The work of lapidaries

The stone is prepared with a diamond saw or by freehand on a coarse-grain diamond disc to form a draft shape similar to the finished stone. Generally, the colour of the stone is not evenly distributed and, the gemstone cutter has to choose a desirable shade to “place” the stone. The gemstone cutter ensures that the table of the stone is perpendicular to the face or presents the best shade with the slightest impurities. The goal is to achieve the most prominent stone size with the most vibrant colours and lustre.

This step aims to give the final shape to the girdle of the stone using the preforming pile. The stone is then cemented on the stick with wax and, the mechanical stick is used to cut the desired symmetries.

The cutting is performed with the mechanical stick placed on the jam-peg to ensure the gemstone cutter can get all possible angles between the stone and the disc required for the new stone’s shape. The cuts are made using a diamond disk with a grain size from 240 to 3,000.

There is a large number of shapes available to cut a stone. The most common is the round (faceted), the emeralds (degree), and the cabbing stones.

Finally, the stone is polished to restore the gloss of the stone. It is usually used with a tin wheel and 14,000-grain diamond powder (sometimes 50,000). For corundum, a copper wheel gives the best result.