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How to paint opals
Tanzania gem hunting trip part 2
Again, the expedition started with a trip to the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, where Styve checked with the minister that we had permission to visit the mines he had contacted and that their licenses were up to date.
Jewellery illustration
Hand painting jewellery renders
Jewellery renders are often painted onto grey paper. Using grey paper allows you to use simple dark and light tone for highlights and low lights, rather than having to make a series of greys like if you were painting on white.
A mixture of both gouache and watercolour paints are often used, though some designers prefer to use just gouache and you need a selection of fine and extra fine paintbrushes.
Freelance jewellery CAD
2D designs are great but to really get a feel for how the piece of jewellery will interact with the body you need a 3d object. In the past, a model would have to be handmade, a time-consuming process and, even using cheaper materials like wax or copper, it could become expensive. With CAD, a prototype can be 3d printed overnight at a fraction of the cost, potentially as little as £10 depending on the material. The cost is so low you can try different variations of a product and test design concepts quickly and cheaply before committing to producing the piece in precious metals.
Emerald cut diamonds
An ‘emerald cut’ is a rectangular shape, step cut and they account for a very small amount of diamonds available worldwide. The modern emerald cut can have 49 facets or more and they are called ‘emerald’ cuts because this type of cut was first developed for emeralds* and then later adopted by diamond cutters.
What are salt and pepper diamonds?
The cost of a salt and pepper diamonds depends on its size, its colour, cut and transparency.
A stone that is mostly clear but has a few large visible inclusions will be worth more than a stone which has many tiny inclusions. A stone with multiple small inclusions may appear to be grey or milky white because of the way they affect the light that enters the diamond and is reflected out.
Pear cut rings
Pear cut rings
Pear cut rings can be made to order in any size, in any metal and in any style of ring. The first part of the process is selecting your pear cut diamond. This is arguably the most important and fun part of the process!
Pear cut diamond ring designs
Round v pear cut diamond price comparison
We wanted to know, if you were going to buy a diamond that had exactly the same characteristics other than the cut, would there be a difference in price?
Which diamond shapes work well together?
