The Ring Part 5 The Stone And The Process

After doug received the stones, he began working on cutting them;my previous post contains an image of the rough stone before any cuts or faceting if you want to get an idea of what it looks like--it really just looks like a bright colored rock. 

One stone, he planned to do a pin cushion cut (a little more antique style), but mine I had hoped to be rounded.  The stones were 3 and 5 Karats rough, but much of the stone get’s ground away as the gem cutter begins faceting.

One day, I visited doug’s house just to see the apparatus he used.  Not being a gem cutter, it was like exploring a whole new world and culture.  He had intricate apparatus that used small diamonds to grind away the sapphire.  The only thing harder than sapphire is diamond, so it was a pretty challenging process for Doug to cut such a hard stone.  After he had cut the first stone, he saw some imperfections in it, and wanted to make sure that I still wanted to take the risk of cutting the other stone.  You see, the sapphire mine would take the rough sapphire back, but if there was a single cut made into the stone, then we would be keeping it. I told him that I was willing to take the risk, and that I wanted to see this through to completion.

So doug began the work of making a stone into a beautifully sparkling sapphire gem.  I asked him to take photos during the process, so I could share this story with Jamie, and then with you. 

I also want to recommend Doug’s work to you.  He is a Doctoral candidate in Neurobiology, and so this is more of a hobby for him than a profession.  His work takes time, but he has an incredible eye for detail, and loves the challenge of bringing out the brightness and color of stones by precise and diligent faceting work.

As you can see, the process brings out so much of the stone.