The Fourth C (Cut): Today and Tomorrow

1. The cutting market is changing. Objective and subjective factors.
2. Technological progress. High-quality automatic cutting.
3. Artistic cutting. Guilds and competitions of cutters.
4. Precision cutting – what does it mean? Optics, symmetry, convergence, and polishing of facets.
5. Recutting and repolishing. When and what to choose to increase the value of a stone.
6. How to evaluate cut quality. A new approach to evaluating colored stone cuts.
7. Conclusions.

Dear ladies and gentlemen!

Let me welcome you and express my gratitude to the conference organizers for the opportunity to share my thoughts and the results of many years of work with you. Over the past ten years, I have participated in, organized, and judged various cutting competitions, as well as developed cutting designs and cut stones for highly respected jewelry brands. My work has been presented at exhibitions in Russia, France, Germany, Thailand, Hong Kong, the USA, and the United Arab Emirates. Today, I would like to summarize my experience working with both cutting enthusiasts and professionals, draw conclusions, and offer some recommendations.

1. When we read an interesting book, sometimes we want to peek at the end and find out what will happen to our favorite characters. Allow me to take an unconventional approach and reveal one of the last pages of my presentation. One of the main conclusions I have come to, and which I will try to substantiate in this report, is this: The market for cutting and polishing colored gemstones is on the verge of qualitative changes. Note, not quantitative, but qualitative. This means that we are facing changes that will fundamentally alter the approach to the market situation. Now I will try to explain why I came to this conclusion and offer tools that will help us not only avoid suffering from these changes, but also gain maximum benefit.

The cut stone market is closely linked to the jewelry market. Traditionally, stones served as inlays in jewelry, adding charm and variety. But look at the high level of quality jewelry has reached today! Metalworking and stone setting are performed not even under a magnifying glass, but under a microscope! It might seem, why bother? After all, the naked eye seems unable to discern the smallest details of workmanship. This isn't entirely true. Our eyes are perfect optical instruments. The sensitivity of the retina is such that in complete darkness, the eye can even react to individual quanta of light! However, everything the eye sees is accessible to us at different levels of perception. We perceive some of it consciously. But to avoid overloading our memory with excess information, our minds filter out what seems unimportant—minor details, color shades, elements of movement... It's like focusing a magnifying glass—we see the center clearly, but the image blurs toward the edges.

Nevertheless, what is not in the focus of our consciousness (not our eyes – but our consciousness!) is perceived by us on another, subconscious level, forming an impression. Sometimes we can't say why we like one of two seemingly identical stones more than the other. The answer is simple – it is made more precisely. It is enough to take a 10x magnifying glass – and the answer becomes obvious. That is why master jewelers use microscopes. That is why a faceted stone must be changed – to match the quality level of the product. And today the market offers high-precision cutting machines that allow you to raise the quality of the cut to this level.

However, in addition to the objective need and possibility for change, there are also subjective factors. There are people for whom gem cutting is not a job, but a hobby. People who, in their pursuit of perfection, are willing to spend not hours, but days and even weeks on the flawless processing of a single stone. Over time, this passion captivates them so much that they are ready to dedicate not only their free time, but all their time to their beloved craft. And, when accumulated experience allows, these amateurs become professionals. They begin to participate in exhibitions, offering high-quality processed stones on the market, most often with unusual, original designs. They form their own segment – ​​the market for precision and artistic gem cutting.

Let me take a look back at the diamond market. The times when diamonds were cut as carelessly as colored stones are cut today are long gone. Today, a Triple Excellent cut is not uncommon on the market. I can proudly say that my country deserves a significant share of the credit for this. In the Soviet Union, which was a major supplier of diamonds, there was no private ownership of precious stones. All mined diamonds were the property of the state. All enterprises, including the diamond cutting industry, had strict quality control. If the product did not meet the established standards, it was rejected. And, since there was no specific owner of the goods in the diamond industry who would be interested in maximizing the yield, strict adherence to standards was prioritized over the amount of usable material. Therefore, "Russian cut" stones were valued up to 15% more than similar stones from other countries. And so – what was unusual yesterday has become a competitive advantage today, and tomorrow it will become the standard of quality.

2. Technological progress is also constantly moving forward. Automatic cassette machines have already appeared on the market, allowing for the simultaneous cutting of up to 200 stones with fairly high quality. Currently, these are standard shapes. However, several years ago, automatic computer-controlled machines were introduced that allow for the cutting of any fancy designs. They were considered more of an exotic novelty at the time, because the market did not yet demand mass production of such stones. On the contrary, for the mass production of jewelry, standard inserts of specific sizes were preferred. But the market is evolving. Jewelers are no longer limited to the design of the finished pieces; they are beginning to utilize the design of the stones themselves.

