Kunzite

[Eu_citzen]

My first Kunzite I ever cut was finished today. I struggled a bit with the polishing at first.

Top left: Indirect light, but colour is off.
Middle: Close up in "the light box", fingerprints included.
Bottom Right: Before re-cut

Ended up at close to 5 cts

 

[loco oro]

very nice eu,good work!

 

[G.O.Eye]

Sweet!!, I'm gonna start cutting an faceting as soon as I come back from work 16 weeks or so from Friday gotta go to Boston Massachusetts, any tips?

 

[Eu_citzen]

Thank you Loco!

GO: Yes, I do have a few tips:

1. Start out with garnet for practicing. It's cheap and usually quite forgiving, makes a nice stone to!
2. Patience, Patience and patience is key to making a good stone!
3. You are best equipped with 3-4 laps; 360 for roughly shaping the stone, 600 for general cutting and a prepolish and polishing lap.
4. Start easy! Don't get into difficult-to-cut shapes and designs for starters.*
5. If you have questions, ask! Faceting is a lot about "learning by doing".
6. To save some frustration, get superglue to glue the stones to the dopstick. Just beware of heat sensitive stones, like calcite, opal and a few others.
7. if you do not have a faceting machine - get the best you can afford!

* Easy designs are often done for quickly and easily cutting them. A few free can be found here:
Facet diagrams - M.A.M
Faceting Designs - The Gemology Project

 

[MrLee]

Beautiful cut and material. I think I have to take a trip to the Pala mine instead of the Himalaya because the Pala does have Kunzite.

I would love to cut, but it's too expensive for the machine.... that is....unless I sell my metal detector, my walking liberties and some other junk.... hmmm.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Gotta like that, EU. Nice work!
Jim

 

[Eu_citzen]

I've seen some kunzite from the Pala. They can have excellent colour!
And yeah - it's expensive to be a cutter.

Thanks Jim!

 

[MrLee]

EU,

How much will that stone sell for? Is it yours?

 

[Eu_citzen]

Yes, it's mine. It should sell for perhaps 200-300$.

 

[MrLee]

Why so cheap? Popularity of the stone? Inclusions? Cut?

 

[Eu_citzen]

Lee, the price is reflected from the size (well, weight) and as a side note there is no real shortage of kunzite. The stone is loupe clean and the cut is good.
If it had been a 46 cts stone the price would be a whole different ballpark.

 

[Buckshotnc]

Very nice looking work, however regarding your tips to G O EYE, number 2 pretty well eliminated me. I'm short on patience but like looking for them and letting others make them look pretty like you do.

 

[Eu_citzen]

Thank you Buck, I enjoy looking for them to, but gems are rare in Sweden.
Cutting is largely a mental aspect aside from the practical parts, I had to learn to be patient myself.