I have become interested in diamond cutting lately. I have PS to thank for creating and scratching the itch (I love learning new things, and typically love the very technical aspects of my new studies... of course the side effects lately are burning blurry eyed evenings, periods of distraction at work, accompanied with loss of sleep).
I''ve been researching cut (a big focus of PS to those who have not spent more than 30 minutes on PS yet) and in going to B&M stores to validate what I read outside of this "virtual" setting I have observed a few interesting things. One being that most sales people are only sales people in big jewelry stores (If you know of any place in the D.C. area that offers experts beyond the typical I need to learn more!!!!). I have been told many interesting "facts" in my few short stints to B&M stores (I wish I lived near some of the B&M stores like GoG or Winfield''s -- loved reading about you Wink in the Who''s Who section).
Anyway, back to cutting. One of the "facts" I was told was that the level of difficulty in cutting perfect hearts and arrows symmetry in diamonds is only accomplished by about 6 cutters in the world. "Wow" I though, who knew that cutting diamonds was so difficult. I figured that the process had been automated by now, and product was probably hand finished after the cut process was completed. Of course I would expect as in any industry you have "artists" (pronounced the French way
out there creating wonderful cuts, but when it comes to $$$$$ a CAD/CAM machine is the way to go. But I''m no Bo Jackson.
After a little online research I have found that you can buy H&A CZ stones for less than $20. This tells me that the cutting process for CZ for ideal H&A symmetry does not cost more that $20 dollars to produce, and it would seem that once could assume that reproducing the symmetry in diamond could not be much more expensive (please correct me if you see flawed logic).
So this is where the Cut Nut and all the experts can educate me a bit. How are most diamonds cut these days?
Being an engineer, I would devise a machine that would scan a rough diamond for inclusion/imperfection mapping, run an algorithm that generated optimal finished product by looking at finished carat weight, clarity, and cut quality, to maximize the $$$ returned from each rough stone. The optimization scheme might sacrifice cut quality to maximize clarity and carat weight to produce the best return e.g. a 1.2ct SI1 "very good" cut, versus a .90 VS2 "super ideal" cut (plus a bunch of diamond chips.
If this is how it is done, then any premium for "ideal" cuts should be due to rarity, not craftsmanship as the B&M stores I have visited have portrayed it. And if it is due to rarity, and machines can easily create "super ideals", is this just another example of price control in the diamond industry?
I''ve been researching cut (a big focus of PS to those who have not spent more than 30 minutes on PS yet) and in going to B&M stores to validate what I read outside of this "virtual" setting I have observed a few interesting things. One being that most sales people are only sales people in big jewelry stores (If you know of any place in the D.C. area that offers experts beyond the typical I need to learn more!!!!). I have been told many interesting "facts" in my few short stints to B&M stores (I wish I lived near some of the B&M stores like GoG or Winfield''s -- loved reading about you Wink in the Who''s Who section).
Anyway, back to cutting. One of the "facts" I was told was that the level of difficulty in cutting perfect hearts and arrows symmetry in diamonds is only accomplished by about 6 cutters in the world. "Wow" I though, who knew that cutting diamonds was so difficult. I figured that the process had been automated by now, and product was probably hand finished after the cut process was completed. Of course I would expect as in any industry you have "artists" (pronounced the French way
out there creating wonderful cuts, but when it comes to $$$$$ a CAD/CAM machine is the way to go. But I''m no Bo Jackson.After a little online research I have found that you can buy H&A CZ stones for less than $20. This tells me that the cutting process for CZ for ideal H&A symmetry does not cost more that $20 dollars to produce, and it would seem that once could assume that reproducing the symmetry in diamond could not be much more expensive (please correct me if you see flawed logic).
So this is where the Cut Nut and all the experts can educate me a bit. How are most diamonds cut these days?
Being an engineer, I would devise a machine that would scan a rough diamond for inclusion/imperfection mapping, run an algorithm that generated optimal finished product by looking at finished carat weight, clarity, and cut quality, to maximize the $$$ returned from each rough stone. The optimization scheme might sacrifice cut quality to maximize clarity and carat weight to produce the best return e.g. a 1.2ct SI1 "very good" cut, versus a .90 VS2 "super ideal" cut (plus a bunch of diamond chips
. If this is how it is done, then any premium for "ideal" cuts should be due to rarity, not craftsmanship as the B&M stores I have visited have portrayed it. And if it is due to rarity, and machines can easily create "super ideals", is this just another example of price control in the diamond industry?
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