The History of Lapidary (Part 2)

Post date: Dec 22, 2016 11:11:50 AM

--by Forlin Icebeard--

Welcome back reader in our second installment in our three-part trip through the history of lapidary, or what some call "Gem-cutting".

In this part 2 we will be looking into the advances made during the first and second age.

Search Continues for Performance

The search for visual performance continued. It appears that most of the new innovations were intended to improve surface performance - the scintillation or twinkle caused by reflections - rather than any knowledge application or pursuit of optical advancement. Doubtlessly, this search led to the development of the single cut.

Single cuts are still cut in abundance today and are better known to the public and jewelry trade as chips or Stonefoot Cuts. The technique consists of dropping in facets at the corner ribs. This nicely rounded off the plan view into something more nearly representing a circle. It was an 8-sided circle to be sure, but a more circular configuration nonetheless. As its name would suggest, it was the lapidaries of Naraggund, home of the Stonefoots, who perfected this cutting style during the early First Age; a style that quickly spread to all other clans.

Breakthroughs Start in the First Age

No dwarf can deny that when the Noldor elves arrived on the shores of Beleriand the skills in lapidary slowly reached new heights among the dwarves. Nowhere else was this so clear than in Gabilgathol and Tumunzahar, where elves at times came to trade. In this age, the breakthroughs started in earnest.

First in importance was the work of Ibnar Abanzirak, of Tumuzahar in the Blue Mountains. Generally acknowledged as the Father of Adamant Cutting, he is best known for his introduction in about 175 of the First Age of absolute symmetry, improvements in the polishing process, and the development of the pendeloque shape. He is also credited with the development of the horizontally mounted metal grinding wheel, (known in adamant parlance as a skeif.) It is doubtful if he actually developed the wheel. What he unquestionably did do for the first time was to cover the metal wheel with adamant dust suspended in oil. The oil, of course, kept the adamant particles on the rotating wheel rather than allowing centrifugal force to sling them away. This led to extraordinary advances in polishing technology and control of the cut stones. Because of the great leap in polishing excellence, most dwarf historians also give him credit for the wheel itself.

What really made Ibnar Abanzirak’s reputation and his place in history was his development of the Sanaban ("perfect stone") design. This was a classical pendeloque shape (a pear-shaped brilliant with a table). Being given an order by the King of the Firebeards in 190 of the First Age to produce three large polished adamants, Abanzirak responded with a revolutionary level of shape, design, and cutting excellence known as the Sanaban design.

Rose cut and Sanaban design

Sanaban Adamant Introduces Bottom Cutting

Cutting the Sanaban on both sides, though, demonstrated that the bottom of a gemstone could provide interesting optical effects. Technically, the Sanaban could be called a double rose cut, since the top and bottom are identical. The Rose cut consisted of a flat-bottomed cut, with a hexagonal, (six fold) facet arrangement. These facets were stacked symmetrically on the domed and faceted top, or crown.

That was interesting enough. Something else, of even greater importance than the bottom reflections, became evident to adamant cutters. With the addition of a second row of facets on each side, it was obvious that external light performance was substantially improved. Far more than any other cuts of the time (with the exception of the gems the Noldor took with them from Valinor), the Sanaban cuts absolutely sparkled.

Thanks to the Sanaban influence, the rose cut continued to grow in prominence. Various innovations on the rose cut represented a dramatic departure from previous cutting modes. The advantages of the Rose cut included the opportunity to fashion flat stones. It also provided maximum spread and/or yield for a crystal’s weight and size. From the mid First Age onwards, the Rose cut found primary use as ornamentation on costumes, scabbards, sword hilts, harness trappings, epaulettes, dishes, candlesticks, boxes, etc.

Some controversy still exists over the origin of the Rose cut, though most historians agree a pink Rhodolite garnet cut in the Rose cut style was given to the Queen of the Longbeards, wife of Durin the Deathless, who called the pink stone “her rose”.

Why hasn’t the Rose cut maintained its popularity? Light discipline can be the only answer. When you consider that Rose cuts are designed as a function of reflected light, the loss potential looms obvious. Some 83% of available light enters an adamant. An adamant reflects only 17% from its surface. The remainder is internal reflection. That means that a Rose cut forfeits more than 4/5’s of its potential brilliancy, a flaw the dwarves soon sought to correct in future designs.

