Gemstone Education

Gemstone Cuts

A cut represents how the gemstone has been made. The cut of a gemstone heavily influences its luster, colour and brilliance. The process of cutting gemstones is called lapidary. Some of the cuts are:

1. Fine Step-Cut
          − Asscher-Cut (Fine Step-Cut in Square Shape)
          − Emerald-Cut (Fine Step-Cut in Rectangular Shape)

2. Modified Brilliant-Cut
          − Princess-Cut (Modified Brilliant-Cut in Square Shape)
          − Radiant-Cut (Modified Brilliant-Cut in Rectangular Shape)
3. Scissor-Cut (Special-Cut for Rectangular Shape)
4. Brilliant Diamond-Cut
5. Rose-Cut
6. Checkered-Cut
7. Cabochons

Gemstone Clarity

According to the GIA (Gemological Institute of America), there are three types of classification for colored gemstones. This is because of the variety of different colors, shades and tones which can be found in gemstones across the globe.

TYPE 1

Type 1 gemstones are usually found without any inclusions. These include beryl gems, such as heliodor, aquamarine gemstone and morganite. They are usually ‘eye clean’, which means there are no inclusions visible with the naked eye.

TYPE 2

Type 2 gemstones usually have inclusions but are found to be eye clean rather than loupe clean as Type 1 gems often are. Type 2 gemstones include amethyst, andalusite, alexandrite, garnet and peridot amongst others. Type 2 gemstones with minor visible inclusions are often used in jewelry, especially sapphire and ruby.

TYPE 3

Type 3 gemstones almost always have visible inclusions. In this type you can find green emerald, a variety of tourmaline (blue in particular), rubellite, and other colors of tourmaline.

Clarity Scale:

The scale has 7 levels from clearest to darkest, and they are:

• • Flawless (F) Clarity
  • Very Very Slight (VVS) Clarity
  • Very Slight (VS) Clarity
  • Slight Inclusion (SI) Clarity
  • Inclusions (I) Clarity
  • Translucent (TS)
  • Opaque (O)

FLAWLESS (F) CLARITY

They are loupe clean and free of inclusions.
Flawless is the top grade you can find, as finding a colored stone without blemishes is extremely rare.

VERY VERY SLIGHT (VVS) CLARITY

Almost loupe clean Gemstone Clarity. There are slight inclusions that can only be seen with strong magnification.

VERY SLIGHT (VS) CLARITY

These are usually eye-clean stones. They have slight inclusions visible to a trained eye or under magnification.

SLIGHT INCLUSION (SI) CLARITY

These inclusions are noticeable and can be seen with a naked eye. This means they drop into a commercial quality. The inclusions are noticeable with a 10x magnification, but not always visible with the naked eye.

INCLUSIONS (I) CLARITY

These Gemstone Clarity have inclusions with can easily be seen with the naked eye.

TRANSLUCENT (TS)

These gems allow light to pass through but are not transparent. It is not only the color of the stone that causes translucency. There are stones that are naturally translucent, but in the case of the grade scale this refers to stones that have such a high number of inclusions or blemishes that are highly visible they stop the light from passing through the stone.

OPAQUE (O)

The stone allows no light to pass through. Stones such as cabochons are naturally opaque, because they don’t let any light shine through. What they do is reflect the light. A well-cut cabochon will reflect light evenly as you slowly rotate it in your fingers, whereas a lower quality cut will makethe light snake across the surface.