Portuguese Cut

[AGBF]

I did a search on this forum for "Portuguese cut" but didn''t find anything. Has this ever been discussed here? I first saw Portuguese cut stones while looking at tanzanite. For how long has this cut been around? Are diamonds also cut in this way?

 

[Michael_E]

AGBF,
Portugese cuts have been around a long, long time. I've never seen a diamond cut this way, but I often cut colored stones in this style. Having multiple rows of pavilion facets gains depth, thereby saving weight and it significantly enriches the color of light colored stones like aquamarine. It's used on tanzanite for just that reason, you end up with a deeper colored stone which has much greater value. The only problem that this greater depth causes, is that the setting has to be deeper to make room for the pavilion. Not a big problem and well worth the trouble.

 

[Colored Gemstone Nut]

Hey AGBF,




Check out the Diagram...

 

[AGBF]

Josh,

Did you put up that diagram to scare me? I saw it while researching the Portuguese cut myself, but ran away from it in horror . I am what might be called the antithesis of an engineer. When I grew too bored to watch the teacher in Geometry class it was but the start of a lifelong aversion to diagrams with shapes and numbers. This aversion is why I have assiduously avoided knowing things such as what a crown angle is, things people keep attempting to force into my consciousness on these fora.

Please keep these diagrams at a distance from me if you must post them somewhere.

Love,
Deborah

 

[AGBF]

PS-Thank you, Michael. You know how to put things so that they are palatable .

Deb

 

[mike04456]

----------------
On 11/19/2003 9:21:30 PM Michael_E wrote:











AGBF,
Portugese cuts have been around a long, long time. I've never seen a diamond cut this way,


----------------

Not only has it been done, but someone just got a patent on it:

Diamond

I'm amazed that something this basic was awarded a patent but the standards have really gotten lax lately.

 

[spicolicpa]

This cut looks similiar to the 129 cut I looked at earlier

Amazingly similiar....look under the quality tab on this site


Star 129 site

 

[mike04456]

 

[canadiangrrl]

Deobrah, you slay me.

I think the stone in the pic Josh posted looks incredibly pretty.

 

[winyan]

Geeze Deb,




I didn't know you had the willies from a diagram, and I tried to post the Portuguese diagram all night to have it fail time after time.




Did you put a gris gris on it?




*wink*




win

 

[valeria101]

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On 11/20/2003 1:57:49 PM spicolicpa wrote:

This cut looks similiar to the 129 cut I looked at earlier
Amazingly similiar
Star 129 site----------------

Proof (below) that submitting patents for gem cuts is NOT a fast way to make money... These are very different compared to other 'pairs' of patents

There can be many changes done to the cut with minot effect on the finished product but, as long as they appear different on the patent... there is nothing to do but battle the market power of the other party. So, what's the use of the pattent? By now, this is a well known jewelry business habit, so I have not heard in a while about particularly fierce attempts to protect a patented cut (the 'Spirit of Flanders' had a story though). Until someone will figure out how to defend these patents, no hope...

 

[mike04456]

----------------
On 11/20/2003 9:08:14 PM valeria101 wrote:











Proof (below) that submitting patents for gem cuts is NOT a fast way to make money... These are very different compared to other 'pairs' of patents

There can be many changes done to the cut with minot effect on the finished product but, as long as they appear different on the patent... there is nothing to do but battle the market power of the other party. So, what's the use of the pattent? By now, this is a well known jewelry business habit, so I have not heard in a while about particularly fierce attempts to protect a patented cut (the 'Spirit of Flanders' had a story though). Until someone will figure out how to defend these patents, no hope...

----------------

Patenting diamond cuts was unusual until very recently. It takes a while to develop a cut, file for a patent, get it, track down any imiators, and sue them. The Elara/Flanders dispute stems from patents that were obtained in 1989 and 1993--in other words, it's taken them this long to get to an actual court decision. Back then, "branding" was something you did to cattle, not diamonds, and few people bothered getting patents. You can count on two hands the number of meaningful diamond patents granted before 1995. Since then, there have been hundreds. I guarantee that you will see a lot more lawsuits over the next five years as all this shakes out. There is a lot of money at stake, and the industry is waking up to the importance of protecting their intellectual property. That doesn't mean they will be successful, mind you--I think the USPTO has granted a lot of cut patents that it should not have, so I'm sure the Elara isn't going to be the only design to lose its patent as the judges have to decide what deserves protection.