tara3056
Shiny_Rock
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2012
- Messages
- 334
I've been "into" gemstones for awhile, and hubby has always been great about encouraging me in a hobby that makes me happy, and he's always been interested in scrutinizing new arrivals with me, giving me his feedback, etc. Being an analytical-engineer-type, he always admired the precision-cut stones more than others, though he admits that "native cuts" can still be decently well cut and that color can trump cut at times.
A few months ago, he asked me what went into cutting gems. I honestly had only the vaguest idea, so I dug up some links provided by Barry Bridgestock and Dan Stair that showed the process step-by-step, with pictures. As soon as *I* read through the process, I knew it would be right up his alley. I was right. He read those, started researching a lot more on his own, and by Christmas, he'd decided to buy a faceting machine! Armed with all sorts of books, faceting diagrams, laps, rough, etc., he spent some of his Christmas 'staycation' teaching himself how to cut gems.
The first two attempts were easy cuts from Jeff Graham's beginner faceting book - an Easy 8 octagon and an Easy Cushion, from amethyst and citrine respectively. They turned out okay. Decently well-cut but from cheap rough, and with cuts that were simple and lacking in facets. I think he would kill me if I took pics and posted them here. LOL. The next stone was a trilliant Aquamarine that actually turned out beautifully and I think it would be "setting-worthy" if it weren't the cheapest, palest, most washed-out aqua type material. He cut his first round brilliant, a ~7mm Arizona Peridot (so again, pretty cheap rough) last week that turned out awesome! I'm not really a fan of peridot (that's putting it nicely), but if I were, I'd set it happily!
I'm so happy for him - AND ME!! (LOL) - so I wanted to post here and share
He has a background in engineering but is a software developer by trade, so he's been missing opportunities to create tangible items (unlike computer code), and he's taken this new hobby and is running with it. I'm really proud of how well he's doing in such a short time! He's encountered some problems, figured out how to deal with them, etc. Now he's got some muuuuccch nicer rough in the cutting box and will be starting on an Umbalite next. Very exciting!
I'm including a quick snapshot of his peridot -- and he would probably be upset if he knew, because he's also a bit of a photography freak with a very nice DSLR set up and so forth. But he's having trouble learning how to take pics of gems, and I'm too excited to sit around and wait for him to figure out how to get that perfect macro shot. So consider this pic super-quick-and-really-dirty. a.k.a. BAD! Despite my BAD pic, there is NO DEAD SPOT in the center of the peridot! It looks as nice as any other round brilliant cut I've seen! Now I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do with superior rough
A few months ago, he asked me what went into cutting gems. I honestly had only the vaguest idea, so I dug up some links provided by Barry Bridgestock and Dan Stair that showed the process step-by-step, with pictures. As soon as *I* read through the process, I knew it would be right up his alley. I was right. He read those, started researching a lot more on his own, and by Christmas, he'd decided to buy a faceting machine! Armed with all sorts of books, faceting diagrams, laps, rough, etc., he spent some of his Christmas 'staycation' teaching himself how to cut gems.
The first two attempts were easy cuts from Jeff Graham's beginner faceting book - an Easy 8 octagon and an Easy Cushion, from amethyst and citrine respectively. They turned out okay. Decently well-cut but from cheap rough, and with cuts that were simple and lacking in facets. I think he would kill me if I took pics and posted them here. LOL. The next stone was a trilliant Aquamarine that actually turned out beautifully and I think it would be "setting-worthy" if it weren't the cheapest, palest, most washed-out aqua type material. He cut his first round brilliant, a ~7mm Arizona Peridot (so again, pretty cheap rough) last week that turned out awesome! I'm not really a fan of peridot (that's putting it nicely), but if I were, I'd set it happily!
I'm so happy for him - AND ME!! (LOL) - so I wanted to post here and share
He has a background in engineering but is a software developer by trade, so he's been missing opportunities to create tangible items (unlike computer code), and he's taken this new hobby and is running with it. I'm really proud of how well he's doing in such a short time! He's encountered some problems, figured out how to deal with them, etc. Now he's got some muuuuccch nicer rough in the cutting box and will be starting on an Umbalite next. Very exciting!I'm including a quick snapshot of his peridot -- and he would probably be upset if he knew, because he's also a bit of a photography freak with a very nice DSLR set up and so forth. But he's having trouble learning how to take pics of gems, and I'm too excited to sit around and wait for him to figure out how to get that perfect macro shot. So consider this pic super-quick-and-really-dirty. a.k.a. BAD! Despite my BAD pic, there is NO DEAD SPOT in the center of the peridot! It looks as nice as any other round brilliant cut I've seen! Now I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do with superior rough
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