Buffy Acacia
Jewels have been charming for thousands of years. Whether it’s psychological conditioning or the shared link of DNA between humans and crows, we are drawn to something that shines. Although the techniques of gem cutting have a long, twisting history, the facets of gems in ways we know today are actually a relatively recent development that requires sophisticated science to both conceptualize and implement them. Whether it’s a diamond set bezel or a gem of a huge statement on the watch’s dial, understanding the manufacturing process only increases your appreciation for them.
Grinding, cutting, facet short background
As long as humans carve stones, it is clear that stones of different hardness are keys. Ranked 7th out of 10 on the MOHS Hardness scale, Flint can usually be carved by marking four limestones on the MOHS scale. The grinding works in a similar way, removing dust and chips from hard stones and deliberately erodes soft objects. Since gems do not always look fantastic straight from the ground, grinding and polishing were essential to remove unnecessary defects, remaining host rocks, or sharp edges, so that the natural colour of the stone shines through. Cabocon is a round, polished stone with no facet edges.
The grinding and grinding were feasible, but it is incredibly labor-intensive. Lapidary workers have noticed that there is an easy way to clean the stones. It was due to the art of cruel and somewhat horrifying mutilation. Many crystals, including diamonds, have natural cleavage within them. This means that if you hit it hard enough in a very specific location, the section will break and leave a completely flat surface. It sacrifices the overall stone much more, but at a time when we were unable to mass-produce grinding discs mounted on diamonds, it was the only way to cut diamonds. The term “cutting” is also where it comes from, rather than grinding.
No one really knows where facet really began, but in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries, it took off in Europe as technology and knowledge became more widespread. The flat surface not only gave us a better view of the inside of the stone, but also made it easier to judge the quality of the stone, as well as reflecting itself. As facets evolved over the next hundreds of years, they have truly become an art form in themselves. Every stone has its own refractive index that determines how light passes through them, so a good gem cutter knows the angle that brings out the best color and clarity of each gem. Later, as polishing and grinding improved, more complicated cuts were possible without the need for cutting. Well, here are some of the different cuts.
Round Brilliant
A watch buying with diamonds on the bezel or time marker is more likely to feature round brilliant cuts, as it is the most prolific style of diamond cutting. It is a common type of stone that has been featured in all kinds of jewelry and is chosen as an engagement ring. Before the Victorian era, most diamonds used rose cuts with very visible triangular facets. This developed into an old European cut with a very specific design of 58 facets, with a significant increase in reflectivity within the stone, making it even more shiny.
The modern round brilliant cut was designed in the 1950s and also has 58 (or 57) facets, essentially improving the old European cut to have more flashes, even when dealing with small stones. Diamonds are particularly known for “fire” because white light is split into visible spectra by bounces off the facet. With the advent of round brilliant cuts, smaller, cheaper diamonds have become more marketable, as customers are more easily surprised by their presence. The round brilliant has also been changed to countless other flashy cuts, including triangular cuts, tear-shaped pear cuts, and elongated oval marquise cuts.
baguette
The natural crystal structure of diamonds is octahedral. Of course, by the time a diamond reaches the surface of the earth, it is usually a bit damaged, and not all stones will form under optimal conditions to take the default shape, and rarely form without defects. One of the early styles of diamond cutting in octahedral diamonds is called hogbacks and can be ended with a long octahedron, about 1/4 of the weight of the original stone, using two strikes. A baguette cut is a change of hogback, grinding the top point of its octahedron and creating a flat table on top of it.
The baguette cut, which is straight and rectangular in appearance from the top and bottom, clearly shows the Art Deco character of its origins in the 1920s and 30s. Therefore, they were enjoyed with watches by women such as Cartier and Vaccheron Constantine. Baguette diamonds don’t have the same shine as round-like glow, but are usually much larger than round glow and are even more impressive when lined up around the watch case. A further development of baguette cuts mimics the naturally formed octagonal shape of emerald crystals, with emerald cuts placed on top to create an octagon.
Fancy
Can I name all the shapes that may exist? Even if you could, it won’t make good use of your time. When faceting gems, sometimes coarse specimens don’t help being cut in traditional ways. But that doesn’t mean that the perfect potential of its beauty is not worthy of realisation. A flashy cut is a name given to a non-standard cut that can contain asymmetrical styles, or simply gems cut to preserve their huge size. After all, if you find a record diamond with incredible proportions, it’s a shame that you’ll lose more than 50% of that weight to become a standard round.
Cutters are becoming more creative in an age where people are so focused on cut gems that they are now overly used to seeing round glow. Some of these more avant-garde shapes contain hundreds of cuts across different regions, resulting in eye-catching optical effects, particularly light effects that use concave cutting rather than purely flat facets. Sometimes called fantasy cuts, these cuts are incredibly tedious and can be ordered at a huge price point, even at affordable prices such as amethyst and topaz. Another example of growing popularity is that Pixel Cut makes the gem look like a low-Res video game. These kinds of cuts have yet to play it out for watchmaking and are still within the realm of experimental jewelry, but the trend will soon catch up.
