Faceting Opal

From the Desert to the Bench: Faceting a 2025 Tucson Opal

There is a specific kind of tension that comes with faceting Ethiopian opal. Unlike sapphire or topaz, opal is a living stone—it carries water within its structure, and if you rush the process, the stone will let you know.

Today, I’m taking a look back at a journey that began nearly a year ago at the 2025 Tucson Gem & Mineral Show. I walked away with several high-quality pieces of rough Ethiopian opal, but they didn't head straight to the lapidary wheel. Instead, they took a nine-month detour.

The Art of the "Arizona Cure"

Ethiopian opals are typically hydrophane, meaning they are porous and can absorb water. This makes them beautiful, but it also means they are prone to "crazing" (internal cracking) if the moisture levels change too rapidly.

To ensure these stones would last a lifetime in a piece of jewelry, I put them through a rigorous stabilization process:

• The Climate: I kept the rough in the naturally arid environment of Arizona.

• The Timeline: A full 9 months of drying.

• The Result: By allowing the stones to reach equilibrium with the dry desert air before cutting, I can be confident that the finished gems are stable, seasoned, and structurally sound.

Why the Cushion Cut?

When it came time to select a shape for these stabilized pieces, the Cushion Cut was the clear winner. While many opals are left as cabochons, faceting a cushion shape into a high-translucency opal creates a "hall of mirrors" effect.

The pillowy, softened corners of the cushion cut provide a vintage feel, while the facets allow light to penetrate the stone and bounce off the internal "color play" structures. In a cabochon, the color rolls; in a faceted cushion, the color pops.

The Cutting Process

Faceting opal requires a delicate touch. Because the material is softer than many other gemstones, I use a high-grit lap and plenty of water to keep the stone cool.

1. Orienting the Fire: I spent hours looking through the translucent rough to find the "bars" of color. With a cushion cut, you want those flashes of neon green and sunset orange to be visible from every angle.

2. Cutting the Pavillion: I established the bottom facets first to create the "bowl" that reflects light back to the eye.

3. The Final Polish: This is where the magic happens. After nine months of waiting and hours of precision cutting, the polish brings out that glass-like translucency we worked so hard to preserve.

The Finished Masterpiece

The result of this year-long journey is a suite of gems that are as stable as they are spectacular. Sourced in 2025 and finally finished in 2026, these opals represent the patience required in the world of lapidary arts. They aren't just stones; they are a piece of the Arizona desert, refined and ready to shine.

Christmas dots!

Every lapidary artist knows that color is the soul of a gemstone, but it takes a special kind of vision to let the calendar dictate the cut. This week, we are spotlighting a stunning new project by Ian Perry of The Lapidary Office that captures the spirit of the season in a way that is both traditional and technically daring.

Ian has just completed a fascinating suite featuring two pairs of gemstones that immediately evoke the warmth and joy of the holidays: Arizona Peridot and Rhodolite Garnet.

The Christmas Connection

At first glance, the inspiration is unmistakable. The vibrant, electric apple-green of the Peridot paired with the deep, raspberry-red of the Rhodolite Garnet is the quintessential Christmas palette.

However, Ian didn't just rely on color matching. He leaned into the texture of the season. Think of the contrast between a glittering ornament and a velvet ribbon, or the sparkle of snow against smooth evergreen needles. To capture this tactile contrast, Ian employed a "mixed media" approach to his cutting: Faceting and Cabbing.

The Stones & The Cuts

1. Arizona Peridot (The Green)

Arizona Peridot is famous for its intense, grassy saturation. For this pair, a simpler pavilion design was chosen to highlight the cabbed crown

2. Rhodolite Garnet (The Red)

Rhodolite is a pyrope-almandine garnet known for its lush, rose-red to purple-red hues. Here is where the twist comes in. they were cut to the exact angles that the peridot was with but a sharper hip on the cabbed crown. This compensates for the difference in ri with the same angles.

The Arrangement

The brilliance of this design lies in the arrangement. By pairing the sharp, geometric light return of the faceted Arizona Peridot with the smooth, liquid luster of the cabbed Rhodolite, the set feels balanced rather than busy.

It is a difficult feat to mix cutting styles in a single suite—the eye is often confused by the difference in light performance. But guided by the Christmas theme, it works perfectly. It represents the harmony of opposites that defines the holiday aesthetic: bright lights and dark nights, sharp cold and warm fires.

Final Thoughts

This latest work from The Lapidary Office is a reminder that gem cutting is not just about maximizing yield or following a diagram—it's about storytelling. Ian Perry has taken two classic materials and, through a clever application of lapidary techniques, turned them into a wearable celebration of December.

Check out more of Ian Perry’s work at The Lapidary Office to see how he continues to push the boundaries of traditional gem cutting.