I'd like to share an experience from my personal life. I had the opportunity to collaborate with the PRANDA GROUP holding company. It's an active, dynamically developing group of companies, rightfully occupying one of the leading positions in the Asian market. Within the framework of one of their controlled brands, they develop jewelry collections based on pre-selected stone designs. However, this required stones of standard sizes and unusual designs. The group's factories employ excellent gem cutters. But the equipment used today, while allowing for repeatability in cutting fancy shapes of a given size, significantly increases the time required, making the product unprofitable.

To solve the problem, we tried cutting several samples on an automatic, CNC-controlled cassette machine. The results met our expectations. Even without any preliminary adjustments or tuning, the machine produced stones of the required shape and precise dimensions. I can say this experience opens up new market opportunities.

3. Earlier I spoke about amateur gem cutters, some of whom become professionals. Where do they come from, how do they develop, and to what extent can they influence the market situation? There are quite a few people in the world who can afford to spend days, or even weeks, cutting a single stone, perfecting it and dedicating all their free time to it. Like other like-minded individuals, they unite in various non-profit organizations – guilds – where they exchange experience and hold various events – meetings, classes, competitions, seminars, and contests. A prime example of such an event is the Tucson Faceters Frolic, timed to coincide with the annual Tucson gem show. It's three days of lively activities, master classes, and a party where a competition is held for the most beautiful stone. The participants and guests themselves act as the jury, voting for their favorite piece.

These competitions are just one type of diamond cutters' competition. Another type is cutting technique competitions. I'd like to discuss these in more detail.

The most popular gem cutting competitions today are held in the USA and Australia. In America, these are the Single Stone Competitions, organized by the American Guild of Gemcutters among its members. Since members of the guild can be citizens of any country, the competitions can be considered international. Some of my students specifically joined the American Guild in order to participate in these competitions. Participation is remote; everyone who registers cuts the stones at home and sends them to the Organizing Committee, where the stones are numbered and given to the judges for evaluation.

Judging is based on the following criteria: strict adherence to symmetry and uniformity of symmetrical facets; purity of polishing; flatness of facets and sharpness of edges; accuracy of facet convergence; girdle width; compliance with specified dimensions. After evaluation, the judges compile all detected deviations and defects into a single table, and based on this table, a final score (score) for the stone is derived on a 100-point scale with an accuracy of up to four decimal places. Such high accuracy of evaluation usually makes it possible to avoid identical results for different participants. In the Australian international competitions, participants make three stones each. The evaluation criteria there differ slightly, but the essence remains the same.

Why am I dwelling in such detail on technical competitions for amateur gem cutters, which, it would seem, have no relation to the market? Over decades of their existence, constantly improving, these competitions have developed a certain approach to evaluating the quality of gem cutting. Although it is intended for specific purposes and focused on specific designs, it has been formed and tested over time. This is very important. No gemological center in the world (except, perhaps, the Spanish Gemological Institute) includes an assessment of the cut in the certificate of a cut stone. Of the four declared "Cs," only three actually work – weight, color, and clarity. It is these that influence the formation of the stone's price. But why doesn't the fourth "C" – the cut – work? To answer this, let's try to understand what the concept of a "well-cut stone" means and how well existing evaluation systems can define this quality.

4. The main criteria for evaluating the quality of any product – from a simple comb to an exquisite jewelry necklace – have always been beauty, reliability, and functionality, that is, the ability to perform its intended task. The main task of a faceted stone (I'm not talking about collector's and investment stones yet) is to maximize the beauty inherent in it, using the laws of refraction and reflection of light. It is light that helps to fully reveal the potential of a transparent stone. Reflecting many times inside the stone, the light rays create a "kaleidoscope effect," forming patterns of reflections. The more precise the cut, the more regular the pattern. The cleaner the surface of the stone, the more perfect the polishing – the brighter its color.

I think everyone – or almost everyone – present knows what a good cut is. Everyone knows about characteristics such as finish, light return, strict symmetry, correct proportions… Stop! But what proportions should be considered correct? Previously, when we only dealt with a few standard cut shapes, the proportions of those standard shapes were taken as the benchmark. But today, when we have thousands of different cutting schemes on the market, we can no longer talk about the shape, but about the design of the cut. And, since the design of the stone is often directly related to the design of the piece of jewelry (and it doesn't matter which came first – the stone was made for the piece or the piece for the stone), the proportions of the stone that harmoniously suit the piece can be considered correct. In other words, you cannot judge the proportions of a stone without seeing the piece of jewelry for which it is intended. And since we are most often dealing with individual stones, this characteristic can be disregarded.

