I've long noticed that cut gemstones can influence a person's psychophysiological state. Some more strongly, others less so. A friend of mine told me, \"When I observe the play of light on the facets of a master-crafted stone, I seem to dissolve into it; my headache disappears, my mood and overall well-being improve. But not all stones can do this.\" Reflecting on this, I came to the following conclusion. Our eyes see and register much more than the mind can consciously perceive. Scientists say that in absolute darkness, the eye can even react to individual quanta of light! But from the ocean of information that the retina records every moment, the brain carefully filters out what it deems \"unimportant.\" Let's take this into account and return to gemstones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Currently, the vast majority of stones on the market have low-quality cuts. The facets overlap, their shapes are completely different, strict symmetry is absent, the surfaces are not flat but rounded, and the polishing is far from mirror-like. Often, all of this is visible (or, more precisely, noticeable upon examination) even to the naked eye. That is, the stones presented on the market today are mostly disharmonious, and therefore the aesthetic perception of the stone and its impact on the psycho-physiological state are correspondingly low. The eye usually glides over such \"scattered\" stones without lingering. However, I have had the opportunity to hold in my hands the works of true masters of gem cutting, Masters with a capital M. Even synthetic stones, devoid of powerful natural energy, are captivating, attractive, calming, and pleasing. Once you hold them in your hands, it's difficult to let them go. The conclusion is obvious: the quality of the cut of a gemstone plays a key role in its consumer properties; a good cut can reveal the merits of even the simplest and most unremarkable material, while a poor one can negate all the charm of the best and most expensive gemstones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another observation that might be interesting can be made by comparing the market for gemstones and jewelry. Jewelry, as a rule, costs five to ten times more than the metal from which it is made (gold, silver, platinum, palladium, etc.), depending on the complexity of the work and without taking into account the cost of the stones. At the same time, the cost of cut stones on the market is comparable to the cost of the raw material, minus the portion of the material that is wasted during processing. This means that the cost of the cutter's work tends to zero. And this is quite understandable. Today, most gemstones enter the market from \"developing\" countries \u2013 Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America \u2013 where the level of technical equipment is minimal, and the price of manual labor is extremely low. Receiving a meager salary, such a cutter can process up to two dozen stones a day! One can imagine what the quality of the work will be like! At the same time, true masters, who work in such a way that the errors in cutting are practically indistinguishable even at 10x magnification, spend from 15 to 40 working hours cutting a single stone, depending on the complexity of the design and the physical properties of the particular stone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here, a small digression is necessary. The term \"cut design\" was mentioned. We are accustomed to a different expression \u2013 \"cut shape.\" These shapes are well-known: round, oval, rectangular, rhombus, marquise (\"boat\"), triangle, pear, and heart. In reality, amateur enthusiasts and professional masters have already developed many hundreds, if not thousands (!) of variations of these shapes. And now the \"round\" shape encompasses a huge spectrum of designs, from a simple \"brilliant\" with 17 facets to the incredibly complex \"Patience II,\" developed by the American master Jeff Graham, which has 735 facets! And how many different variations there are when, for example, rotating the stone in your hands under a beam of light, you see inside a rectangle, then an oval, and then suddenly a Maltese Cross \"flashes\"! And what about, for example, the \"Eye of Cleopatra,\" also created by a master from the USA (Bob Keller), in which 145 facets of the stone form an absolutely proportional eye, with its pupil and even an iris! Sometimes the facets form a wonderful snowflake pattern, and sometimes \u2013 the silhouette of an animal or insect... Thus, cut design is the first step from the product of a craftsman's labor to a true work of art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, so far, few buyers have had the opportunity to appreciate this art. In the conditions of an underdeveloped market and an unformed culture of understanding the beauty of gemstones, it is difficult for craftsmen to withstand the flood of cheap stones coming from \"developing\" countries. And, to a large extent, perhaps they don't even need to. They find joy in the work itself, in interacting with the stone; they are driven by a healthy competitive spirit to make things more complex, better, more precise... A terrible opinion, rooted in ignorance, prevails in the minds of gemstone buyers: \"If you can't see the difference, why pay more?\" But the difference is noticeable, it's just not consciously perceived...<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today I asked a master jeweler: \"How much does it cost to make a piece of jewelry to my order, a one-of-a-kind piece with high-quality workmanship?\" He quoted a sum 10-15 times higher than the price of the gold itself. Then I went to a gem cutter and asked the same question: \"I need a high-quality cut stone, custom-made from my raw material. How much does your work cost?\" The gem cutter replied: \"25-30% of the stone's value.\" Of course, he was basing this on the price of similar stones (without considering the quality of the cut!) sold on the market. Why?! Why so little?! Is the gem cutter's work less meticulous than the jeweler's? No. Less responsible? No. Less harmful to health? No and no. So why? \"If I ask for more, you'll go to the market and buy a cheap stone from Thailand or Brazil, and I'll be out of work. If the difference isn't noticeable \u2013 why pay more?\" But no, my friends! The difference is noticeable and quite tangible if you carefully pay attention to your feelings. Try it, feel the difference! Of course, cheap stones are also needed; not everyone can afford to order masterpieces. But it's necessary to differentiate the market segments: this is the market for cheap mass-produced goods, which serve only as inserts in jewelry; and this is the market for expensive, exclusive stones, for which the jewelry setting will only be a modest frame, emphasizing their value and charm. I am confident that both types of stones will find their buyers, and the demand for expensive stones of the highest quality cut will only grow as people's culture develops and the \"range of conscious perception\" of Beauty and Perfection expands.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I've long noticed that cut gemstones can influence a person's psychophysiological state. Some more strongly, others less so. A friend of mine told me, \"When I observe the play of light on the facets of a master-crafted stone, I seem to dissolve into it; my headache disappears, my mood and overall well-being improve. But not all stones can do this.\" Reflecting on this, I came to the following conclusion. Our eyes see and register much more than the mind can consciously perceive. <\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2842,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-publications"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n