Gemcutting 101

 

I've recently told you of my first gemcutting experiences, but i didn't go into much detail about the process, besides showing you the feedback I got from a first cut. Let us compensate for that lack today, and also show you some more advanced gems I was able to carve.

Gemcutting 101

1. What do I need?

Gemcutting is the art of taking gems and cutting, grinding, polishing and (perhaps) setting them into metal pieces of jewellery. 

As for materials, what you need are gems. These can either be bought from some dealer, like Jeromee, in Slippery Hollow, or mined from the earth in Copperhead. In whichever way you get them, rough, uncut gems come into three different types, which depend on size:

shard (huge)

fragment (large)

chip (small)

Besides the gems, you will need some tools to work them: you'll need a set of gemcutting tools, which you can acquire from Jeromee, and a polishing cloth (if you bought one for goldsmithing, it will do the job).

l cloth

This soft cloth can be used to polish jewellery and gemstones to a lustrous shine, removing every last vestige of roughness.

It is in excellent condition.

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l tools

This soft canvas roll contains the portable tools needed for the craft of gemcutting.  Leather loops hold a small hammer, a diamond-tipped chisel, several different sizes of tapered pliers and a notching tool when they are not in use.  There is also a special pocket that would be perfect for a polishing cloth.

It is in excellent condition.

It is open.

Other tools which you need, but which are not possible to carry (meaning you'll have to go to a place like Jeromee's to use them) are a gem tumbler and a gem grinder:

The jewellery crafting room is considerably more functional and practical than the showroom next door.  Benches line the walls, and each bench is equipped with various tools.

A polished wooden counter is placed along the north wall, a goldsmith's workbench is against the west wall, and a gem tumbler and gem grinding wheel are lined up on a bench against the south wall.

There is one obvious exit: east.

Jeromee is standing behind the polished wooden counter.

A large sign is pasted on the counter.

l tumbler
This device features a hollow steel barrel the inside of which has been coated with diamond dust.  A sturdy wooden handle attaches to the drum, allowing it to be turned at speed, tumbling any gems placed inside it.
It is in excellent condition.
It is open.

l grinder

This device features a steel disc which, through means of a pedal, can be turned at high speeds.  It is coated with diamond dust to enable even the hardest of gems to be ground upon its surface.  It has several vices of different sizes to allow gems of all sizes to be held firmly in place while being ground.

As for the skills, you will be using a maximum of 3: gem cutting, gem polishing and gem setting (you could perhaps add gem valueing to be able to calculate how much money your gems can fetch).  Of the ones I've tried, it seems that polishing is much more demanding in ability than cutting.

So you've got your rough gem and are ready to go. Let's move to point two:

2. What can I do?

Chip: This uses cutting, and what it does is attempt to break a gem into smaller pieces. Besides the three sizes we've already seem, you can use chip to produce two other sizes: Medium and Tiny. A failure in chipping will result in a smaller gem, where you've destroyed, instead of separating, the chipped part. If the size was already small, you can end up with a gem that is tinier than tiny, and cannot be cut.

Shave: This uses cutting, and is the inverse of cutting proper (more about which in the next point), turning a cut gem into a smaller, uncut one. I haven't used this skill, and am not sure why you would (perhaps the cut was botched?). A failure means you get an even smaller uncut gem.

Cut: This uses cutting, and turns the gem into a 'cut' gem. Cuts fall into two classes: the cabochon cuts (which are easy, and which you can do after you've tumbled a gem) and the faceted cuts (more complex, with different levels of difficulty). A failure here results in a gem whose description indicates the cut was not perfectly done.

Grind: This uses polishing, and is the next stage after cutting. It turns the gem into a regular, better cut version of the gem cut, for which cutting just outlined the main aspects. A failure stops you from completing the stage, and you have to try the grinding again.

Polish: This uses polishing too, and it turns the gem into its final, perfect state. A failure, like in grinding, just does nothing to the gem, except that you are forced to try polishing again.

Set: This uses setting, and it sets the gem within some metallic piece of jewellery, forming a new, gem-set jewel. The process cannot be undone. A failure has the potential to scratch the gem, forcing you to polish it again.

3. How does it go?

So you've got your gems and tools and are at the gemcutting smithy. First thing, you have to decide what cut you are going to do with the gem, with two general paths:

Tumbling: If the gem is low quality and/or you lack skills, the best choice is to tumble. This means you put the gem in the tumbler shown above and turn it around a few times (careful not to make it too many, or your gems will turn to dust). Tumbling roughly gives them the appropriate shape. You then proceed to cut the gem with one of the three cabochon cuts: Cabochon, High Cabochon, or Lentil-shaped Cabochon. Once this is complete, you grind and polish the gem, and you've finished.

Faceted Cuts: if you want a more valuable, but also a more difficult, gem, you avoid the tumbling and go directly to the more complex, faceted cuts. Again, after you've completed the cutting satisfactorily, you still have to grind and polish the gem (and to set it in jewellery, if that is the desired outcome). There are many types of faceted cuts, which become more difficult to do the more facets they produce:

Intermediate cuts

Baguette (20 facets)

Tapered Baguette (20 facets)

Octagonal Step (25 facets)

Advanced cuts

Trillion (44 facets)

Pear-shaped (54 facets)

Cushion (54 facets)

More Advanced cuts

Rose (57 facets)

Marquise (57 facets)

Expert cuts

Brilliant (57 facets)

Heart-shaped (59 facets)

Oval-shaped (69 facets)

Teardrop (71 facets)

Princess (76 facets)

Once the gem is ready, you can sell them! The prices they will fetch will depend on a couple of elements, besides the skills you've employed in getting them to a cut and polished state: the first is the gem material: gems fall into one of 8 different classes of increasing quality and value. The second is gem quality: each gem can be of either low, average, high or very high grade. These qualities also constrain what types of cuts can be made on the gems to begin with. You can find information of which gem belongs to which class here.

In my first post I included some very basic gems with the easiest of cuts. Some slightly more complex ones I've succeed in recently are the following:

a tiny rose cut variegated green tourmaline: 

This tiny tourmaline has been cut to a round shape when viewed from the top. Light glints off the gem's fifty-seven perfect facets.

a tiny marquise cut variegated green tourmaline: 

This tiny tourmaline has been cut into a symmetrical boat shape with pointed ends. It has fifty-seven shiny facets.

a tiny brilliant cut yellow jasper: 

This tiny jasper when viewed from the top has a flat round shape and side on it is pyramidal. It has fifty-seven facets which reflect the light.

a tiny heart-cut yellow jasper: 

This tiny jasper has been cut into a pear shape with a cleft at the top, making it look like a love heart. Light is reflected off its fifty-nine facets.

a tiny oval-shaped cut pale green chrysoprase:

This tiny chrysoprase has been cut into a modified brilliant shape with an oval-shaped girdle outline. Light sparkles off its sixty-nine facets.

a tiny teardrop cut pale green chrysoprase:

This tiny chrysoprase has been cut into an asymmetrical shape with one pointed end and one rounded end. This is a hybrid cut, combining the best of the oval and the marquise shapes. The gem's translucent properties have been enhanced by its seventy-one facets.

a tiny princess cut rose beryl:

This tiny rose beryl has been cut into a square modified brilliant shape. Its seventy-six facets sparkle attractively in the light.