My mom was a geologist and she tried her hand at it, and that peaked my interest. I learned from a Japanese woman in Maryland who cut for custom jewelry stores in the D.C. area. I’ve always enjoyed working with my hands, so it really was a great fit for me.

It is an expensive hobby. A setup like mine in a post here costs around $7k not including rough. Rough can range from a few dollars to hundreds of dollars or more for a single piece depending on the material, size, color and clarity. I’ve sold some of what I cut, taken on commissions at times but never enough to cover my costs. For me it’s about the creation and giving stones as gifts to friends and family, that’s payment enough. There are plenty of cutters I know that make a living doing this, so it’s totally possible to be profitable. As an example, I cut a $20 dollar rough London blue topaz (6 hours) and sold it for $250.

One question I do get asked is how long does a stone take to cut? It varies based on size (larger == longer), cut difficulty and the material itself. The amethyst in this post took about five hours or so over the course of four days. As much as it looks like it’s a difficult cut, it’s actually relatively easy.