A skilled craftsman can turn a dull pebble into a valued stone. For centuries, various styles and techniques have been developed for such transformation and today craftsmen have various cutting styles available for displaying a gem's special quality. A lapidary needs to consider the rough material's shape and position of the flaw fractures when he wants to cut a gemstone in the best manner.
He must also be aware of the optical properties of the minerals along with the physical properties. Producing a well polished parallel to the direction of the cleavage is not easy. However, a diamond's cut can be often considered as a compromise between production of biggest gemstones and full display of beauty, since size also has an impact on the value.
The simplest and oldest cut is the Cabochons. These are oval or round gems having a curved and plain surface. This cut is in use today as well and it displays the patterns and colors in translucent and opaque stones in the best manner. Even optical effects like iridescence, cat's eye, stars and sheen can be best displayed by this cut.
Today, for all the transparent gems, faceted styles are used. These styles were developed much later and became very famous in medieval India and Europe. A pattern of well polished flat planes or facets are worked on the gem's surface in these styles. These facets act like mirrors. The reflection of light takes place from the surface of the crown facets that displays luster.
Through the top part of the stone, light that enters the gem gets reflected from the bottom facets, which display fire and color. It is very important for the facets to be angled precisely so that maximum beauty and sparkle can be provided to the gem, angles varying based on each gem's mineral property. If a gem is not cut in the right manner, light tends to leak out through the bottom facet and due to this, the fire and color is lost.
When it comes to modern jewelry, step cut and brilliant cut are the most popular and familiar styles. The brilliant cut was introduced for showing off the outstanding fire and luster that diamonds are famous for. It was also used for other gemstones. Stones like emeralds have a very good color quality and step cut is considered to be perfect for such stones. But for most of the gemstones, the brilliant cut is the most popular.
The number of angles and facets that should be given to a diamond or any other stone is worked out on a mathematical basis and due to this the stone sparkles and looks bright. Most of the diamonds available in the market are cut as round brilliants. Each stone has approximately 58 facets and under this, 33 facets are the part on the top and 25 facets are found on the lower part. Larger stones can have more than 58 facets. Without the culet there can be 57 facets in a gemstone.
