe I''m crazy, since everyone seems to like these, but I''m a little slow to catch on here...

Anyone able to explain this new look to me? Are non-concave stones now considered ''bad,'' or ''inadequate?'' Do they cut diamonds like this too?

Thanks! Aussiegirl : p

I know it has been a couple of days since you posted this, so perhaps someone has already answered it, but I will give you my take anyway.

1. to ME they seem to show a ton of lines - white lines... is this the result of the concave cutting?

Yes, but in real life they are not white, but lighter lines of the same body color as the stone. The sparkle of these stones is incredibly more than the sparkle of a flat faceted stone, but they do not photograph nearly as wonderfully as they look.

2. -also, this kind of cut seems to lighten the color of the stone (makes blue sapphires more pastel-colored, instead of a vivid, bright blue?)

You would have no way to know this from the photos that you have seen, but if you were to look at before and after pictures such as the one included below you would see that the cutting in fact enhances and deepens the color as the gem now traps the light in the stone for more time than traditional flat faceting, thus allowing the light to absorb more of the color (or is it for more of the light to be absorbed by the stone I am not a light/color scientist). I may not know the exact proper terminoligy to use for a scientific explaination of why it enhances the color, but sometimes the change is dramatic, but I have only ever seen the stone get darker and more intense in color, never have I seen one become lighter or paler when being concave cut by Richard Homer. I think what you are seeing when you see this paler looking stone is material that was much lighter to begin with, not material that became lighter when it was concave faceted.

Again though, I am speaking of stones that have been properly cut to the correct angles for the material used, it is different for each type of gem, and can not speak for stones not cut to those angles, as I have no experience in seeing them before and after they were concave faceted. The stone shown below was one that Richard recut for a jeweler in New York who specializes in large stone pieces. The color change in this stone is dramatic for a couple of reasons, one it was VERY poorly cut to begin with and two, it is a very large stone which allows more time for the light to absorb the color. This is by far the most dramatic color change I have ever seen in a recut job.

3. Anyone able to explain this new look to me? Are non-concave stones now considered ''bad,'' or ''inadequate?'' Do they cut diamonds like this too?

Absolutely not. A well cut non-concave stone is a thing of beauty also, it is just that the VAST majority of them are cut so poorly that they are largely windowed out with a little brilliance around the edges. Concave faceting can give you edge to edge brilliance making a poor looking stone look incredible.

Diamonds have not yet been successfully concave faceted. The cleavage planes in a diamond make it unlikely that they ever shall be. Also, although we like to trap the light in the colored gems longer to increase the appearance and saturation of the color, we cut diamonds to get the light back to the eye quicly so that they absorb little color. It is for this reason that the top diamond cuts often look whiter than the same body color of diamond that is not as well cut. If you could concave facet a nice G colored stone you might end up with a stone that faced up like an H or I, probably NOT the effect you were looking for.

Wink

 

[Mokey]

I am calling on the colored gemstone nut and pleading that he take some pics of this beautiful stone in different lighting if it is not too late! I would love to see this stone in other situations than the pics from Mr. Homer. Outdoors, kitchen, etc, etc. Thanks, Mokey

 

[MJO]

Hello All,

I wanted to post these before and after shots of a spessartite Richard Homer recut for me. What do you think?

Regards,
Maurice Oppenheimer

 

[MJO]

Spessartite after recut. I call it a spessartite since it is not Fanta Orange but is definately orange.

 

[Mokey]

Mr Homer is just amazing! I can not wait to get one of his stones! Thanks for sharing. I can never get enough of his work.

 

[Linda W]

Hi Maurice,

WOW, That is beautiful. Are you going to set the stone?

Linda

 

[MJO]

Hi Linda,

I haven''t gotten it back yet. Richard was going to enter it into the Gemmy''s and the Cutting Edge Awards. I''ll think about what to do with it when I get it back.

Regards,
Maurice

 

[movie zombie]

welcome back, MJO! long time no post.....

the recut is great!


movie zombie