Deep Diving into Gem Faceting: My Brilliant Adventure with Emerald Cut

This Pursuit of perfection, my readers, is indeed necessary when it comes to the world of jewellery where devil is ALWAYS in the detail.

Dearest readers,

If you recall, this writer embarked on the journey of gemstone faceting early this year. After more than 120 hours of training, and having practiced over 9 different cutting styles, I finally graduated from the beginner’s program. In light of such a fruitful experience, I thought of dedicating this story to the emerald cut — the last cutting style I worked on before moving on to the next level.

What’s an Emerald Cut?

The name emerald cut may cause confusion to many. To readers who are well versed in gemstones, you would already know that emerald is essentially a green variety of the mineral beryl. The name, emerald, is derived from the ancient Greek word smaragdus, meaning green.

Since antiquity, the beauty of emerald has fascinated human kind, among them the most famous Egyptian queen: Cleopatra. In Pliny the Elder’s Natural History published in the first century A.D., the Roman author and philosopher referred to emerald as “…nothing greens greener”. Even today, emerald remains one of the world’s most sought-after and treasured precious stones.

One of the world’s largest uncut emeralds: The Duke of Devonshire Emerald
Courtesy of Gem-A

Due to the fact that emeralds are brittle and naturally susceptible to fracture, it has always been a challenge for lapidaries to prevent the stone from breaking during the cutting process. Around the 1500s, a specific cutting style that was later known as the “emerald cut” was developed. The rectangular shape of this style not only corresponds to the long crystal formation of emeralds, but also ensures the maximum yield of the stone. Not surprisingly, diamond cutter also adapted this geometric cutting style to diamonds, which became popular during the Art Deco period.

What is it like to facet an emerald-cut?

In comparison to an excess of brilliance and fire emitted from that of a brilliant cut, the arrangement of an emerald cut’s elongated facets yields a clean and elegant look. When viewed from different angles, the flash of light created by an emerald cut can be gentle yet playful. What’s more, this cutting style always invites its viewer to look into the gemstone, examining its clarity and whatever that’s ‘included’ inside this micro universe created by nature.

In the process of faceting the emerald cut’s pavilion

The writer was excited after finding out that I’ll be able to try my hands on faceting an emerald cut — my favourite cutting style. Due to my previous training in a variety of cutting styles, the step-cut like crown and pavilion of an emerald cut didn’t seem to be difficult at first. The real challenge, however, did rise above the surface during the polishing process.

Given that an emerald cut’s facets are symmetrically arranged in vertical and horizontal directions, any minor error — even only 0.01 millimetre — will result in something that looks out of alignment to the eyes. Having said that, I had no choice but to pay extra attention during the polishing process.

Just in case if you, intelligent readers, haven’t noticed, I turn into a perfectionist when it comes to gemstone faceting. Not only do I ask that the cut of the stone needs to look perfect to the naked eye, it must also stand the test of inspection under a jeweller’s loupe (at higher magnifications than 10×). This pursuit of perfection, my readers, is indeed necessary when it comes to the world of jewellery where devil is ALWAYS in the details.

In the process of faceting the emerald cut’s crown

After I finished polishing my emerald cut, my instructor suggested that I should try a variation of it. For the moment, the writer would refer to this variation as a “modified emerald cut”. A modified emerald cut keeps an emerald cut’s step-cut pavilion, but adds extra facets to the crown, resulting in a crown similar to that of a radiant cut.

Again, I adapted the blind-cutting skills I’ve acquired earlier to complete this modified emerald cut. By substituting a set of the elongated facets with star facets, the modified emerald cut yields more flash of light and fire while keeping the elegance of an emerald cut.

I’m extremely delighted that the first part of my explorative journey in the world of gemstone faceting ends here on a good note. I can’t wait to learn more about what’s coming in the advanced program. Needless to say, the writer would be more than happy to share with you the sequel to this tale of discovery. In the meantime, curious readers, your patience will be put to the test.

Shaopeng