How Cut Affects the Value of Peridot
Perfectly cut peridots are hard to find. Most of the peridots available in jewelry today are what is called “native cut”. This means they are faceted and polished in the same area or region where they were mined, usually in south or southeast Asia. The tools used there are more basic and do not accurately measure angles. Therefore, the quality of the cut depends entirely on the eye and hand of the cutter. Some of these cuts can be very good, while others not. It is also possible, but difficult, to find perfectly master-cut peridot.
You will know a good cut when you see it because it will sparkle more than you thought was possible. All of the facets will be even, there will be no “windows” (also called fish eyes) in the stone that you can see through, and the facets will meet at points.
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| Very Poor Cut: There is a very large dark area in the middle of this peridot: there is no light sparkling back at us. This is due to the fact that this peridot has been cut at the wrong angles. | Poor Cut: This peridot sparkles more than the previous one but ou can see that many of the facets don’t meet at points and it does contain a “window”. | Good Cut: This cut is called an emerald cut or a baguette cut. The thing to look for in evaluating this kind of cut is that all facets are even and parallel. Nice job. | Good Cut: This is an exple of a very good native cut. The facets meet at points and it sparkles quite a bit, with no windows or dark spots. |
