What is a Precision Commercial Faceting Service?

There are basically four different grades of faceting service available. From best to worst, these are: Artist Faceters, Precision Commercial faceters, Commercial faceters, and Native faceters. Gems Evermore offers a Precision Commercial service.

Artist Faceters

Artist faceters, also known as precision faceters or custom gemcutters, are masters of their art. They cut every gem as perfectly as they can. Many of them refuse to cut rough that they have not selected themselves. Artist faceters create the most beautiful, perfect stones possible, often cutting unique facet arrangements that they designed themselves.

Every gem produced by an Artist faceter is a unique work of art, requiring time to evaluate the rough stone, to decide how (and if) it is to be cut, and then meticulously cutting the stone to near perfect standards of excellence. The process takes hours to days, depending on the stone and the cut.

Their work is outstanding, and their prices reflect that fact. At least one top American faceter charges $100 per hour to cut custom gems, and sometimes requires 8 hours or more to complete a stone. Others have a minimum charge that may be modified by the material, the size, or the time required to cut and polish the stone. While they are very expensive, they are well worth the cost when cutting very valuable or very large stones.

Most Artist faceters are found in Europe and the United States, although they can turn up almost anywhere.

Precision Commercial Faceters

Precision commercial faceting services are a compromise between Commercial and Artist faceters. Precision Commercial faceters work quickly to turn out gems in volume, thus keeping the cost of gem cutting low. At the same time, they maintain higher standards of quality than Commercial faceters, catering to customers who want the best possible cuts in relatively inexpensive gemstones.

Precision Commercial cutters produce well polished stones cut to the correct depth and facet angles for each gemstone material. They are a bit more expensive than Commercial cutters for faceting to standard patterns and shapes, but they are well worth the cost. For a higher price, they can also cut custom or fancy gems.

Commercial Faceters

Commercial faceting factories have a bad reputation, probably only partly deserved. While they are aware of high standards for faceted gems, they are more aware of giving their customers what they ask for, in the greatest volume possible. Depending on the customer's requirements, they may produce stones that range in quality from "good" to near that of native cuts. They normally offer a limited selection of basic shapes and facet patterns. The primary attraction of commercial gemcutters is that they are fast and cheap.

Native Faceters

There are a number of places in the world where gemstones are mined and faceted on the spot for sale as finished gems. While there are skilled and talented gemcutters in these places, most stones are cut by people of limited skill, who are more concerned with cutting large gems than beautiful ones. This is done because finished gems of any quality can be sold for much more than rough stones, and these areas frankly need the income.

Their product can be decently cut, but this is rare. They often cut crowns and pavilions too shallow or too deep to maximize the final carat weight or the apparent gem size. For various reasons, their facets may not be cut to correct angles, they may cut extra facets that ruin the symmetry of the gem, and they may cut facets that do not meet at all. Many native cut stones are poorly polished or have girdles that are much too thick or too thin. As a rule, native cut stones are of poor quality, limiting the value of even the highest priced gem materials.

Fortunately, these gemcutters work mostly for themselves. Unfortunately, they often get the first crack at some very fine gemstones. Sometimes these stones can be re-cut to produce a better, but smaller, gem.