Sonoran Snowflake by Jeff R. Graham
Sonoran Snowflake – Cutting Remarks
At left: Is the pototype Sonoran Snowflake, a 23.5mm stone cut from rutilated Quartz. No facets were frosted on this stone. At right, a beautiful 48mm, 80 carat Sonoran Snowflake from light blue Topaz with frosted facets struts its stuff.
This design is for all of the people who like to cut very large, or door knob size stones, 15mm+. It is fun to cut with not much difficulty. There are a few thing that are a little different to watch for when cutting. The P8’s are basically a step cut, and cut in after the P3 and P4 steps are cut.
The P8 facets can be roughed in earlier if you want, to help get the tier sizes right. However all of the tiers on the steps can vary somewhat, the snowflake will look a little different. But then, aren’t all snow flakes different? Also unusual is the girdle to crown area, the corners wrap around and meet from the pavilion. These are not hard to cut, but watch the C2 facets, they meet fast. The table is very large and can be hard to polish. It is large so the snowflake shows through it.
There are several ways to frost this pattern, I like it on the P3, P4, and P10 facets. If you are cutting Quartz raise the angle on the P10 facets to 40.7, and cut everything else as is. This is very nice and bright in Quartz and Beryl. Topaz is a little livelier because of the higher RI… The Quartz sample is all polished with no frosting and the blue Topaz is frosted on the P11, P6, P4, and P10 facets.
Enjoy cutting your “Sonoran Snowflake”… Drop me an email to let me know your results and what you’ve cut, or feel free to inquire if you have any questions or need some help regarding this design
Random – Cosine – ISO
Detailed faceting instructions by Jeff Graham available at The Rock Peddler
This edited version of an article by the late Jeff Graham is part of a special archived informational series from Gram Faceting. Used with permission.