Kunzite a Faceting journey

The Pink Challenge: Why Faceting Kunzite Tests Your Patience (and Your Nerves)

Shutterstock

Explore

If you are a lapidary artist, you know the specific thrill of putting a new piece of rough on the dop. You analyze the color, the clarity, and the shape. But when that rough is Kunzite, that thrill is often accompanied by a distinct sense of dread.

Beautiful, glowing, and affectionately known as the "evening stone" for its tendency to fade in sunlight, Kunzite is a gem that demands respect. Why? Because cutting it feels less like working with stone and more like trying to facet a bundle of raw spaghetti.

The "Stack of Straws" Nightmare

Kunzite (the pink variety of Spodumene) is notorious in the faceting world for its perfect cleavage. While many stones have cleavage planes, Kunzite’s are particularly unforgiving.

Imagine holding a handful of drinking straws tightly in your fist. If you try to cut across them, they hold their shape. But if you try to slice parallel to them, or apply pressure from the wrong angle, the straws simply separate and fall away from each other.

This is exactly how Kunzite behaves.

• The Structure: Its crystal structure is essentially long, parallel fibers.

• The Risk: As you grind and polish, the vibration and heat can cause the stone to split cleanly apart along these planes.

• The Result: You might be polishing a nearly finished pavilion when—pop—a huge flake separates, ruining your meet points and shrinking your stone in an instant.

The Secret to Success: Tilt the C-Axis

So, how do you keep this temperamental beauty from falling apart on the lap? The secret lies in orientation.

Standard wisdom in faceting often dictates placing the table (the flat top of the gem) perpendicular to the C-axis (the long axis of the crystal) to maximize yield or color. With Kunzite, however, placing the table directly perpendicular to the cleavage planes is asking for trouble. It exposes those "straw openings" directly to the polishing force.

The "Just Off" Technique

Experienced cutters have found a sweet spot: Place the table just off the C-axis.

By tilting the stone slightly so the table is not perfectly parallel to the C-axis, you are essentially cutting across the "straws" at a slight angle rather than straight down into them. This slight bias locks the fibers together more securely, reducing the chance of the surface peeling or pitting during polishing.

Speed Kills: The Art of Going Slow

Once you have your orientation correct, the second rule of Kunzite club is: Slow down.

Kunzite is heat sensitive and vibration sensitive.

• Use a fine grit: Avoid aggressive coarse laps that create heavy vibration.

• Cool water: Keep a steady drip of water to prevent heat buildup (thermal shock will crack it instantly).

• Polishing: When it's time to polish, slow your lap speed way down. High-speed friction generates heat and drags on those cleavage planes.

Conclusion: The Reward is Worth the Risk

Cutting Kunzite is not for the faint of heart. It requires a gentle hand, a strategic setup, and infinite patience. But when you finally pull that stone off the dop, and you see that electric, violet-pink glow without a single cleavage fracture? That is a badge of honor every faceter should wear proudly.

Precision Faceted Montana Sapphire #279

A Deep Dive into Greenish Yellow: Faceting a Montana Sapphire Hexagon

It all begins with an idea. Every rough gemstone holds the potential for a spectacular finished jewel, and my most recent client piece was no exception. I had the pleasure of working with a beautiful Montana Sapphire, a gem known for its unique, often greenish yellow hues and ethical, North American origin.

The client's vision was clear: a modern, geometric shape that would truly set their piece apart. We chose the hexagon cut, a shape that is gaining popularity for its contemporary look and the way its straight lines and numerous facets brilliantly handle light.

The Challenge of the Hexagon

Faceting a complex geometric shape like a hexagon is both an art and a technical challenge. Montana sapphires are known for their beautiful color zoning, which means the rough crystal's color may not be uniform. The cutting process must be precise to:

1. Maximize Color: Orient the stone to showcase the most attractive color saturation in its greenish yellow tones.

2. Ensure Symmetry: Achieving six perfectly equal sides and crisp, meeting facets is paramount for a professional finish.

3. Optimize Brilliance: The angles must be calculated precisely to ensure light reflects back to the viewer, bringing the stone to life.

The Transformation

Starting with the initial 'dop' stage, where the stone is secured for cutting, to the final polishing of the table, every step was focused on perfection. The hexagon shape, with its six primary sides, allowed me to create a mesmerizing 'kaleidoscope' effect where the light breaks up and flashes across the crown and pavilion.

The resulting sapphire is a stunning, greenish yellow gem that is both classic and distinctly modern, ready to be set into a unique piece of jewelry. Seeing a natural wonder from the Earth transformed by precision into a wearable work of art is always the most rewarding part of my job.

Do you have a unique stone or a specific shape in mind for your next custom piece? Contact me to start the discussion about transforming your idea into a treasured heirloom.