Natural Sapphire Company cuts

[Pandora II]

Date: 8/23/2008 2:40:03 PM
Author: Chrono
Just as they are good and poor native cut stones, there are also good and poor US (insert whatever country you like here) cut stones too. Once excellent skill most native cutters have is the ability to bring out the best of the stone. It may not have precision cutting but they can see how to best showcase its colour given the shape of the rough. I''ve seen okay looking native cut stones of excellent colour recut by precision US cutters to only have the gemstone looking worse than before colour wise.

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 8/23/2008 12:41:47 PM
Author: sonomacounty
Hmmm, I, myself, don''t see ''native cut'' as a problem term. I just think of something natural to that area. Like the term ''native plant'' means plants naturally of that area. JMO.

The problem isn''t the word ''native'', it''s the way in which it gets used in a derogatory way. It seems to always be applied to stones that are not well cut, and then is taken to mean that you can''t get a good stone from the country of origin and that the local cutters are all a bit hamfisted/cut only for weight.

I have some stones that were cut in their country of origin that very definitely make the most of the material in every way.

 

[Proteus]

Yeah, I've seen some serious hackwork done by American cutters, and it makes me kind of embarrassed to be lumped together with people like that. I can only imagine that the good "native" cutters must feel the same way, when they get arbitrarily included in with all the lousy cutters. The sad thing is that we never know who the individuals are overseas who do the good "native" cutting work.

To me, precision cutting isn't necessarily in facet layouts, but more of in fineness of polish, closeness of meetpoints, and proportions/angles. I think some American cutters may change the layout too much, and that can effect the color negatively. Even a typical native "mixed" cut, if cut really carefully, will look better precise. It doesn't have to be converted to a brilliant cut (or something esoteric,) as that will change the overall look of the stone a lot.