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9/2004 I finished this very rare 47ct Blue Topaz cut into the design of the Official Lone Star Cut of Texas.

Here's a picture of the preformed Topaz just after the girdle was cut so I could make sure the calculated overall width of the final lone star cut was able to be maintained.  The official lone star cut is deeper than a normal cut round, so the cutter must be very careful in selecting a properly dimensioned blue topaz so when the center of the lone star is cut, it will be within the topaz rough.

Here's what the topaz looks like just after the first few facets were cut in the official lone star design.  You can just start seeing the shape of the bottom of the stone which is where the 5 sided area will be for the Lone Star.  Now that the girdle or width of the stone has been established, we can calculate the height of the finished stone and make sure it will fit inside the blue topaz rough.  At this point, if the finished stone will not make it inside, the girdle will have to be re-cut a little smaller so we'll end up with a smaller stone, but the culet (the very tip at the bottom of the stone) will be able to fit so the center of the Lone Star will cut correctly.

Now that we know the final designed stone will fit inside the current amount of gem material, I have finished cutting the pavilion, or the bottom of the stone.  In the center of the stone, you can just see the tip of one point of the lone star.  This section of the stone is very critical since there are 7 facets that must meet exactly or the point of the lone star will not be symmetrical.  This is why most cutters will not cut this style of stone, it's just too difficult and the cutter must have extremely precise equipment.

At this angle, you can see the lone star better, and now that all preliminary facets for the pavilion have been cut, it's time to pre-polish and verify each and every facet is exactly where it should be to provid precise meet points.  Then, we'll apply the 100,000 grit diamond powder for the final polish, further verifying each facet edge is precisely meeting the adjacent facets.  Then, when the pavilion is finished, the stone will be transferred to a different holder and the top will be cut and polished as specified by the design. 

The original weight of the blue topaz rough was almost 90ct, actually 89.4ct.  After much deliberation of the best possible size and shape of the finished lone star cut stone, I was able to save this 20.5 mm round, that's almost 1 inch across.  A 20X loupe was used in conjunction with a 2.7X visor (which is over 40X magnification) to make sure each and every facet was cut exactly as the design specified ensuring the star points of the lone star were perfect.  This high power magnification also helped me make sure each and every facet was polished as flat as possible and that no extraneous micro scratches existed from the cutting process.  This stone is externally flawless, all facets meet exactly at 40X magnification. Only has a very small inclusion in the center of the stone but can only be seen with 20X magnification but is internally flawless with an unaided eye.

Now, that's a gem!  If you have any questions about this beautiful Lone Star Cut Topaz, please e-mail me.

This website was last modified on: 10/20/05