However, it is worth noting other characteristics, or rather, criteria for evaluating the quality of the cut. These include the precision of the facet alignment and the symmetry of the uniform facets.

When discussing gem cutting competitions, I mentioned the precision of facet alignment. This is evident in the meeting points—the corners—where, according to the cutting design, four or more facets converge at a single point. This point must be precisely a point, not a line segment. Only then will the accuracy of the reflection pattern fully correspond to the designer's intent.

Another aspect of pattern accuracy is maintaining symmetry in the facet design. Imagine a kaleidoscope, where everything is based on symmetry, but one or two elements of the pattern differ from their symmetrical "counterparts." This would be so noticeable that it would spoil the entire impression of the beautiful image. I'm not talking about cases where the designer deliberately deviates from symmetry. I myself have faceted stones that had no symmetrical facets at all. A kind of "harmony of chaos." But that's a different calculation and a different perception. Picasso in gem cutting.

And, of course, the quality of polishing is of great importance in determining high-precision cutting. Currently, abrasive powders with particle sizes of 1/8 and even 1/16 of a micron are available. They allow for achieving absolute flatness of the facets and incredible surface purity. But let's consider whether such precision is really necessary? Abrasive particles cannot leave scratches on the surface larger than their own size. And, if we use 1/4 micron particles for polishing, the scratches will be even finer. But let's remember – the wavelength of visible light is from 0.4 to 0.8 microns. This means that scratches with a width of 0.2 microns simply will not affect the path of visible light waves. That is, we simply won't see them.

It's a different matter if the scratches are larger. Then, the light, reflecting off the facet, slightly changes its direction, that is, it scatters. If there are many such scratches, the surface appears slightly "silky" - this adds a gray component to the main color of the stone, meaning that the color of most stones sold on the market can be improved by simple repolishing. And if, at the same time, the alignment and symmetry of the facets are also improved, the stone can become quite good.

5. Now we smoothly move on to the next point of the report. When is it worth recutting a finished stone, and what tools should be chosen for this? There are four types of stone finishing by a qualified cutter. The first is simple repolishing along existing facets. This makes sense on very expensive stones—rubies, sapphires—if the stone is clean and the color needs to be improved. However, a mirror-like surface is not always desirable. Often, this slight "silky" surface is used deliberately to conceal inclusions in the stone. Therefore, a choice is often made: either improve the stone's color, or... No, you can't improve the clarity, of course, but you can at least slightly conceal the inclusions.

<SLIDE 11> There are just four kinds of recut – repolishing existing facets; repolishing with improving meetpoints; recutting with saving initial shape; totally recutting for another shape. While repolishing existing facets, losses are minimal and can hardly be taken into consideration. For example, when repolishing a wonderful 44ct sapphire, I managed to lose only one point (one hundredth of a carat)! This process is long and quite expensive, because it is necessary to “catch” each facet with the high accuracy, so it is reasonable, first of all, for big and valuable gems without serious optical defects. Such repolishing is useful for increasing the brilliance and colour to some degree.

Repolishing with better meet points usually costs 1-3% of initial gem weight and improves a general look of a gem as well as its brilliance – due to harmony and accurate faceting pattern. This type of recut is also appropriate for expensive gems without any significant optical defects.

<SLIDE 12> Recut with saving initial shape – a more serious step that is required for a gem (as most gems on the market) with wrong proportions leading to “windows” and “extinction”. This category is very diverse and losses may vary from 5 to 35% of gem weight. Recently I recut 15.38 ct sapphire to 13.63 ct one with considerable improvement of color as well as symmetry and brilliance – 11% lost.  <SLIDE 13>

Finally, recut with changing shape is mainly used for large and not expensive gems like quartz or topaz. The result may become not a usual «jewelry insert» but a real art-object, in which the labor cost may considerably exceed the cost of rough. In this case weight losses are most significant, but genuine masterpieces may get born in which the inspiration of master is not limited by strict requirements to save weight. As an example, I may show the kunzite «Touching to Perfection» from the collection «Philosophical Stone» that was displayed at the exhibition in France last year. <SLIDE 14>

