Welcome to the Gilt Trips podcast. I'm your host, Kendra Lockhart. As a goldsmith and
gemologist, I'll be speaking 24 carat on all things jewelry, metals, and gems. Join
me plus a few friends to demystify both materials and designs as your private jeweler. Let's
tune in on these topics and get golden. The art and science of shaping a diamond from
a rough stone into a faceted gem is more difficult than one would think. This skill and practice
demands a mastery of a specialized knowledge like a mathematician, high performance tools
like a carpenter, a great eye for beauty in theory, to reality like a sculptor, extreme
precision and reaction like a surgeon, and which material to salvage and which to waste
like an analyst. How did diamond cutting evolve? Why isn't technology more involved
in this aspect of the industry? What are goals for cutting the rough material? We will investigate
this and more while hearing from experts on styles, trends, and pricing in this episode.
Chapter timestamps are in the show notes. Let's begin with the goals. No pressure here,
but the game for a master cutter is four different factors that can work together or against
one another. So there is plenty of strategy before the diamond is even touched. The first
is maximum value achieved. That is going to be a composite result of how it will be priced.
Which means where flaws are located and how to optimize the best of the material. Next
is weight retention. While it may not sound like much of a difference between a one carat
diamond and another just under one carat, that pricing per carat is by milestones in
dollars. So a 5.01 carat diamond is the multiplier for $32,000 per carat, but a 4.99 diamond
is 24,500 per carat. That means a tiny mistake or an over polishing to be just under 5 carats
would be a $38,000 error. Which is why you will see diamonds that are less than ideal
or excellent in regards to their symmetry or polish or cut grade. They are aiming for numbers
before beauty. Third color retention. Rough material can have color zoning or chromatic
hues on an X, Y or Z axis. It matters to not only cut into the best showing of that, but
also which pattern will enhance or detract the light play and performance of that hue
in the diamond. Lastly, the turnaround in a sale of the final product. While a certain
cut may yield a higher value, a different outcome could have a better return on investment
sooner than letting it sit on the market. So where does it all begin? Some of the most
famous diamonds in the world took a year to plan, as was the case with one of Harry Winston's
legendary gems. Often a quote unquote window or spot on the rough crystal gets polished
so that the cutter can peer into the mass and plan for any flaws or blemishes that would
require a pivoting of the pattern. Once the decision has been made, the cleaving begins.
In an ideal world, the cutter has an octahedron crystal. That looks like two pyramids glued
together at their square bases. Separating at that place would help set up a flat surface
at one end and then fastening the pyramid part into the cone shaped base of either a
round brilliant diamond or a square brilliant diamond. If the rough material is oddly shaped,
then it is usually fashioned into a fancy cut, meaning anything other than a round diamond.
As our Kaplan, a cutter for Harry Winston stated, in diamond cleaving there is no middle ground.
It is either done perfectly or it is ruined. What is cleaving? A sharp groove is made with
another diamond, a specialized saw, or nowadays a laser on the growth plane of the crystal.
A blade is inserted and a tap or blow or some type of external force creates the split and
sets the executing of the initial shape. If a cutter wants to go against the grain in
the diamond, it must be hand sawed. Next comes the brooting process. The outlining
of the diamond begins with the girdle, which is the widest part of the diamond, and sets
up the visual shape. Regarding round stones, to qualify as ideal cut, the diameters have
to be within a tenth of a millimeter discrepancy to be considered excellent. Along with the
cleaving, the brooding equals high risk and a high reward step. Brooding the girdle is
traditionally accomplished with a diamond-charged flat spitting disc called a scafe. It was invented
in the 15th century and changed the art form. It operates like a record player greased with
oil and industrial quality diamond dust. The other option is using lathes, or two road-hitting
diamonds girdling each other, much like the beaters of an electric mixer. Water jet cutting,
by using liquid at high pressure, is an ancient and modern technique that has been refined
through the ages. But if you want an unusual silhouette, it requires hand sawing that girdle.
Following that comes the blocking of the major and minor facets of the pattern. Creating
the dominant angles, the main facets, is called cross-working. Remember, the aim is to conserve
weight, maintain a clarity grade, and design the best degree for optics. The other part
of mapping is called brilliant tiering. Since diamonds are what is used to polish diamonds,
blocking and polishing is a one-step process unlike colored gems. Why is that? Because
gems are softer, so other compounds can be used to pre-polish and then final polish.
The diamond is cleaned of all dust and oils by going into the acid bath and is examined
for quality like an audit of the skill, precision, and craftsmanship. Either adjustments are
made or it is ready for deal or no deal. How long does it take? If the entire process
is done by hand on a center stone, it can take anywhere from a week up to six months
depending on the fastening pattern, its size, difficulty, and the techniques and timing of
the master cutter. The sawing alone is a four- to eight-hour process. Diamonds are the hardest
substance on earth. Add another four hours to polish for a round diamond, totaling eight.
Or if you're making an emerald cut, which is the shape of a cropped corner rectangle,
it takes an average of 16 hours total. The main cutting centers are Antwerp in Belgium
and Tel Aviv in Israel. But that wasn't where the design of the first cut diamonds originated.
Any diamond, which is cut too shallow or too deep, will either allow the light to leak
out or it will absorb all of the light, preventing reflection and reducing light play of the
stone. The earliest patterning of a diamond was found in India, dating back to the 6th century.
