My Amethyst Rough has been Cut - 3 faceted stones!

[Lovinggems]

Lovely stones Cell, what a fun project!

 

[litebrite]

Very pretty designs and stones, love the color. The star cut is so fascinating.

I have a newbish question - is it common for lighter colored stones to have half light/ half dark centers like the star or is that a feature of that particular cut or the camera angle? My aqua will sometimes do that in photos too. Thanks for showing us your stones and I hope my question isn''t impertinent. I''m still learning.

 

[cellentani]

Date: 9/4/2009 11:39:13 AM
Author: litebrite
Very pretty designs and stones, love the color. The star cut is so fascinating.

I have a newbish question - is it common for lighter colored stones to have half light/ half dark centers like the star or is that a feature of that particular cut or the camera angle? My aqua will sometimes do that in photos too. Thanks for showing us your stones and I hope my question isn''t impertinent. I''m still learning.

Hi litebrite, I appreciate your comments! Never feel bad about asking questions - I''m constantly learning stuff on this forum myself, and I certainly don''t consider myself one of the more experienced PSers!

I''m not sure what you mean by "half light/half dark centers." Do you mean that the center is generally lighter than the rest of the stone? That would be due to cutting and/or saturation of color in the stone. You''re not talking about one entire half of the stone being dark while the other half is light, right (like you cut a circle in half)? Then there''s scintillation contrast where some facets are light, and some are dark, but they''re spread in an even pattern throughout the stone. If the stone were all dark (or even a big solid chunk), that would obviously be bad, but if all facets were light, that wouldn''t be good either. I think this contrast is what gives a stone brilliance, and lets you see the arrows in diamonds. I''ve found that this contrast is much more obvious when taking macro pics because of the camera blocking the light. Run a search on scintillation and brillliance, and you''ll find much more technical info than I can give. Hope that made sense, and feel free to post a pic of your aqua with your question.

 

[brandy_z28]

Love your new stones cellentani!

I agree that BK is a great cutter, I just wish he had some prettier colors in his inventory.

If my gemstone budget every replenishes I''m definitely going to contact him for some pretties.

 

[chrono]

Cellantani,
I''m really impressed. I knew Vallejo cuts well based on the morganite I saw previously but these are impressive too. Nice pictures.

Litebrite,
There could be many explainations as to what you mean. It could be extinction (due to cutting), it could be scintallation (contrast), it could be facet shadowing or any of the 3 combined. They all look different though so without an example picture, I''m not sure which one you are referring to.

 

[litebrite]

In the photo with all three face up, the center round has half the center part and the hexagon has half the center part where you can''t see the pattern as much, or it looks lighter. Not sure what the technical term for it is. You also see it in the star cut stone in the photos on the hands, but in those only 1/3 of the center part is lighter.

Thanks for understanding, Cellentani, and for the info Chrono. I have so much more to understand about cuts and angles so mostly I offer suggestions on settings

Speaking of which, I agree w/ others that the star would look great as a pendant. Maybe on a long dangly chain that you can pick up and hold to the eye (so you can look at it all day.) Something that is openwork like the Lotus or something more ornate with swirls and filigree.

I took a look at Stuller mounts b/c they have some fantasy cut mounts but no hexagons, mostly just trillions. You might want to look at Greenlake jewelry as they have a lot of inventive settings that might be appropriate.

Here are some examples:
simple amethys setting
filigree amethyst oval
gorgeous rococco hex pendant
flowery hex pendant

Can''t wait to see the final item!

 

[fierypyropixy]

Those cuts are all extremely interesting variations! I''ve been wondering about the JXR amethysts too.

 

[chrono]

Litebrite,
I think what you are seeing is the window tilt of the amethysts. I took another look and can see half clearly and the other half is just all purple with no details observed (seeing through the stone). Is this what you mean? Window tilt is perfectly normal and is seen to varying degrees depending upon the combination of the cutting angles and the reflective index of the gemstone. A stone with low RI will show a greater amount of window tilt. A stone that is cut too shallow will also exhibit this quality. In this case, it is the low RI of the amethysts. This is different from the normal windowing which is seen when looking straight down the table of the stone.

 

[litebrite]

Hats off to Chrono for the very helpful information, that is exactly what I was talking about.

 

[cellentani]

Thanks for chiming in Chrono - I would have gone on all day about scintillation contrast!

litebrite, thanks for the great links - all of those pendants are really unique and beautiful. I''m still torn - I know several people have recommended a pendant, but I just don''t wear them that much. If I set it in a ring, I''d have to do a 6-prong to protect the points, but those usually sit kinda high. I''m wondering about the americanset ring...

fiery - I''m really liking the JXR - it''s such a different kind of purple. I think it''s much rarer than 4 peaks, but it''s still out there.

 

[cellentani]

I think I figured out the Celtic Cross! The crown has mostly triangle-shaped facets, except for the north, south, east, and west facets - those are long thin rectangles. You can see one in the pic here:

 

[cellentani]

Here's a view where you can see all 4 of them. Notice the extremely small table!

