A step by step video guide on cutting a piece of Amethyst. From the rough state to a faceted gem. If you enjoy such videos please subscribe. I will be making more videos on cutting gems.
Your channel and videos are great.. I grew up in Zambia until my early teens. Just got myself a faceting machine and learning a lot. Thanks for all the videos Cliff
I have learned so much from these videos in there earlierest I have seen was over one year ago. I don’t know if you’re still making videos or not but I have learned in real life from you. I actually saved all your videos into my computer so if I ever run into something that could just look it up so again, thank you very much for your knowledge and for sharing your knowledge . And as always take care, and God bless, keep up the good work😊
I have a bag of raw amethysts I picked up in a friends driveway when I was about 8 and growing up in Zambia. They've been in the back of my closet for years and I'm finally thinking of doing a gem-cutting workshop to see what I can do with them
Vintage Time, Just found you yesterday and subscribed. I am in Toronto, Canada. Retired science teacher, but hobbyist in gems and minerals since the 1960s. For those watching, search your area for gem and mineral clubs, and Faceting Guilds. I am in Toronto and decades in Scarborough Gem and Mineral Club, which offers very inexpensive classes for so many different jewellery techniques. North York Faceting Guild which I attend in person. I was also in United States Faceters Guild basically on line. TH-cam is excellent for great tutorials for cutting and polishing stone, and faceting which is totally different. I have a Raytech Shaw which has hand pieces instead of your style which is called a quill. Below, someone asked if you could create a video that introduces your faceting machine, and the various things involved...quill, polishing lap, various methods for polishing, sources of faceting diagrams and how you use them. That would be so valuable to everyone who finds you. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE HUGE STONES. In my North York Faceting Guild is a man who has a unique instinct and is able to take massive crystals and create the most incredible designs, but he does not follow traditional methods and comes up with incredible shapes and stunning reflection and sparkle. Rather appropriately...his name is Gem.
Hi Falcon feathers, I have already started a series explaining all of the above mentioned. Here's a link of the first episode. I have also completed episode 2. There will be more episodes in the series. Cheers th-cam.com/video/3TqXMMTyU8U/w-d-xo.html
Zambia is actually 2nd place for the best amethyst with Uruguay in 3rd... no Amethyst from any other country can come close to the brilliance/ color play/ character/ clarity of the Russian Imperial Amethyst.... also Zambia is 1 of the 2 countries in the entire world to find high grade rough or cut Emerald.... such stunning color and beauty in both stones from Zambia
Nice videos sir✔, and if possible put some circle line when the meetpoints not match for the unprepared people see it better , other video i see when you have a litle problem in one chip when facet or preform some stone , i not remember what stone , but with the circle in the especific place where exists the problem the inexperient people could see it more acuratelly , great videos , i am a especimens and gems collector , and i like to learn facet to , keep posting and good luck !
Nicely done. I allways enjoyed faceting natrual stones all the chipping and imperfections in the gem are just a nice challenge.sadly all i can lay my hans on are synthetic. Keep up the good work.
I love the finished multi-colored sparkling gem at the end 👍👌. if raw stones shown at 0:48 are to be considered as having 1X cost, then what would be the average increase in value for a preform amethyst shown at 1:28 and the final stone shown at 14:46 ? is it common to lose over half the original weight by the time the stone is ready ?
Usually you will lose more than half the weight, often three quarters. In terms of the cost of this gem completed. I would estimate is to be around $500 AU, because of the rich colour saturation. This is by far the best colour I've cut. This is the type of colour expected in Rwandan Amethyst.
+Vintage Time ... thanks a lot for your reply. perhaps i was not clear enough in my question. if i had a rough amethyst (not preform) like the one shown at the beginning, and got it cut and polished like shown at the end, what would be the increase in value roughly ? Is it 5X, 10X or even more ? What i am trying to grasp is the price of the value gem cutters add to a raw stone through their artistic work. To give a crude example, a an egg on the market is cheap but if i were carve all kinds of fancy designs on an empty egg shell, it sells at a premium due to the value addition.
