[Jewelry making - Article 00561] - Re: [Orchid] Bezel setting faceted stones

[Noel]

========[ Invite a Friend - http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm  ]========

>      Windowed stones are only attractive until I teach my customers
>     what well cut stones look like compared to windowed stones. 

    I have been exploring this topic myself, of late. As a beginning
    faceter, I am not great yet at producing well-cut stones, but I am
    examining my collection of stones that I have available to set with
    fresh eyes. What I have concluded so far is: 

    1) Most stones are cut in variations of the brilliant cut, with some
    checkerboard or step cuts thrown in. 

    2) More facets does not necessarily produce more brilliance or more
    attractiveness to my eye (though it does to make for more
    scintillation). I.e, more is not necessarily better. 

    3) The only stones I have (facetted, that is) that are cut with any
    imagination or style were cut by amateurs. 

    4)--Here's the rub-- there doesn't really seem to be a consistent
    relationship between how good a stone looks and what I paid for it. 

    I would say that rarity (or perceived value) seems to have more to
    do with price than beauty. But I am not yet buying really high-end
    stones, and that may skew the results of my very informal survey.
    The most I have paid for a single stone at this point is probaby
    $400. And I'm talking about colored stones, not diamonds. 

    I have a purple sapphire of about three carats that has an
    unfortunate window in the bottom, but everywhere else in the stone,
    it practically glows in the dark. If not for the window, I probably
    couldn't have bought it for $100/carat, MOL. And, at the time, I
    didn't see the window. An educated eye sees a different world. A
    student of mine asked me yesterday if her channel-set diamond ring
    could be enlarged by stretching. Of course, I told her no, but I
    also handed her a loupe to look at her ring. She was astonished to
    see that her ring was not channel set at all, but set with shared
    prongs, down in a groove. Not upset, just quite surprised. But
    she'll look much more closely from now on, I think! 

    I guess I'm rambling here, so I'll stop now. 

--Noel

____________________________________________________________________
T h e   O r c h i d   L i s t
Open Electronic Forum for Jewelry Manufacturing Methods and Procedures
____________________________________________________________________
Orchid FAQ:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/faq.htm
Orchid Archives:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive
Orchid Galleries:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/gallery.htm
Invite a Friend:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm
____________________________________________________________________
Tips From The Jeweler's Bench - Article Archive
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/tip_sear.htm
The Jeweler's Selected Bibliography List
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/jewelry-books
Buy Orchid Jewelry:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/shop
____________________________________________________________________
-Unsubscribe:
-Email: orchid-request AT ganoksin.com Body=unsubscribe subject=blank
____________________________________________________________________