This is Kubota from Adan Staff.
The other day, all of our staff members visited a gemstone polishing workshop in Yamanashi!
We boarded a bus from Shinjuku and arrived in Kofu in just two hours, which is fast!
The first thing I did when I arrived was to go to the Gemstone Polishing Studio, which is always a great help to me.
We had often met at exhibitions in Tokyo, but this was our first visit to your workshop!
At this polishing workshopcamellia cutand ... anddynamic cutWe have always received beautifully finished attractive loose pieces such as these.
The first thing I was shown upon arrival was the room of gemstones.
Many kinds of gemstones, collected from all over the world, are scattered around as if in a museum,
I can't help but imagine what this gemstone will look like when it is cut.
I could spend a whole day in this space and not get bored! I enjoyed it very much!
Next, he demonstrated how to polish this golopy gemstone into a camelia cut.
After sorting through the many gemstones for size, color, etc., and finding one that looks just right, the first step is rough outlining.
The next moment after listening to the explanation and mmmmmm......cue ......
"Eh! ......... with your bare hands? We were all already surprised!
While I was surprised, the contouring was completed in no time with brilliant handwork.
He was cutting it quickly and easily, but I think it is really very difficult to do. Kudos to the craftsman! (Crackle! Crackle!)
The next step is to shape the loose piece, which was roughly outlined earlier, into a standard size.
The loose pieces are set on a lathe-like machine, and the contours of the loose pieces, such as round or pear shape, are tightly arranged.
The contours are now beautifully rounded!
Once the contours are in place, the next step is to cut the facets.
The way it works is that the loose glued to the handle is shaved by placing it on a rotating disk,
As you can see, there are many types of tools at the end of the installation.
The polygonal part is set on the base to cut a certain number of facets. The polishing is done by turning the octahedron halfway around to make a hexahedron, then changing the angle to make another octahedron, and so on, while fine-tuning the handle over and over again to achieve the desired number of cuts. The process is repeated to achieve the desired number of cuts.
The camelia cut, which has a particularly high number of facets, is said to be cut in several stages.
Sigh...the craftsmanship.
He says that the size of the faceted surface changes depending on the degree of force, so it is necessary to polish with uniform force.
Just thinking about it sounds difficult, but in reality, the polishing is actually done in front of your eyes in a pleasantly rhythmic manner.
When we asked him about it, he told us that he has been doing this job for about 30 years.
It was truly a skillful job, and it was wonderful!
camellia cutThe cut is so beautiful because of the intricate faceted structure, which gives the appearance of a mixture of different colors in the loose due to the reflection of light on each surface.
The collection is now even more adored.
Well, it's been a long time, so that's all for this issue.
In the second part, I'll show you how the hand-rubbed gemstone polishing process works, lol.
Enjoy!