Yes it is facet grade please check out the channel called the crystal collector n you will see him visit the Ellis Mine in S.C and found awesome pieces very very gemmy n cleansome may have a few fractures but they can be worked around.... trust me that grape jelly amethyst is sooooooo worth it
That is the beauty of the Zambian Amethyst that makes it so special is because it gives us a divine display of the colors o the stone that made that entire continent famous which yes our beloved Tanzanite from Tanzania
Have you tried cutting obsidian? I'm quite aware of the fact that it has a lower hardness than quartz and it chips quite easily (hence why it's rarely used for jewelery) and its a natural glass and can cut yourself on (speaking from my own experiences of collecting and cleaning many times...) But it would be interesting to see if it's possible to make something nice.
Backup67601 66 Hi there, I have cut obsidian. I made a video called " Volcanic Gems" where I cut Helenite. I find polishing obsidian a pain as it scratches too easily. Not a material I would like to cut too often.
Obsidian is usually easier to create a Cabochon where it has a flat back and a dome top super smooth n so beautiful..... also many other divine treasures other than obsidian...
Cliff, I’ve recently began following your videos and truly find what you’re doing most fascinating: The time, patience and skill. Do you do this work professionally also?
Depending which country you live in, the best place to start is join a local gem club. They will teach members how to facet, and often there may be a secondhand faceting machine for sale. Cheers
I have no idea how to facet but would love to learn and have the option to go back and use a machine to cut more. Does anyone have a set up for training?
i am an 80 yr old faceter am looking for faceting material . size about 20 cts raw or un cut. my eyes are getting dim so i need larger stones to work. i am in a wheel chair 100% of time so i can not get out to find my own as i have in the past 50 years. if you can good to hear from you..help me find what i need. thank your fast answer today
Strange question. Is it harder to cut flat gem stones ? I recently got a sapphire stone but it's a flat bodied stone so idk if it's worth cutting or not..
Hi there, sorry for the late reply. I find flat gems are pain to facet. At times it's hardly worth the sacrifice. All too often the flat gems are graded and sold on Ebay as seconds on the market, as gem dealers are well aware that you need depth to cut a quality gem so you can get the correct refractive angles. A flat gem is less likely to reflect light through the table as it should, thus making it a windowed gem. Cheers
@@VintageTimeGems Ty for your reply definitely wanted to ask before I even started that process. Your videos are filled with knowledge I'll definitely be watching so I can learn more. Keep em comin. Much respect from Florida 😈
Do you listen to the music you use as a soundtrack while you are faceting? It's very dreamy and it very nearly puts me to sleep. During the final reveal it dawned on me that this stone could pass for a tanzanite.
I've been looking at a couple different faceting machines to purchase, but I like the fact that the machine in this video has the opening in the bowl to get to the girdle easier. What is the name of the machine??
Thanks for sharing your exceptional skills with us. Could you do a Smith Bar cut when you have a chance. I wonder if you would sell some of your cut gems. Thanks from NZ
I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I've sold several gems in consignment . At some point I should sell a few more to pay for more rough gems and equipment. Already done a Smith bar on TH-cam. Here's the link- th-cam.com/video/kRx-Zd2s5KU/w-d-xo.html
Hi, I see a blue tint on the gem in the reveal section and I've seen that on some other of your gems, also in the reveal section. Is it a coincidence and the ones I've seen just happen to be kinda blue or is that a reflection from the ceiling or maybe a curtain in the room?
Great job, anyway you could do a white Star Sapphire cut? I have two 6 mm round white star sapphires and I'm just curious as to how that was accomplished. Thank you in advance!
I don't even understand why they called it CUTTING when what we see is GRINDING. Cut word means, you use a sharp object to cut a piece of thing.on gems,they never use sharp object to cut the piece.
Final reveal is BREATHTAKING! Even with that chip, the material loss is worth that stellar gem!
Your channel and videos are great.. I grew up in Zambia until my early teens.