 

[cellentani]

And here''s the effect it has:

 

[T L]

Date: 9/4/2009 3:13:07 PM
Author: Chrono
Litebrite,
I think what you are seeing is the window tilt of the amethysts. I took another look and can see half clearly and the other half is just all purple with no details observed (seeing through the stone). Is this what you mean? Window tilt is perfectly normal and is seen to varying degrees depending upon the combination of the cutting angles and the reflective index of the gemstone. A stone with low RI will show a greater amount of window tilt. A stone that is cut too shallow will also exhibit this quality. In this case, it is the low RI of the amethysts. This is different from the normal windowing which is seen when looking straight down the table of the stone.

Wow Chrono,
You always give such great, concise explanations!!

 

[cellentani]

Another one of the cross, and I like the tiny cross in the very middle too. The stone never really looks like this - only when my camera is in front, blocking all of the light!

 

[Indylady]

Beautiful! I love your pics, and those are really some interesting cuts!

 

[Haywood74]

Date: 9/3/2009 10:54:41 PM
Author: cellentani
Thanks D&T!


Allison - I totally agree that his photos don''t show off his cuts. I''ve mentioned it to him before, and I think he''s got a couple of new things in the works... Seriously, I just want to go over there with my cheap camera and help him out!


Haywood, I''m glad you like them. Have you sent off your JXR rough yet?

No I haven''t. More than likely, I will just leave it as a piece of rough. It wasn''t the highest grade of rough to start with, so instead of chopping it down to a 1ct. gem, I''ll just leave it like it is for a conversation piece. Just started the process today of getting a custom ring done with the square gem I have. Hope the future Mrs. likes it for a Christmas present

 

[cellentani]

Date: 9/4/2009 10:27:31 PM
Author: Haywood74

Date: 9/3/2009 10:54:41 PM
Author: cellentani
Haywood, I''m glad you like them. Have you sent off your JXR rough yet?

No I haven''t. More than likely, I will just leave it as a piece of rough. It wasn''t the highest grade of rough to start with, so instead of chopping it down to a 1ct. gem, I''ll just leave it like it is for a conversation piece. Just started the process today of getting a custom ring done with the square gem I have. Hope the future Mrs. likes it for a Christmas present

Haywood, since you were able to get some great finished pieces, it''s probably a good choice to leave the rough as-is. My rough wasn''t the highest grade either, and even 85cts wasn''t enough to get a clean 3ct cushion. I''m sure your future Mrs. will be delighted with a custom JXR ring - I hope you post some pics when it''s finished!

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Cellantini - those amethysts are awesome, but I LOVE the star!

I've been obsessing over a hex cut stone ever since I saw a blue diamond cut in a hex and set as a solitaire. It was one of the coolest rings I have ever seen.

How are you considering setting it?

 

[cellentani]

Date: 9/5/2009 11:36:26 AM
Author: LaurenThePartier
Cellantini - those amethysts are awesome, but I LOVE the star!

I''ve been obsessing over a hex cut stone ever since I saw a blue diamond cut in a hex and set as a solitaire. It was one of the coolest rings I have ever seen.

How are you considering setting it?

Hi Lauren! I was just thinking about a solitaire - do you have a link to the blue diamond ring you saw? I''d love to see it, and I haven''t seen very many hex stones set. I guess I''ll have to do a 6-prong to protect the points...

 

[mariedtiger]

Cellentani I really like your new gems. I love purple and you have so many purple beauties now. Do you buy gems by color, and if so, what''s the next color you''re going to get started on? (enabling, just a little

)

 

[cellentani]

Date: 9/6/2009 5:16:42 AM
Author: mariedtiger
Cellentani I really like your new gems. I love purple and you have so many purple beauties now. Do you buy gems by color, and if so, what''s the next color you''re going to get started on? (enabling, just a little

)

Haha, thanks mariedtiger. I actually tend to buy when I see what I like - I don''t necessarily set out to buy a particular color. I also tend to buy by cut - if I see a nice color but am not drawn to the cut, I''ll let it go.

And you''ve been quite busy yourself - I remember when you first posted your beautiful and unique (in a good way) mother''s ring!

 

[cellentani]

Found some arrows in my star cut - I know this one''s a little fuzzy, though:

 

[cellentani]

One more, a little clearer. These were taken under purely incandescent light.

 

[mariedtiger]

I seriously love that cut Cellentani (yeah, I''ve been a busy bee to the horror and amusement of my best half)

 

[Haywood74]

Thanks for the better pictures.....This a seriously good looking cut on a seriously good looking piece of JXR... Congrats!

 

[Stone Hunter]

That''s a really really cool project you''ve completed. Love how the rough was transformed. Congrats!!

 

[Skippy123]

They are soooooo beautiful, love the color!!!

 

[Barcelona]

Wow, I''m usually drawn to the deeper, richer amethysts, but these are absolutely gorgeous.

 

[cellentani]

Wow, thanks everyone for your really nice comments! I looked at a few settings today, and the star amethyst is going to need one monster 6-prong setting!

And one more pic...