Sneaky Gems.

[SneakyCuttlefish]

This is another light pink morganite. The lighting isn't the best in the photo's (it's 12p.m. and I am to tired to try for a better shot) but the stone has a very pleasant light pink right through out and is flawless. Unfortunately my scales are still busted but I would hazard a guess at around 12 carats.

36 hours from design concept to finished product. What a marathon! I trailed almost 200 different facet positions to get the combinations right. This particular design has a few curious quirks to it. Firstly it stands up on its own! To get this to work with the particular crown configuration was really challenging. Second, this cut violates a few critical angle rules. There are 2 pavilion facets that are cut well below the critical angle for beryl. This is so that light that enters from the tip of the stone will bounce off the pavilion, hit the table, but instead of escaping it is reflected back down onto these 2 facets and then back up and exits at different positions. This in turn boosts the scintillation as the stone is tilted from side to side. These shallow facets are actually tucked out of the way of the table so there is minimal leakage. The design still needs some work to get it where I want it to be but overall it turned out pretty well.

I decided to call it Loki's Dagger. Mostly because it is a tricky little ******* to get right and partly because it looks a bit like a blade without a handle.

 

[Lefty]

Very nice work there SC :Y: That looks like an excellent design for a pendent stone.

 

[Chiron52]

Oh, wow SC, love that Loki's Dagger.
Showed the missus and her eyes nearly popped out of her head.
Keep posting your work mate.
It's a joy to behold.

 

[SneakyCuttlefish]

Thanks! Glad you like it.

 

[Mr Magoo]

You do some very unique cuts SC. Especially exploring those triangular cuts. :Y:

 

[SneakyCuttlefish]

There's something about triangle cuts. The scintillation is off the charts compared to almost every other shape. Such a shame that they are very wasteful unless the rough is already triangle shaped. That probably explains why triangles are more scarce. The effect is worth it though.

 

[Mr Magoo]

Totally concur. I was playing with triangular cuts on Gemcad/Ray and the results were phenomenal. The odd number does contribute heavily towards this. Nether the less these spear head designs of yours are very appeasing. And large stones do accentuate the cutting error which you appear to have under control. Very nice.

 

[Lefty]

Yep, there just seems to be something special about triangles. Excellent brilliance and often very intruiging reflection patterns as well.

 

[Heatho]

Another amazing looking stone mate, well done. :Y: :Y:

 

[Gilly47]

NOICE

 

[Bushbear]

You have a great eye for what the stone will give back when cut. Beautiful work keep us posted please.

 

[SneakyCuttlefish]

Turns out I get bored easy so I switched to some nicely coloured citrine. This is a test cut of a new round design. Its the first round I have seen that I actually like. Most rounds (my opinion) come out lifeless and boring compared to other shapes. This one seems to capture all the fire a good stone should have. Quartz RI's are the lowest the design will work in but it needs pavilion mains of at least 42 degrees. It was originally designed for a nice blue topaz sitting in my rough collection. In topaz, pav mains of 39.5 works extremely well and it just keeps getting better and better the higher you go. Can't wait to cut a zircon in this design! It should also perform really well in Morganite with a few adjustments.

I have decided I greatly dislike polishing quartz. I'm a diamond polish fan. Haven't been able to get cerium to work for me yet and the scratches even in 100k diamond polish are a nightmare to eliminate. Quartz with diamond polish is double the time and patience to get right!

Expo Brilliant
157 factes (16 girdle facets)
Mix of 4, 8 and 16 fold symmetries.

 

[Heatho]

Outstanding stone mate. I've heard a few people say the same things about polishing quartz. Great cut too. :Y:

 

[Wally69]

Nice stone SC, the 157 facets have done their job well.

Nice rich coloured stone, do you know its origin ?

 

[SneakyCuttlefish]

Hi Wally. This was sold to me as a Pakistani stone. However, considering I never sourced the rough myself I wouldn't bank on it being from there.

 

[SneakyCuttlefish]

Finally home from the land of cheese and mountains (Switzerland). Managed to secure some great contacts and some stunning stones. Switzerland is renowned for the finest quality smoky quartz crystals in the world. The optical properties and clarity of alpine Smokys are unmatched. Even the finest Brazilian stones just don't seem to gleam quite like the Swiss stones. A defining characteristic of Swiss smokys is the rough stones often exhibited a lined or layered surface. This can help to distinguish from Brazilian stones which are more often than not very smooth.

I had the opportunity to buy crystals the size of my arm and almost flawless in their natural form but sadly luggage weight restrictions are always an issue. I did manage to get a nice parcel of smaller points for faceting and will look at getting some clusters and big points for next time.

Smokys aren't really worth a lot compared to other stones but ultra fine faceted stones can fetch similar prices to high quality amethyst. The biggest attraction for me is they are great fun to cut and the finished product always looks stunning. A couple of nice points below. Some of them look like they have inclusions but they are actually the outside of the stone reflecting though an incredibly clean interior.

This piece below is the perfect example of ridiculous clarity. The colour is lighter but the stone is so clean you can read fine print through it. It will make a great addition to my collection. You can just make out the layered texture in this pic.

 

[Lefty]

Scored well there SC! :Y: That is truly some beautifully clean material - are you going to facet any of them or just keep them as specimens?

 

[SneakyCuttlefish]

Most will be faceted. I only had enough space left in the luggage for small facet grade points after loading up on chocolate and fondue

These stones come direct from the strahler's who go up in the mountains to dig them out and their private collections are awe inspiring. Clusters as big as lawn mowers with insanely clean, rich coloured points. (drool)

Way out of my price range though. Some of the big ones were up in the tens of thousands of francs. Considering the lousy exchange rate and the unbelievable postage costs its just to expensive to bring them home and be able to retail them. Even if you manage to talk them down on price its still a killer. The average aussie mineral collector wouldn't pay that kind of coin for smoky quartz so i think the big ones would sit for years as a very expensive door stops.

 

[SneakyCuttlefish]

Now theres something you don't see everyday! I had the opportunity to have a play around with some opal for a forum member this week. Opals are almost always cabbed due to the softness of the material but this time the request was for a faceted peice!

It was a bit of work to isolate a facetable peice from the rough.

Shapped into a jelly bean. I still had to remove all the solid yellow and potch. This left a small and challenging peice of blue left to work with.

Turned out really well but the opalescence is incredibly hard to capture with a photo. It looks stunning in person and it changes colour in diffrent lighting. It has an incredible fire in direct light and a cool glow in the shade but I just can't capture it in a photo. Definitely the trickiest stone I have ever tried to photograph. I'll try for a better shot in the morning sun. 6.5mm modified Highlight Brilliant cut.

 

[7.62marksman]

Mate that is absolutely beautiful
The member is lucky to get something like that