Post subject: Re: Off the dop - post YOUR latest creation
Posted: Sun May 17, 2020 2:52 am
Gold Member
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2007 5:04 pm Posts: 1642 Location: Walnut Creek, CA
A quick 3.05 ct tourmaline. The rough was rather unimpressive: nice bluish-green but with a yuck yellowish green along the c axis, and a few small specks inside that could make the appearance of a final gem weird.
The shape of the piece really screamed for a simple opposed bars design, like the one I posted a long time ago on the GemologyProject. Nothing too original, but it's excellent at taking care of the less desired c axis color, and the squares will blend with the tiny aligned specks much better than with a round pavillion. People seem to like it too.
So I ended up getting a tourmaline that looks almost like a nice emerald (and equally difficult to photograph). The small specks are almost invisible to the naked eye, and the color is the best I could have hoped for this piece. VERY pleased, since the piece of rough was not that impressive and I sorta cut it with a "let's hope at least is not just a waste of time..."
Nice work Maialetto. I always like opposed bar cuts.
They say photo's don't lie, but when it comes to gemstones they often do. The photo's taken with a macro lens seem to really bring out inclusions way more than what you see with the naked eye. I often notice bits of epoxy left on the stone after looking at the photo, that I never noticed when cleaning it off under the OptiVisor.
Since I had cleaned the dust of the Ultratec machine, I thought I may as well do another concave cut. This one is an Umbalite Garnet around 6 carats.
Post subject: Re: Off the dop - post YOUR latest creation
Posted: Mon May 18, 2020 6:31 pm
Active Member
Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2017 8:33 pm Posts: 80
Nice opposed bar cut, I like that design, my wife doesnt I like your photographs a lot precision Gem, obviously your gemstones as well. I wonder if those fantasy cuts show much dispersion or the concave facets hide it. Never seen one in person.
And Yes, crazy how all the nasty details are seen by a camera instead of a human eye, a short coming of manufacturers pushing towards getting every possible detail in a photograph. Am sure that will change as tech improves and gets closer to the human visual system. Same for color reproduction and more complex optical features like dispersion and flaring as seen through a stereoscopic system like ours. I am not an expert in the matter but when I set up my camera for gem photographing in the future, I will be taking stereo photographs and then combining them into one in order to get the same amount of scintillation and fire as seen in person. The brain mixes flashes of reflection/dispersion from both eyes into one image which means that a normal photograph taken from one vantage point will be half as sparkly and colorful as when you see it with your eye. Food for thought
Post subject: Re: Off the dop - post YOUR latest creation
Posted: Mon May 25, 2020 9:59 pm
Moderator
Joined: Fri Jun 25, 2010 10:06 pm Posts: 2267 Location: Chapel Hill, NC / Toronto, ON
Precision Gem wrote:
TheL wrote:
Precision Gem, and which one would that be? will the flat faceted or concave faceted give you better profits?
It really depends on the stone. Typically the concave stones all other things being equal will sell for more, but they do take longer to cut.
But do you go just by profit margin, or profit margin per time worked? I'm not sure that I'd be willing to do concave faceting for an increased profit margin if it doubles the amount of time it takes me to finish a stone.
Precision Gem, and which one would that be? will the flat faceted or concave faceted give you better profits?
It really depends on the stone. Typically the concave stones all other things being equal will sell for more, but they do take longer to cut.
But do you go just by profit margin, or profit margin per time worked? I'm not sure that I'd be willing to do concave faceting for an increased profit margin if it doubles the amount of time it takes me to finish a stone.
Profit Margin was maybe a bad term to use. Profit would be better. All things being equal, I would need to charge more for the concave stone, as it does take longer.
Profit margin can be deceiving. Take for example:
You buy an Amethyst rough stone, 10 cts. for $1 per ct = $10 for the stone. Cut a 3.5 ct stone, and sell it for $45 per ct. = $157 The profit margin looks pretty good at almost 94%, but your actual profit is only $147.
Now if you bought a Tsavorite stone, 10 cts for $200 per ct = $2000 Cut a 3.5 ct stone and sell it for $1800 per ct = $6300 Your profit margin is lower at 68%, but the profit is much higher at $4300 for the same amount of cutting time.
Post subject: Re: Off the dop - post YOUR latest creation
Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2020 8:21 pm
Active Member
Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2017 8:33 pm Posts: 80
My first time cutting this mineral. 0.25ct. It came off the dop once while cutting, and started cleaving on one corner, ended up smaller than I wanted. 0.25% yield Soft photo apologies, need to get my proper camera setup working. Phones' cameras fall apart with these tiny shinny jewels
Attachment:
IMG-20200607-WA0006.jpg [ 351.41 KiB | Viewed 1701 times ]
Grandidierite
ps anyone know the dispersion on this Mineral? It is very firey, i would say close to mahenge/malaya garnets, but not as much. so 0.2 or 0.25?
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