Initially it was a usual trillion with the weight of approximately 300 ct. It turned into an amazingly harmonious flower of lotus with the star twinkling inside, its weight now is a little more than 162 ct. The previous cut didn’t arise much astonishment, the final one is difficult to take the eyes off – its harmony is charming. In this case losses are reasonable. So, the key word is said – losses should be reasonable. It concerns not only weight losses, but time consumption and cost of recut. Price of the obtained gem including recutting cost should be higher than the price of the initial gem. The higher is the price of rough, the lower is the share of recutting in the price of the finished gem. So, there should be quite strong reasons to recut totally, say, 6ct ruby. It is necessary to keep in mind so called «magical» sizes, when the price for carat is increasing sharply. For example, 2,97 ct ruby costs much less, than the same ruby of 3,02 ct. It means, we can hardly consider reasonable even the simple repolishing of very expensive gem, if as a result we’ll obtain 3-, 5- instead of 3+, 5+.

Therefore, before deciding on any type of recut, it's essential to carefully calculate and take into account many factors. I'd like to highlight one of them, which has been unfairly overlooked until now.

6. Let me once again turn my attention to the jewelry market. Today, the price of pieces by outstanding master jewelers can many times exceed the total cost of the metal and stones from which they are made, although gold itself is not a cheap material. "Because such masters create true works of art," you might say, and you would be right. But aren't there equally skilled gem cutters today whose works amaze viewers? That's also art! Even if we don't consider such miraculous stones, shouldn't a perfectly cut stone be worth more than the same stone but cut poorly?

Theoretically, yes. In practice, however, there is currently no mechanism that allows for a more or less objective assessment of the quality of the cut and to say how much better one stone is cut than another. Existing systems are so unviable in market conditions that, as I have already said, the quality of the cut is not included in certificates. Judge for yourself. Let's say one stone has correct proportions, is well polished, but has a "window"; another also has correct proportions, no window, but with crooked facets; and a third is without a window, symmetrical, but under-polished. Which one should be preferred? Or, to put it in gemological terms, what is better - VG-VG-VG or EX-F-EX? In addition, each of the five grades on this scale is not a point, but a whole range, in which the actual values ​​can be closer to one side or the other. This stone has five under-polished facets out of 50, and this one has eight. Which one is still VG, and which one is already EX? No expert can say that today. Or rather, they can say it, but they won't be able to explain why...

But the problem isn't really that insurmountable! Or rather, it's already been solved – by the organizers of the gem cutting competitions. Remember, I mentioned the 100-point quality assessment system used in those competitions? I only slightly modified it – simplified some things, generalized others, and eliminated some elements to make it applicable to market conditions. And, very importantly, I proposed a classification of gem cutting quality levels, which complements the numerical value obtained during the assessment.

The system is based on counting the elements of the stone that contain cutting defects. For facets, these include scratches, pits, dents, additional facets, and surface unevenness; for edges, these include chips and roundings; and for pairs of symmetrical facets, these include shape differences. The data is entered into a spreadsheet, which, using special formulas and taking into account the complexity of the design and the severity of the defects, produces a final score. If there are no defects, the score remains unchanged and remains at 100 points. If defects are present, the score is calculated to four decimal places.

In Australia, there's even an informal club called "100 Points"—it's made up of people who have received a 100-point rating on at least one stone they submitted to the World Championship. Today, this club has about twenty members, covering the entire cutting world.

Next. All possible variations of cut quality are divided into three classes — Commercial, Quality, and Elite — according to the points awarded. Each class, in turn, is divided into three subclasses. And, while the subclasses of the first two are simply designated by numbers — Commercial-2 or Quality-1, the Elite subclasses have their own names: Premium, Extra, and Ideal. The Elite class includes stones cut with at least 95 points, and to qualify for Elite-Ideal, you need to score at least 99. I can say from experience that making such a stone is extremely difficult, and it takes a lot of time. Therefore, there are very few stones with an Elite cut on the market. And Elite-Ideal stones are practically non-existent, because there are very few such masters, and, as a rule, they are not professionals — cutting is just a hobby for them.

Most stones sold on the market belong to the Commercial-1/2 or Quality-3 groups. Although, recently, more and more stones of higher Quality subclasses are appearing. It is clear that for them, conducting a cut quality assessment procedure is hardly worthwhile. But for Elite class stones, such confirmation would be an undeniable competitive advantage and justification for a price increase. People have always been willing to pay more for high quality, especially for quality that elevates the product to the world elite. And when expert appraisers develop rules for determining the price of stones with the highest quality of processing, we will return to the question: "Is it worth recutting certain gemstones?"