Diamond Cut Sapphires and Rubies – Good things in small packets
The 21st century has seen a radical change in jewelry styles. Long gone is the era of big chunky jewelry with expensive bigger stone embellishments, today classic elegant statement jewelry made of smaller diamond cut stones have stolen the show. Diamond cut or brilliant-cut sapphires and rubies make for beautiful, eye-catching jewelry pieces. Instead of a single larger stone, skilled jewelers utilize 5-20 smaller diamond-cut precious gems like blue sapphires or rubies to create a beautiful, unique setting.
While many jewelers excel in several cuts like the princess cut, the cushion cut, the emerald cut, and more, diamond cut stones are timeless and have the versatility to be used in several ways. You can read more about the various cuts of stones here:
https://www.gemsociety.org/article/fancy-gem-cuts/
So what makes diamond cut jewelry so popular?
- Cost-efficient: Most millennials today who come to the jewelry market, fall within the mid-market earning strata. With limited financial resources, splurging extravagantly on a huge, one-of-a-kind stone might de-rail most young people from many of their dreams and aspirations. Diamond cut stones come to the rescue here. Diamond cut blue sapphires can be set together to make a beautiful intricate jewelry piece, parti sapphires are a great example too, especially a statement engagement ring, with each stone starting as cheap at 15$! You don’t need to spend millions for your declaration of love now!
2. Variety: Not only blue sapphires but this elegant cut can be precisely given to several gems like rubies, yellow sapphires, pink sapphires, orange sapphires, Parti sapphire and green sapphires. Rarer ones like black sapphires, white or colorless sapphires and Burmese blood-red rubies are best accentuated when their natural beauty is perfectly cut and finished with a brilliant cut. If you are looking for a unique gemstone that speaks volumes about you as a person, diamond-cut gems are the way to go.
3. Versatility: While faceted gems can be round, square or rectangular, the classic round diamond shape has dominated the market since Tiffany and co, introduced the popular solitaire design in the 1880s. Round faceted diamond-cut sapphires and rubies in any color can be set into geometric, floral, or abstract shapes and are not restricted by the shape geometry of squares, rectangles, and pears. At Navneet Gems and Jewels we house a range of diamond cut gemstones like vivid royal blue sapphires to light pastel blue ones, yellow sapphires which range from golden yellow sapphires to lemon yellow sapphires, blood-red rubies to pastel pink rubies,yellow with a hint of blue and green like parti and much more.
So what exactly is the Brilliant cut or the Diamond cut of gemstones?
When a brilliant-cut ruby is shaped like a diamond, it typically has 58 facets which are triangular, kite, or lozenge-shaped. The intent of the diamond cut isn’t to make the sapphire or ruby sparkle like a diamond but to accentuate its inherent fire and brilliance. The fire or the light dispersion is basically the splitting of natural white light into the corresponding seven rainbow colors which then exit the gem.
The faceting of a gem is crucial in controlling how the light moves within the gem. Skilled cutting entails that when light strikes the pavilion and facets at the critical angle of the stone (which is measured previously via the refractive index), it is reflected internally multiple times and then exits through the surface of the crown, giving the stone its maximum admirable brilliance.
Diamond cut jewelry has taken over the market in Italy, the USA, Hong Kong, China, and Thailand and Thailand remain the chief center for the manufacture of diamond cut sapphires and rubies. While most of the stones are imported to Thailand from mines in Africa, Sri Lanka, Burma, and Australia, where Thailand has become the gemstone capital of the world. Here is why it is wise to buy gemstones in Thailand.
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- Skilled workforce: The Thai have been master craftsmen since the 15th century, primarily due to the rich deposits of several gemstones in its geographical area. The detail-oriented artistic work, typical of Thai cutters makes them invaluable. Some of the best diamond-cut blue sapphires and diamond-cut rubies in weights as small as 0.005 carats. Every facet, girdle, the pavilion is cut with extreme precision and care. At Navneet Gems we employ state-of-the-art technology to facilitate such intricate cutting processes and amplify the talent of our cutters.
