Are you looking to buy high-quality gemstone jewellery today? If yes, one crucial factor you need to consider is the “gemstone cuts” – which many people interchangeably often call gemstone shapes.
Agreed, both shapes and cuts have a lot in common when it comes to buying the best gemstone jewellery items. But do you know that these two terms also have a few things that differentiate them? As you read on, you’ll discover the differences between gemstone cuts and gemstone shapes.
Are there differences between gemstone cuts and shapes?
The simple answer is yes, cuts and shapes are two slightly different features that make up your gemstone jewellery. To better understand how these two features differ, let’s start from the origin – the process of cutting gemstones.
The process of cutting gemstones is a common practice by which rough crystals are cut I to different polished, brilliant and transparent gemstones. To commence this process, lapidary or gemstone cutters often factor in different things regarding the uniqueness of each gemstone before choosing their best cut and shape.
Let’s use sapphire as an example of gemstone in the cutting process. If you’re very familiar with how diamonds work, you’ll agree that its color is evenly spread across the entire crystal. You can’t say the same for rough sapphire because its color mostly appears in greater concentration on one side of the crystal while the other carries lower color concentration. To cut rough sapphire, the lapidary carefully needs to plan the cuts to limit the uneven distribution of color.
With this above illustration, we should be able to identify the difference between cuts and shapes of gemstone jewellery.
Gemstone cuts only focus on how well the lapidary polishes and shapes the rough gemstone to achieve a well finished faceted gem. Before cutting the rough gemsyone, the lapidary will first identify the angles, proportions, and how the facets are arranged. Understanding these factors will help them to cut the rough gemstone in a way that allows them to maximize the brilliance, visual appeal, and the optical performance of the gem.
The gemstone shapes, on the other hand, only speaks about how the gem forms, externally. These shapes could be oval, emerald, round, or pear.
Bottom line: the shape of a gemstone only focuses on the external form of the gem while the cut is more about the internal features. The gemstone cut influences major factors, such as brilliance, which determine the quality of your gemstones
How exactly does shape & color matter when choosing custom gemstone jewellery?
You certainly need to factor in both shape and cut when choosing the right gemstone for your custom jewellery. These two features don’t only have a greater impact on the availability of gemstone for your jewellery design. In addition, they also influence the durability, value, and appearance of your gemstone jewellery.
That said, below are two popular cuts worth trying the next time you’re going for custom sapphire, pearl, or opal jewellery:
- You should go for an emerald cut when you’re more interested in having custom jewellery with a sleek, timeless, and elegant look. You can choose this cut if you want to work with gemstones, such as emerald, diamond, and sapphire.
- The oval shape works for different types of gemstones. You can also take advantage of this type of cut to achieve a more classic and timeless jewellery look. With this cut, you can also achieve a gemstone that appears very large compared to its carat weight.
Visit Masterpiece Jewellery today for your custom gemstone jewellery.
