Hello and welcome to my channel. The videos you will find here are an expression of my passion for the art and science of gemcutting and the history behind it. Watch as I uncover the secrets behind the gem cutters craft as well as dive deep into the machines being used to cut gems around the world.
Currently, my scope of research begins in Europe in the late 1300's and extends all the way until now. As the channel grows, you will hopefully find a healthy mix of instructional faceting videos (reflecting my role as faceting teacher at the Faceting Apprentice Institute), gem cutting gear vids (reflecting my role as a gear nerd), gem analysis videos, and history-based videos (reflecting my role as a history nerd).
I hope you enjoy the videos and find what you're looking for. If I've left a question unanswered, please leave a comment and let me know. If you want to follow me in other places, click the social media buttons on top.
How do you calculate recutting fees? I have a handful of stones that are collectibles but have too much extinction. I'd love to see cut-correction clips of Kunzite, Kyanite, Zircon, Tourmaline or Garnet. Thanks in advance! As for this emerald, wow!
@@LostWithoutHer we charge per cart based on the final weight. There’s also a minimum charge so if the final stone is one or 2 carats, then it’s just a flat rate. If you’re interested in having us cut some stones, email me.
This is interesting. I recently finished my first stone, a cz with a gorgeous red color in a round brilliant design. Eleven 96 Brilliant, to be specific. I encountered so many issues; wrong angles on the pavilion mains, spiraling girdle on crown side. Tried to fix the crown girdle but was not able to. Decided to cut crown girdle as is, which resulted in bad meetpoints in C2 facets, selecting the wrong index a couple of times on C3 facets, which also resulted in bad meetpoints. I spent so much time to try to fix what I could, and I was close to give up and toss the stone. But I refused to give it up. When I came to polishing, I really saw the life in it. I finished it, and it has so much sparkle! Even in dark light it looks like an amber from burning wood. Of course, if you look at it through a loupe and know what you are looking for, you'll se that it's not cut perfectly by design. But that got me thinking that facet diagrams is not always a standard, and as long you don't cut below the critical angles, you have a lot of options, even when facets don't have a perfect meetpoint.
This is why I love coloured gems! The idea that the commentor had clearly stemmed from the diamond industry in mind, which in itself is also not so rigid ("But muh triple Ex!"). Really, what you have expressed in this video, throughout, ties to the beginning; if it ain't purrty to wear, it ain't worthy. The whole craft (lapidary, jewelry...) is about that particular goal, and nothing else!
Color and clarity definitely improved, it's a shame the culet angle was so shallow. Even with that challenge you took a mediocre stone and gave it beauty. Cheers.
@@AneesMuhammed-mb4qz definitely. For me the Jambpeg is a fun tool for exploration. The quality of my work on the Jambpeg is not very good. The Handpiece machine is my main work machine and it’s what I do all my customer stones on.
My lapidary table cost 299 from ebay. The chinese green ones. It only has one speed warp speed. I cant cut chrome tourmaline, emeralds, veiled stones, epidote, or apache tear because they would explode. I need a machine like yours.
I have the same as Justin's. I'm still a noob, but it's really nice to have a machine that can go from ~55RPM to 2500RPM. That range allows me to work delicately and also to be rough with it, and all of this at a very competitive price
💎 If you want to learn to cut gemstones, check out: www.facetingapprentice.com 💖 If you would like to support my faceting endeavors, please become my patron: www.patreon.com/justinkprim
I really wish I had had access to a presentation (and channel) like this when I was first learning faceting, by myself, in the late 1990s, in a rather isolated setting in the English countryside. The equipment and study materials I'd obtained for myself all pertained to modern American machines, which were the only machines that made sense to my early-20s student-of-science mindset. (I was studying biology at college in London at the time, but pursuing lapidary arts when back home on my long summer breaks.) When I visited Hatton Gardens I was surprised to learn that the master gemcutters there still used "archaic" methods. As a mere hobbyist I was too unconfident then to really enquire into why, and I was left confused for a long time. I suppose many hobbyists working in isolation have shared the same confusion. I halfway assumed that it was to do with the slow penetration of new technology, with guilds being overprotective of tradition, and with the high-end market favoring overly conventional designs, but I knew there had to be more to it than that. Of course with experience I came to a more nuanced understanding of the many different, valid approaches to cutting a gem, and to the question of what makes faceting an artform. This great lecture helped consolidate a lot of my thinking and provided some new insights. Thank you!
@@JoeRussell-oj7xm thank you. I’m glad you got so much out of it and also glad that you’ve come to terms with why the hobbyists do one thing and the old masters do another. Happy cutting!