- Cheaper Labor and Prices: The highly skilled workforce in Thailand is extremely affordable. Since the neighboring countries of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Burma also possess the technical know-how of treating gemstones right. Buyers of rough gemstones in Bangkok can avail of low overhead and low prices of rough stones by heading over to the office in The Jewelry Trade Centre at Silom.
3. Heating secrets: With the advent of mechanized mining, Thai gem producers had to improvise. While gemstone cutting and polishing had been practiced for centuries, with skills and secrets that have been passed down generations, the world’s dwindling gemstone deposits needed a fast solution. The technique of heating stones to above 1700° C, invented by the French in the 1960s, resulted in improved clarity and color of low-value stones. This was quickly adapted and today Thailand is responsible for treating 90% of rubies and sapphires in the world by their unique method that has been perfected over the years with science, experience, and experiment.
4. The world hub: Be it, vacationers or international gemstone shoppers, one can scarcely ignore the beautiful sapphire and gemstone markets in Thailand. Precious While the export offices are mainly situated in Bangkok (with few also trading in precious gemstones in Bangkok), most of the mining, cutting, heating, and polishing of gemstones have been done in Chanthaburi, a small coastal province, nestled between the hills at the Gulf of Thailand. Since the Thai have perfected the art of heat treatment or “cooking” of stones, many gemstone markets abound in heat-treated or glass-filled rubies and sapphires which are of low quality. We at Navneet Gems pride ourselves on housing one of the largest collections of untreated rubies and sapphires of the diamond cut variety.
THE PROCESS OF MAKING DIAMOND CUT GEMSTONES AT NAVNEET GEMS AND MINERALS:
Gemstones are cut depending on their use in various jewelry. While cutting precious gemstones decreases the mass and weight, it becomes necessary because the best color and brilliance are obtained towards the center of the stone and not towards the edges.
A lot of factors have to be taken into account before deciding the cut for a stone and the same stands for the diamond cut. Not only does the size of the rough matter, but also the type and amount of inclusions, the angle of light scattering, the color, opacity of the stone, and much more. Only extremely skilled craftsmen can make the proper cuts, preserving the weight as well as bringing out the most brilliance of the gemstone.
At our gemstone cutting factory in Bangkok, producing any diamond cut gemstone, be it a diamond-cut ruby or a diamond cut sapphire, is a thorough 5 step procedure.
- Rough Analyzing team: This team appraises the availability of good quality rough material around the world which can be produced consistently through conflict-free means. This procurement method is done not just for the more popular diamond-cut blue sapphires or diamond-cut rubies but also for more elusive ones like diamond-cut yellow sapphires, diamond cut pink sapphires, diamond cut black sapphires, diamond cut white sapphires, diamond-cut pigeon blood-red rubies, and diamond-cut Kashmir blue sapphire. Once the rough analyzing team has acquired and appraised the most desirable stone sizes for diamond cut, we move on to step two.
- Preforming: Preforming is basically giving the stone its basic shape. As discussed earlier, for the brilliant cut, the round is the most common pre-form used.
- Faceting: Once the performing is done, faceting,i.e., adding facets for the appropriate reflection of light is done. This is where the job of the master cutter comes in.
- Polishing: Industrial-grade Diamond powder is used on a grinding wheel to give the brilliant-cut gemstone its final polish because diamond is the hardest substance known to man. Very minute particles, in the range of microns abrade any imperfections off the surface giving a smooth and finished polish.
- Quality Check: Before proceeding to sales, be it individual or wholesale purposes, each stone undergoes a strict quality check procedure to ensure that you receive only the best products.
Sourcing Diamond Cut Blue Sapphires:
Wholesale Blue sapphires are the most common stone to be purchased in the brilliant-cut. Sadly, however, the most valuable stone – Kashmir Blue Sapphire comes from a region of high conflict between two countries. Since we do not wish to engage in conflict and war zones, we source our stones from conflict-free regions in other parts of the world. You can always ask us about the life-cycle of the stone and we’ll gladly answer you.