But the origin of how the planning of a cut can be found in 14th century Europe. The point cut,
which followed the original crystal shape of the octahedron, was refining its natural shape,
that double pyramid crystal that diamonds assume in ideal conditions. Next came the table cut,
where about half of the pyramid shape gets cut off and yields a square flat facet with a blocking
of the bottom pyramid. Moving into the 17th century, that top part that got cut off? Well,
that had a flat bottom. And now we cut the top into a faceted dome, creating the rose cut. More
material is salvaged and more styles can be created. By the 18th century, more diamond
mines are discovered, more rough is available, so more interest in sparkling jewelry is a natural
byproduct. From there, we see the invention of the old mine cut. Like before, the natural shape
in its uncut state is now faceted to keep the most weight. Here we see a high shoulder called a
crown angle, a deep base called the pavilion, a large culet cut at the bottom, but a small
table cut at the top. The outline was not symmetrical, and sometimes not even round at all.
This would become the most popular cut by the 19th century and inspire today's cushion cut
silhouettes, since many of this type ended up square or rounded rectangles. In the 1870s,
the girdle brooding became mechanical and was no longer required to be done by hand. Now we
enter the origin of the round cut, since symmetry can be achieved. Advances in proportions and
optics were made, so a shallower cut and modified angles meant better refraction when light hit
them. By the 20th century, up into the Art Deco era, we see transitional cuts or circular brilliant
diamonds as a grouping where depths were played with, facets became thinner or longer, and the
roundness is more consistent in the cutting. The formula for today's round diamond was just on the
horizon. Marcel Tchałkowski was a Belgian engineer who belonged to a Polish diamond cutting family.
His work would result in the facet number, mapping, ratios, and mathematical calculations to yield the
optimal fire and brilliance in a round diamond. The pattern was named for him, but it would get
marketed later as the American Ideal Cut. His cousin, Lazar Kaplan, would become Harry Winston's diamond
cutter, and his grand-nephew Gabby would be a world-renowned cutter in Tel Aviv. Let's walk
through some of the most well-known diamond cuts besides the round brilliant, all of which are in
the category of fancy cut by default. The first series will all have brilliant facets or triangle
shapes as part of the planning, either above or below the girdle. Names like the oval cut,
the cushion cut, the pear shape, which looks like a teardrop, and heart shape are all easy to visualize
and look like their names. The marquee cut looks like an ellipse with both ends coming to a point.
The trillion cut is based on a triangle. Then we have the princess cut, which is a square or
rectangle shaped cut, and the radiant cut diamond, which is a cropped corner square or rectangle
with a total of 70 facets, and it lives up to its name. The second series have step cut
faceting patterns. The emerald cut has long rectangles within rectangles. The fire is
downplayed in favor of an icy look and a clear, crisp visual to enhance high clarity. The asher
cut is similar in that the corners are beveled. There's the use of concentric step cuts, but
subtle geometric pavilion facets along the bottom edges form an understated X pattern visible through
the table. As for recutting, whether the stone has been chipped, damaged, or the current
faceting pattern is not getting the diamond sold, recutting is an option. A marquee cut can easily
transition to a pair or an oval. A princess cut can be remade into a cushion cut. An old mine or
European can get updated into a round diamond. While these options are mild adjustments,
new shaping from old material is only limited by the structure of the current plan and the
amount of loss you're willing to accept for its future incarnation. Now that you have a new and
possibly improved diamond, it may be time to send or resend for grading. The GIA, which stands for
Gemological Institute of America, is an educating laboratory that produces certifications or papers
on diamonds and other high value gems. In the diamond episode, I covered color and clarity more
deeply of the four C's. The part of the certification that addresses the plot of the diamond,
description of the faceting and total cut pattern, and quality of the composite cutting is the other
half of the document. While you may call a diamond a princess cut, the GIA will list it as square
modified brilliant cut to be technically and universally understood. Same with an Asher cut.
It would list as beveled corner square step cut so that we are all on the same visual page and not
memorizing consumer or marketing titles. Now we finish this episode with the economic impact
and consumer behavior section. But style, trends, and its impact on pricing needed people who analyze
and speak to this every day. I reached out and interviewed the team at Ratani, a direct-to-consumer
lab-grown natural diamond and custom jewelry online company. And here is how they answered a few
questions. Ria, the vice president of marketing, mentioned her personal favorite is an elongated
cushion cut diamond. It is very flattering, traditional, unique, and has a bit of vintage flair.
Marissa, the director of e-commerce, loves the way an emerald angular shape reflects the light to
make it sparkle while providing a timeless and elegant look in a solitaire ring to really
highlight the stone. Anya, the sales manager, prefers an oval, saying that they have so much
sparkle and the elongated shape makes it look larger. As for shapes trending up or falling out
of favor, Ria's popularity is often due to many different cultural influences, fashion cycles,
or what's trending with celebrities. Anya points out certain cuts go better with certain styles,
and I agree, not every center stone is flattered by a halo or gets paired with well-proportioned
side stones. Lastly, I asked about the factor most impacting the pricing. In the end, it isn't the
popularity. In the words of a Tani's vice president, complexity of the cut can also affect pricing.
Cuts that require more precision and expertise, such as the Asher or Emerald cut, can be more
expensive due to the additional labor and skill involved. Thank you for listening and learning
with me. I would love you to share this project with people finding rare beauty in today's world
and throughout our times. Until the next episode, keep your own stories sparkling.