Just got myself a faceting machine and learning a lot.
Thanks for all the videos Cliff
I have learned so much from these videos in there earlierest I have seen was over one year ago.
I don’t know if you’re still making videos or not but I have learned in real life from you. I actually saved all your videos into my computer so if I ever run into something that could just look it up so again, thank you very much for your knowledge and for sharing your knowledge .
And as always take care, and God bless, keep up the good work😊
Glorious gem. The cut really accentuates the colours.
wow, the blue and red hues and everything in between just changing in a mesmerizing way.
I have a bag of raw amethysts I picked up in a friends driveway when I was about 8 and growing up in Zambia. They've been in the back of my closet for years and I'm finally thinking of doing a gem-cutting workshop to see what I can do with them
Greetings from New York .. God Bless You..
The work that you do as mesmerizing. Absolutely love watching your videos can't get enough of them.
Vintage Time, Just found you yesterday and subscribed. I am in Toronto, Canada. Retired science teacher, but hobbyist in gems and minerals since the 1960s. For those watching, search your area for gem and mineral clubs, and Faceting Guilds. I am in Toronto and decades in Scarborough Gem and Mineral Club, which offers very inexpensive classes for so many different jewellery techniques. North York Faceting Guild which I attend in person. I was also in United States Faceters Guild basically on line. TH-cam is excellent for great tutorials for cutting and polishing stone, and faceting which is totally different. I have a Raytech Shaw which has hand pieces instead of your style which is called a quill. Below, someone asked if you could create a video that introduces your faceting machine, and the various things involved...quill, polishing lap, various methods for polishing, sources of faceting diagrams and how you use them. That would be so valuable to everyone who finds you. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE HUGE STONES. In my North York Faceting Guild is a man who has a unique instinct and is able to take massive crystals and create the most incredible designs, but he does not follow traditional methods and comes up with incredible shapes and stunning reflection and sparkle. Rather appropriately...his name is Gem.
Hi Falcon feathers, I have already started a series explaining all of the above mentioned. Here's a link of the first episode. I have also completed episode 2. There will be more episodes in the series. Cheers
th-cam.com/video/3TqXMMTyU8U/w-d-xo.html
Beautiful Amethyst, I'd like to know more about your machines and tools.
Zambia is actually 2nd place for the best amethyst with Uruguay in 3rd... no Amethyst from any other country can come close to the brilliance/ color play/ character/ clarity of the Russian Imperial Amethyst.... also Zambia is 1 of the 2 countries in the entire world to find high grade rough or cut Emerald.... such stunning color and beauty in both stones from Zambia
Nice videos sir✔, and if possible put some circle line when the meetpoints not match for the unprepared people see it better , other video i see when you have a litle problem in one chip when facet or preform some stone , i not remember what stone , but with the circle in the especific place where exists the problem the inexperient people could see it more acuratelly , great videos , i am a especimens and gems collector , and i like to learn facet to , keep posting and good luck !
Nicely done.
I allways enjoyed faceting natrual stones all the chipping and imperfections in the gem are just a nice challenge.sadly all i can lay my hans on are synthetic.
Keep up the good work.
Mantap mester,Indonesia juga punya kecung ungu atau batu bungur,salam satu habi dari sumidi realme 🙏🙏
What a gorgeous stone.
I love the finished multi-colored sparkling gem at the end 👍👌.
if raw stones shown at 0:48 are to be considered as having 1X cost, then what would be the average increase in value for a preform amethyst shown at 1:28 and the final stone shown at 14:46 ?
is it common to lose over half the original weight by the time the stone is ready ?
Usually you will lose more than half the weight, often three quarters. In terms of the cost of this gem completed. I would estimate is to be around $500 AU, because of the rich colour saturation. This is by far the best colour I've cut. This is the type of colour expected in Rwandan Amethyst.