Earning a bad name among men

During this time, men arose in the east and were quick to take up the skill of gem cutting. Mainly Ironfist dwarves took up men in their adamant mines. Adamants were plentiful in the Red Mountains. Indeed, cynical Ironfist merchants are known to have hoodwinked ignorant men into believing that the best test of an adamant was to strike it a blow with a hammer. If the crystal did not withstand the hit, it could not possibly be an adamant, the wily merchants explained.

Few hard but brittle types of adamant could withstand such a destructive test. When the men departed after a testing session, the Ironfist merchants gathered up the broken pieces and fled back to their halls and the cutting shops. History simply does not record how many fine, large Red Mountain adamants were destroyed this way. The loss must have been substantial. The Red Mountains were famous as a reservoir of large adamant crystals at the time. Needless to say, it is not a proud chapter in the Ironfist history.

Enter Ice Cut Picture

Ice Cut: The Ice Cut Disputed

Shortly after the Rose cut become prominent among most dwarf gem-cutters by 300 of the First Age, a new style appeared - a 34-faced brilliant type of adamant cut (17 facets above the girdle and 17 facets below the girdle). Unlike the Sanaban cut, this cut, known as the Ice Cut, cannot be contributed to a single inventor, as history shows similar stones developed by the Stiffbeards, Firebeards, Blacklocks and Ironfists, all claiming its invention. There is little question, though, that master gem-cutter Stiffbeard Harin Glintstone perfected the style and dubbed it the “Ice Cut", a claim most hotly disputed by Firebeard gem-cutter Bruin Starcutter, who later perished at the ruin of Tumunzahar. One claim none could rebuke though is that Glintstone was the first to define the ideal cut ratios for optimal sparkle of an adamant, in 421 of the First Age.

Starmaster’s Cut: Major Steps

A major step, though, took place early in the Second Age at Khazad-dûm, the halls of which were swelled with the knowledge of Firebeard and Broadbeam gem cutters that had sought refuge there after the ruin of their ancient Halls. There, shortly after his family arrived in Khazad-dûm, the legendary Firebeard adamant cutter was born, named Bruzin, later known by the epithet Starmaster for his skill in letting gems shine. Starmaster’s new 58-facet cut introduced the concept of break and star facets. This innovation was in effect a triple cut. Although the design was to undergo a number of variations, the configuration is essentially what is seen today in the round brilliant cut.

Remember, though, that even the Starmaster cut was blocky, not a perfect round. Also, even at this late date, rough adamants and coloured stones were still usually rounded by the tremendously laborious technique of hand bruting. This was especially true when the adamant occurred in the octahedral form.

With the discovery of the new Stiffbeard adamant deposits, a great impetus was given to brilliant cutting. The new designs were in a cushion shaped form known as old-mine cuts or Stiffbeard cut. Still, the cutters remained faithful to the triple cut mode. With 58 facets, such a cutting design represented the forerunner to the Old Longbeard, (essentially an Old Miner design, but rounded verses the Miner’s squarish appearance,) and the modern round brilliant. Smaller stones were single cut with 17 facets on the crown and 16, (not including a culet facet,) on the pavilion.

Shape of the Crystal Still Dictated Plan

Despite advances, the original shape of the crystal still dictated the plan shape of the finished stone. When working with octahedrons, the cut would invariably come out squarish, or cushion shaped. If the shape was more of a rhombic dodecahedral, then a round shape could be expected.

In the second century of the Second Age, more fully rounded adamants were being produced. These gradually became known as Old Longbeard Cuts. Compared to modern cutting practices, they were characterized by small tables, large culets, and greater depth.

In addition, Broadbeam cutters opted for thinner girdles than Longbeard cutters. For years, it was this difference that marked a stone’s cutting origin. Thus, when viewing an Old Longbeard cut, inspect the girdle: its thickness often reflects Broadbeam or Longbeard cutting.

In the next issue of the Tablets of Khazadgund we’ll finish our journey through the history of Lapidary, with a more in-depth look at the advances of the Third Age.