LAPIDARY

Release the full potential of the rough

The cutting of emerald and other coloured stones is considered as much an art as it is a science. Unlike the perfectly symmetrical cuts prized by the diamond market, coloured stones are usually cut in a more artisanal fashion. The job of the cutter is to cut the stone in a fashion that releases the full potential of the rough material.

Stones have been cut from their natural state to form desirable shapes for jewellery and tools since the dawn of time. The shaping of flint by early man is an early example of people fashioning stones to get the best out of them. Early examples of lapidary in South America include Pre Columbian jade carvings by local tribes.

Later on cabochon cutting became the standard practice for producing finished gems, the crowns of jewels of many countries bear testament to this. As technology has developed in the last 500 years the practice of intricately fashioning a stone with polished facets has become the standard practice.

The angles and dimensions of a cut help transmit the colour and character of a stone as these metrics return light to our eye. Our cutters in Bogota have spent a lifetime specialising in the cutting of emerald, gaining the knowledge needed to unlock the true beauty of any uncut stone.

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