So here is where we source our high-quality diamond cut blue sapphires from:
- Sri Lanka: This tiny island just of the coast of Southern India has one of the oldest blue sapphires Extremely sought after, Sri Lankan blue Sapphires have the most fire and brilliance. These cornflower blue sapphires fall right in the middle of the huge blue spectrum that blue sapphires are available in and are perfect for diamond-cut jewelry. The light, open blue color is also considered lucky in a lot of faith systems.
- Madagascar: Slightly darker than their Sri Lankan counterparts, Madagascar diamond cut blue sapphires have a similar fire and brilliance but cost just 10 % lesser.
- Mabella, Nigeria: The blue sapphires from these mines in Nigeria are extremely affordable and have a good consistency of color throughout their products. These are perfect for diamond-cut jewelry as they can range from 0.7mm to 4mm.
- Other parts of Africa: Other sources in Africa also yield blue sapphires like the Deco Mines in Nigeria and a few in Kenya. However, their significantly less cost is because of their less lustrous color and less brilliance. These are usually subjected to some form of treatment – either chemical or heat – to enhance their color before cutting and polishing maximizes their beauty.
- Australia: Typically, Australian blue sapphires have a tinge of green. Their unique peacock hue or “teal” color reserves a completely different category of gemstones for them –“Teal blue-green sapphires and Parti Sapphires.
Sourcing Diamond Cut Rubies:
Also known as the “King of colored Gemstones”, ruby completes the precious gemstone trifecta along with sapphires and emeralds. This class of gemstones is made up of the mineral corundum, which is the second hardest mineral in the world, after diamond. While sapphire has a rainbow range of colors, rubies are the corundum bits that have aluminum and oxygen, giving them their characteristic red color. One of the rarest gemstones, sourcing good quality rubies is indeed a challenge. Here is where we get ours from:
- Burma: The pigeon-blood-red Burma ruby has held the world’s fascination ever since its discovery. These beautiful red rubies have a strong red saturation which gives them unparalleled fire and brilliance. Every jewelry connoisseur’s dream, we house an enormous collection of round diamond cut Burmese ruby. We are one of the topmost wholesale suppliers of diamond cut rubies in the world.
- Mozambique: The Montepuez mines in Mozambique are another source of good-quality rubies. These are slightly more pinkish which can vary from slight to strong. Their open-color makes them a top pick for unique engagement rings.
- Longido, Tanzania: The recently discovered Longido Mines in Tanzania have yielded blood-red rubies with a fire and brilliance secondary only to Burmese rubies. This is due to their slight purplish secondary hue. These mines show the promise of supplying large quantities of ruby gemstone of good quality consistently.
PRICES OF DIAMOND CUT SAPPHIRES AND RUBIES:
For diamond-cut sapphires and rubies, the carat weight could range from 000.5 carats to 0.20 carats per stone. Diamond cut rubies start from 15$ per carat to 150$ per carat, with the average around the 25-60$ ballpark.
For a more precise valuation or a bulk value (wholesale) order contact us via this link http://www.navneetgems.com/contact-us/ or send us an email at navneet@navneetgems.com. You can also call us or schedule an appointment at Mobile: (+66) 985498500, (+662) 2344267, Fax: (662) 631-4372.
For the best experience visit us at Navneet Gems and Minerals, 919/357, 28th floor, Room Number 357, Silom, Bangrak, Bangkok, Thailand.
We have also seen a big change in the unique colors of sapphires over the past few years. We are a manufacturer of small melee-sized Australian sapphires, especially the Teal Sapphires & Parti Sapphires.
We can make the melee smallest 1 mm’s in the teal sapphires and up to the 5 mm round brilliant-cut sapphires in the most famous color of sapphires as of 2020. It’s the color of the year in sapphire.