![\"faceting-peridot\"](\"https:\/\/www.rockngem.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/faceting-peridot-2-200x300.jpg\")
Feedback from other designers, gem cutters and connoisseurs about this design has been positive, which, Perkins said, reminds him to accept compliments and trust in the opinions of knowledgeable friends.<\/p>\n
3 Keys to Cutting Peridot<\/h2>\n
1. Peridot is difficult to evaluate for inclusions. You can pick a piece you think is clean and after cutting and polishing you will find inclusions.<\/p>\n
2. Some of the cleanest peridots seem to come from Pakistan and China. Although, Perkins also likes Arizona peridot.<\/p>\n
3. Polishing can be difficult. Most cutters say to polish with aluminum oxide. Perkins has the best luck with a BATT LAP<\/a> with 3,000 diamonds for pre-polishing and another BATT LAP with 100,000 diamonds. He uses paraffin-based candle oil as a lubricant for both BATT laps.<\/p>\n By various accounts, the development of the round brilliant cut is the result of an evolution of techniques and the mathematical formulation of Marcel Tolkowsky, the author of\u00a0 Diamond Design.<\/em><\/p>\n Over the years, cutters of colored gems derived their cutting angles by extrapolating them from diamond cutters and the refractive index of the material they wanted to cut.<\/p>\n Perkins\u2019 first exposure to gemstone cutting and design came when he was in seventh grade, during a meeting of the Akron, Ohio, Gem & Mineral Club and The Medina Gem & Mineral Society.<\/a> A man named George Morse had built his own machinery, drew diagrams by hand and cut quartz gems.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I saw what he could do, I was hooked on faceting,\u201d said Perkins, who immediately asked his parents for a machine to begin faceting work. However, it wouldn\u2019t be until the early 1990s before Perkins purchased his own equipment and got down to work.<\/p>\n \u201cI struggled to learn the [cutting] technique from my teacher and after I completed my first round cut brilliant, he told me to \u2018go home and cut 25 more stones then bring them back and I\u2019ll show you what you did wrong,\u2019\u201d said Perkins. \u201cI looked at my stone and thought, this is pretty but there is something wrong optically. Over the years I would study in my spare time reading what I could. Eventually, I went to school at the lapidary school in Young-Harris Georgia<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n For nearly 30 years Perkins has been honing his craft and enjoying related exploration, achievement and an opportunity to share what he\u2019s learned. One of the most beautiful aspects, as Perkins demonstrates, is the chance to always be learning.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rockngem.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/PeridotDiagram.jpg\")
History of Techniques<\/h2>\n
Hooked on Faceting<\/h2>\n