Precision cut Versus Non Precision Cut gemstones discussion with Garry....

[arkieb1]

Calling all CS peeps to have their say;

Colored gems vs diamonds

GIA have many videos on their channel showing coloured gem stuff. e.g. I am appalled at the primitive approach to cutting "the more expensive the rough, the more weight we have to save" etc. polishing by hand - no tools, no optics, no scan and plan. This is as it was 2,000 years ago except the...

www.pricescope.com

Are Precision cut gemstones always better? Some of my favourites in my own collection of stones and of stones I have seen at gem shows and advertised in auctions are not precision cuts.....

 

[Acinom]

See this thread, including poll results https://www.pricescope.com/communit...ite-gemstones-precision-cut-incl-poll.214033/

 

[chrono]

Short answer: no.

Long answer: it is a balance between colour, material, and size (cost). Some material is so incredibly rare that it would be a huge loss when precision cut. It doesn't mean that a horrible cut is acceptable since it has to sparkle and accentuate colour too, so I think an excellent non-precision cut is often times the best compromise.

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

I once had a beautiful large red/purple spinel re-cut into a precision cut. Totally ruined the color that I loved. It's still pretty, the cutting is excellent but I see very little red in the stone now. It sits mostly forgotten in a gem box.

 

[finerthings]

Personally, I do not like precision cut colored gemstones. I agree with @chrono and others that the best gem is an excellent/very good non-precision cut that showcases the color of the stone, and also displays liveliness.

 

[Lilith112]

The most important is color imo. As long as the cut isn't too horrible e.g. pancake, massive window, I don't mind a less-than-ideal cut.

 

[Arcadian]

Colored gemstones are about the color. With "white " diamonds, yes you can precision cut all day and not worry about the color, with colored stones, its a whole other ball game. the reality is most of my stones are not precision cut. The precision cut stones I have purchased highlight the absolute beauty of the color of the stone as it should. It dosen't and IMO shouldn't take first place as it does with diamonds.

The stone in the avi is quite well cut but has its flaws. its not "precision cut" but I'm cool with it, because the color is tdf, the play of the cut with the stone...yummy. I love taking this one out and playing with it for those reasons. Maybe it would not work well as precision cut, maybe It would have lost some of the color, I don't know. I don't really dwell on it much either.

IMO big misconception for many, even those that maybe deal in diamonds is that you really can't grade many colored gems the same way you can toss them in the same buckets and expect the parameters to fit.

 

[PieAreSquared]

I read his post, sounds like pot-stirring to me.
What's "so sad" about native cutting?
A lot of those cutters are true artisans, to be able to turn out beautiful gems with the methods and equipment that have been used for "2000 years".

 

[dk168]

I agree with the sentiment that colour is king when it comes to CS.

Badly cut stones with huge windows are not for me, however good native cuts are fine.

DK

 

[SapphireNut1]

For nearly everyone color is all that really matters. Nobody likes huge scratches, otherwise if the stone is decently cut then most people will be happy with it.

Precision cutting is as much about preserving or enhancing color as getting the meetpoints and polish perfect.

Ultimately the only person that has to be happy is the buyer.

 

[Arcadian]

I read his post, sounds like pot-stirring to me.
What's "so sad" about native cutting?
A lot of those cutters are true artisans, to be able to turn out beautiful gems with the methods and equipment that have been used for "2000 years".

I think that people need to understand where Gary is coming from. He's a diamond guy, and as such he's all about the cut. I'm not a total diamond person but yeah, CBI's are my thing. they're ridiculous...they are cut to perfection.

When you're dealing with mostly mono-color material that really doesn't change much, you can certainly come up with a formula that works across the board.

What he may not get is the fact that people who cut colored gemstones of other origin might have to deal with all kinds of things that diamond cutters just don't.

Most of us on the colored stone side feel there needs to be a balance be it a diamond of color or not. Every beautiful stone might not be precision cut but still can be really beautiful. Precision cutting does indeed have its place and can really produce some amazing stones, fun shapes, can bring a lot of depth to gemstones. A well rounded cutter should take the stone's color into account no matter how they cut.

And to that end, I've seem some really lovely cut stones with what would be to me, sad for shit color and thats on both sides of it. But there's a lid for every pot.... what might not be my thing, certainly can be someone else's.


I don't think it was inflammatory, it think it was designed to spur conversation.