[Jewelry making - Article 00218] - Re: [Orchid] Context and spirit sun diamonds

[Wayne Emery]

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    One of the Munsteiners patented the Context and Spirit Sun cuts for
    diamond about ten years ago, or so. When I first saw them, I
    giggled, because I used to use those cuts to teach beginners how to
    facet color. They are quite simple and have been around and cut by
    colored stone faceters for a very long time. However, they are
    patented for diamond and cannot be cut in diamond without permission
    from the patent holder. There is no restriction for cutting them in
    other than diamond, but the names "Context" and "Spirit Sun" cannot
    be freely used for color. Spirit Sun has been commonly called the
    "Spinning Wheel" or "Wagon Wheel" cut in publications for colored
    stone cutters, while the "Context" cut, is a simple four-facet crown
    and four-facet pavilion. The pavilion is cut on the correct pavilion
    angles for the material, but the crown is cut to very low angles.
    The result is an optical illusion in the stone that is very
    striking, quite unlike the usual brilliance, and very pretty. It
    gets a little "lost" in high RI materials, IMO. Interestingly, they
    were originally designed for low refractive index materials like
    quartz and beryl, and Munsteiner adapted them to diamond and
    patented the design (for diamond). The idea of creating cuts whose
    beauty lies in internal optical illusions rather than "brilliance"
    is one that has not been fully explored, although they are quite
    easy to perform. I have a whole series of cuts that work on that
    principle. Many of my jewelry store customers like these for
    earrings, as they are strikingly different, and different SELLS. For
    me, it's a way to offer something out of the ordinary, yet not
    expensive. I like them in paler amethyst or nice yellow-orange
    citrine, but my real favorite is cut in a color-change synthetic
    that goes from light blue-green to pink to purple. It's just fun!! 

    Sorry, I got carried away!! 

Wayne Emery
The Gemcutter

 
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