Great video really helped me understand color and the depth of a stone as well as how they are correlated to each other, I cut everyday and your words of wisdom will really help me analyze my cutting and improve. :) I asked this question last time as I was cutting a emerald I lost most of the green color in it, I now see that the fact that I cut round brilliant has much to play into this.
Excellent video and channel. I have liked and subscribed. I love to rockhound but have never learned how to cut or cab. I am now shopping for the necessary equipment and have signed up for a course. Your video is very instructive. Thanks
Thanks Steve,I am sure,I know already the cutting and polishing,what a big learning from you,but I think,I know how to facet too,only the faceting machine,got to buy soon too,you are blessed to tutoring me.
If you're based out of Indiana I would love to stop by your shop, maybe even meet you. Im a Huge fan! If you ever need help or a hard worker It would be an honor. I'm 26 & just recently got into lapidary work. I own a hardwood company, moving up in grits & getting a smooth finish is so natural from wood working for me that cutting gives me the same sense of satisfaction.
Thank you for considering my idea of making a video about this topic. Very interesting facts and very informative video. Your explanations are crystal clear. Salutations.
MoreGems.com Hey I wanna sale my rough faceted over 600 carats parcel or what ever quanity you like price is negotiable emerald in pieces i have video of the stones i can send you. Whats best contact info im dealer. it looks incredible green...
On trying to buy rough, I noticed there are persons selling at $25 on up per gram. Like amatrine /18carats. Lot of other stuff is heavenly included. Same price. Need good honest reasonable source. Thanks for your video. Waiting for new drive belts for my machine. Facet On.
Very brave of you to cut your own gems but shouldn't you start off with something alittle bit less expensive than a ruby? Sorry it didn't come out as you planned but at least your on the right trail. Steve makes some very informative videos and you can look on their website to see loose cut gems of all types at - www.moregems.com - you'll see some beauties! Good luck in your quest.
Thanks again for yet another very interesting video. I like to see what has happened to the Jewellery I own already made up prior to this process of setting etc. It fascinates me when you look at a rough, especially a large size, just where you start and how you know how even the colour is inside the stone as to where to start. I was curious as to what effects the value of a cut gem the most, the carat weight or the size the stone appears. Most of the gems I own have very few facets, either emerald cut or square/rectangle cushion cuts. Even other cuts of oval, pear or round have facets kept to a minimum. I do adore what mother nature serves up for us and don't like to intrude on this too much. Just like with natural Tanzanite, give me the natural colour any day compared to the heat treated ones. I love the colours that were there from the start and can't understand why they are almost always heat treated. Maybe it's just my quirky taste?
Steve thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge. I've been cutting for a few years and my problem is obtaining good affordable rough. I've bought off the internet so many times and can't seem to get good stones. Bunch of flats, cloudy, color zoning or inclusions. If I Buy a parcel I may get one good stone to cut. When I get quality rough it cost more than the faceted stone is worth! But I only facet for myself and family anyways. Can you guide me in a direction? I'm even willing to go overseas on next years vacation to buy rough.
I had this problem once. Look at your volume on your device and on the RU-vid video itself (bottom left of the video - looks like a sideways bell). If this does not help, look at your browser settings. Hope that helps.
Thanks for your videos and info. I tend to binge-watch in clumps so it's akin to taking a college course. Perhaps you wouldn't mind disclosing some trade secrets on purchasing rough stones? I recently fell into lapidary arts and have a medium grade faceting machine, so wouldn't mind mangling my way through some Rwandan amethyst or similar that is not ridiculous in price. Have you any suggestions? Thank you again.
How can I send you a picture of a stone maybe you can tell me what is it??? had found it in a Old ruins Castle in Kansas City Missouri. It looks like a pease of Tansanite. Sorry for my spelling. Thank you.
you can facet a rock - but the point of faceting is to allow light into a translucent stone to maximize brilliance. for stones like jasper that are opaque the best thing to do is make a cabochon or flat lap it.
I'm curious of one thing you mentioned with regards to the Tanzanite. You said "It's better to cut for size and not for weight .. because it's expensive material." Was that essentially an Oral Typo ? It would seem to me that cutting for Size is cutting for Weight ? Am I correct to say that you meant to say "It's better to cut for size and weight regardless the color orientation .. because it's expensive" ? Or in other words, don't be as concerned of the orientation to get the best color as you are concerned with getting the most weight and biggest size. After all, the stone can be Heat Treated after being cut which "I believe" usually brings out the Blue/Purple color from what is otherwise Brown or Yellow ?
Cutting for color is always something to consider. But weight is also factored in. If you are going to loose 20 % to get the better color then go for weight as all directions in tanzanite cut beautiful gems. The critical factors are cutting to correct angles and a high quality polish. Some gems like tourmaline often have less choice as to direction of cutting.
Thank you fro the information. . You need better lighting.Or maybe just change your lighting so that your face is not being lit from beneath. The reflection from the white papers on the desktop needs to be less than the light that is directly on your face.
Thanks for watching and your feedback. While we strive to make decent quality informational videos, unfortunately we're full time jewelers and gem cutters, not videographers. :/ We'll keep lighting in mind for the next video.
We've used one in the past, but it seemed to dampen the sound (I think the distance was too far to be effective). We're looking into a way to mount a mic near Steve, yet allow us to freely move the camera without getting the cord in the way. Thanks for the feedback, we continually try to improve our videos.
Almost all your videos have very weak audio. So much good information you put out, but can't make use of much of it. One can always turn the audio down if it's there, but you can't make it louder if it's not there. Come on Steve. Enough people have complained about it but still, you don't fix it. Guess you just don't care. So why do you bother at all?