+Vintage Time ... thanks a lot for your reply. perhaps i was not clear enough in my question. if i had a rough amethyst (not preform) like the one shown at the beginning, and got it cut and polished like shown at the end, what would be the increase in value roughly ? Is it 5X, 10X or even more ? What i am trying to grasp is the price of the value gem cutters add to a raw stone through their artistic work. To give a crude example, a an egg on the market is cheap but if i were carve all kinds of fancy designs on an empty egg shell, it sells at a premium due to the value addition.
@@VinnyChirayil I would say 10x more than the original rough would be close.
This is absolutely beautiful
Beautiful
lovely color in that gem
Which powder and lap you used for polishing
Thank you very much! Amethyst is beautyfuly!
Cliff have you ever explained the use of the cheater screw demonstrated during a cut.
Would be a nice idea to make a video where you introduce your faceting Maschine and your tools and laps you are using.
Yes...I will.
You are located where
Pat Australia.
wao
Your videos are always mesmerizing!
What faceting machine is that? I haven't seen that one before.
Is the amethyst from South Carolina any good for cutting? There’s some big boys come from there.
Yes it is facet grade please check out the channel called the crystal collector n you will see him visit the Ellis Mine in S.C and found awesome pieces very very gemmy n cleansome may have a few fractures but they can be worked around.... trust me that grape jelly amethyst is sooooooo worth it
Absolutely
Amethyst is my top favorite
What do you use to polish the amethyst? Lap? Speed?compound?
Exquisite
That amethyst has an almost tanzanite tone
Thank you. I was very happy with the colour toning on this gem.
That is the beauty of the Zambian Amethyst that makes it so special is because it gives us a divine display of the colors o the stone that made that entire continent famous which yes our beloved Tanzanite from Tanzania
Have you tried cutting obsidian? I'm quite aware of the fact that it has a lower hardness than quartz and it chips quite easily (hence why it's rarely used for jewelery) and its a natural glass and can cut yourself on (speaking from my own experiences of collecting and cleaning many times...) But it would be interesting to see if it's possible to make something nice.
Backup67601 66 Hi there, I have cut obsidian. I made a video called " Volcanic Gems" where I cut Helenite. I find polishing obsidian a pain as it scratches too easily. Not a material I would like to cut too often.
@@VintageTimeGems ahh okay, yeah it's a shame it scratches easily
Obsidian is usually easier to create a Cabochon where it has a flat back and a dome top super smooth n so beautiful..... also many other divine treasures other than obsidian...
Nice video! what do you think of Mexican amethyst?
Cliff, I’ve recently began following your videos and truly find what you’re doing most fascinating: The time, patience and skill. Do you do this work professionally also?
Love your videos. You’ve inspired me to get into faceting and geology. Any advice on how to start?
Depending which country you live in, the best place to start is join a local gem club. They will teach members how to facet, and often there may be a secondhand faceting machine for sale. Cheers
Thanks for the replies guys. I’ll look into the faceting machines and courses of action you recommended.
I like that cut
I have no idea how to facet but would love to learn and have the option to go back and use a machine to cut more. Does anyone have a set up for training?
Really nice 👍🏻
Love your videos
Thanks....
Very nice...
Thank you ,sir...
i am an 80 yr old faceter am looking for faceting material . size about 20 cts raw or un cut. my eyes are getting dim so i need larger stones to work. i am in a wheel chair 100% of time so i can not get out to find my own as i have in the past 50 years. if you can good to hear from you..help me find what i need. thank your fast answer today
Sorry Denny, I don't deal with rough material. Your online so try Ebay, plenty to buy off them....
@@VintageTimeGems any suggestions?
Strange question.
Is it harder to cut flat gem stones ?
I recently got a sapphire stone but it's a flat bodied stone so idk if it's worth cutting or not..
Hi there, sorry for the late reply. I find flat gems are pain to facet. At times it's hardly worth the sacrifice. All too often the flat gems are graded and sold on Ebay as seconds on the market, as gem dealers are well aware that you need depth to cut a quality gem so you can get the correct refractive angles. A flat gem is less likely to reflect light through the table as it should, thus making it a windowed gem. Cheers
@@VintageTimeGems Ty for your reply definitely wanted to ask before I even started that process. Your videos are filled with knowledge I'll definitely be watching so I can learn more. Keep em comin.
