I’ve become fascinated with simple gemstone designs. There is something amazing about how just a few well placed facets create a complexity of reflection. That’s the challenge of my Simplicity Series of designs: defining an outline and eye-catching face-up with the fewest facets possible.
For my Ice Flower design, I chose to stick with the classic 16 facet outline to define the round shape. (One can create a round outline with fewer facets, but it tends to look irregular or lumpy at arm’s length, eventually becoming an obvious nonagon at 9 facets). So, for my eye, the minimal number of facets for this design is 16 facets on the pavilion, 16 on the girdle, 16 on the crown and one table facet, 48 facets total. Though, I could round the girdle and get the facet count down to 32.
I prototyped this design in Herkimer “Diamond” quartz and found the sharp, crisp reflections reminiscent of ice crystal patterns I’d seen on frosted puddles and car windows.
The large yellow stone at the top is YAG, yttrium aluminum garnet, a synthetic gem material with some amazing colors. I don’t usually cut YAG for myself, but the eye-popping, near-neon yellow of this one simply wouldn’t let me go.