I just ordered a bottle of Singer Oil just to try it out. I have 3in1 which as you say is smelly. I only use it to keep my machine in good condition. I really like SNAKE OIL (SO) for polishing but I'll give the Singer Oil a try since I'm getting low on SO. It'll be here tomorrow ! Can't hurt to try it. 🙂
I will add what they really should be careful about lap contamination, if you people use some brush to spread water on your finer topper laps when you are making your facet surfaces smoother before polish, dont use synthetic hair brushes that are for applying synthetic latex paints... (better use more water dripping on lap and let it spread naturally by g force... it happened to me that i was starting getting scratches on my almost smooth facet surface and i wasnt able to figure it out but at one look i found my green hairs from a brush on the lap and they were making scratches as they have been slowly cut off on the diamond grit embeded in a topper lap, so be careful and dont use such brushes :)
like you need a layer of diamond powder. It doesn't make a difference what type of disc all you need is a layer of diamond powder stick/glued on the lap . I had experienced the dry layer of diamond powder worked better without any chipped/ditched off from the disc .
@@faisalponywala7614 for cutting or polishing? In my experience, the dry layer of diamond goes on copper laps for Cutting, but I’d be interested to hear if you have used it in some other way.
@@JustinKPrim I was talking about only for polishing or pre polishing . As you placed the diamond powder and oil past on disc after polishing few stones like topaz or harder stones the past turns into transparent but hard and dry layer of diamond past you can put one or two finger tips diamond past before any chip off or ditch on the lap it turns into very hard layer . Keep putting a small finger tip of the diamond past not much oil, I use olive oil . At that time I wished I had a big diamond which I can use as a substitute for any metallic , plastic disc .
Good morning Justin. I speak here from Brazil. I was born in the largest gemstone producing region in our country, in the State of Minas Gerais (city of Padre Paraíso). My late father was a great prospector and stone trader. Now that I have retired from the police (Investigating Inspector) I will go back to dedicating myself to my old job. If you want to hear good stories about real treasures, just let me know here.
@@IGreybeardI well…. I have an online school with really well shot videos that offer exactly this www.facetingapprentice.com/collections I can’t put everything for free on RU-vid sadly. The bills need paid and these videos take a lot of time.
@@TheTortelin My Favorite Rough Dealers Farooq Hashmi, New York A good friend and very adventurous rough dealer. facebook.com/intimategems instagram.com/intimategems/ Amir Hashmi, Canada Farooq’s cousin who mostly sells single stones. www.unlimited-gems.com/new-arrivals instagram.com/unlimitedgems__/ New Era Gems, California Probably the original dealer in facet rough. www.neweragems.com instagram.com/neweragems/ Matthew Milstead, California High end material in parcels and single stones. www.milsteadgemstones.com/ instagram.com/milstead_gems/ Joe Henley, Oregon A well respected and well travelled rough dealer. joehenleyrough.com instagram.com/joe_henley_rough/
For someone just starting though, a handpiece seems "for the pros". Am I right in this statement? Learning a ton from your videos. Thanks, I appreciate your efforts.
No I totally disagree. We use the Handpiece machine in all our classes. They are great for learning because they are so tactile and have all the necessary controls for great cutting.
Very Nice design. I'm glad you digitized it because as you stated in your earlier video (museum visit), it was very difficult to see what was going on with the stone in the video. Now the next question is ... will you share it ? :) Buddy ol' pal, friend of mine ! lol
@@SnowTiger45 no this is a different one than the one that I saw in the museum. I’ve been trying to do the diagram for the one in the museum, but it doesn’t seem possible to do it perfectly with a 96 index. I’m gonna retry soon with a 120
Buenas noches justin te escribo desde Colombia quisiera saber qué diferencia tendría en relizar tallas de esmeraldas en invencion jamb peg o a tallar en una VL DIGITAL DE ULTRA TEC
@@jankan4979 could be. I don’t think the history of these items. Most of the Jewelery is made bespoke for the people that wore it but for the stones… who knows?
Imagine the library of gems the crown would have to store and special order to commission such fantastic works. The size and quality of the stones in all varieties so the top jewelers could show their ultimate potential. The cutters would be likely to experiment with new designs so their work is unique, like that emerald cab with convex features. What a treat. Thank you Justin.
@@JustinKPrim OK no worries -It is an interesting piece, and the opal is quite big with good quality fire. Not many opals from this period have survived, and most are much smaller and lower grade.. I need to visit it some day. cheers
@@Opal_Spectrum Actually I found the details in a book. The piece is from about 1600, made in Southern Germany. It's a Slovak Precious Opal and the whole piece is 7.2cm high. Inventory Number Xla 52