Much respect from Florida 😈
What would you charge to do this for me, we have a huge amethyst Stone. That was our mothers, and would like to have individual stones cut.
I only facet for myself...
What is the worth of that stone????
What happens to all the dust and such from cutting? Is it caught/filtered from the coolant and then repurposed/sold for other crafts, or no?
David Howard It gets thrown out. Not good for anything.
Do you listen to the music you use as a soundtrack while you are faceting? It's very dreamy and it very nearly puts me to sleep. During the final reveal it dawned on me that this stone could pass for a tanzanite.
African Amethyst has some intense blues. It's highly priced. I choose music that I like.
I want to learn to cut gem stones ,thank you for your videos.Do you sell cut stones.?
No, sorry
what ia critical angle for amethyst
Thank you
-Astro
L.A Cake
Dang I love watching skills I do not have.... Thank you!
What is a dang?
@@stevens4877 means heck, wow, etc....
@@NUGGETSHOOTER it's not even a word...why mot use the other words you have written...at least they exist and mean something.
@@stevens4877 The word exists, look it up. I was simply enjoying a great video and sure didn't mean to rile you up. Peace....
can you make a video on how your machine works I am interested and getting into doing that kind of stuff
I've been looking at a couple different faceting machines to purchase, but I like the fact that the machine in this video has the opening in the bowl to get to the girdle easier. What is the name of the machine??
It's called a "Facetstar" made in Melbourne Australia. Thanks for watching.
@@VintageTimeGems Thank you very much! I will check it out!
What is the Name of this Cut ? I'd love to try it if it's available. Or is this just a modification of your Philosopher's Stone design ?
I just a Oval step cut on the crown. I think I got it off faceting diagrams . org
Parabéns 👍
Bom dia bela pedra 👏👏👏
Sir what is the prize of this stone
Sir for polishing amethyst or any quartz is recomended a tin lap and cerium oxide?
Cerium oxide on a perspex lap is better.
Thanks for sharing your exceptional skills with us. Could you do a Smith Bar cut when you have a chance. I wonder if you would sell some of your cut gems. Thanks from NZ
I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I've sold several gems in consignment . At some point I should sell a few more to pay for more rough gems and equipment. Already done a Smith bar on TH-cam. Here's the link-
th-cam.com/video/kRx-Zd2s5KU/w-d-xo.html
Hi, I see a blue tint on the gem in the reveal section and I've seen that on some other of your gems, also in the reveal section.
Is it a coincidence and the ones I've seen just happen to be kinda blue or is that a reflection from the ceiling or maybe a curtain in the room?
Alejandro Mer It's the colours refracting out of the gems. Actually, these gems look far better in real life than what you see in the final reveal.
@@VintageTimeGems oh wow, i am amazed at the video, i can't imagine the gemstone in person!.
Great job, anyway you could do a white Star Sapphire cut?
I have two 6 mm round white star sapphires and I'm just curious as to how that was accomplished. Thank you in advance!
That needs to be done on a cabbing machine. It's a different process
@@VintageTimeGems Okay, do you have one? Would you need that for cutting a white topaz?
@@chrisk4424 No I use my gem clubs cabbing machines. For topaz you facet them on a machine like mine.
I don't even understand why they called it CUTTING when what we see is GRINDING. Cut word means, you use a sharp object to cut a piece of thing.on gems,they never use sharp object to cut the piece.
Which of your gemstones, of all gemstones you've cut in your lifetime, took the longest to cut?
Fruit Loops I spent nearly 2 months on one gem. That's the one in the video called "Extreme gem cutting"
I want to wear this stone very badly. So beautiful.
Up your arse
Like 627
Thanks
May I can by this’s stone
Why British people have this strange ''unnatural'' accent?
No hate, just asking.
Bartłomiej Mielnikow 🐐💨💩
Parabéns 👍