The Cost of Keeping the Carat
When rough weight, colour zoning, inclusions, and market thresholds compete, cutting becomes a sequence of compromises.
A cutter does not optimise one variable. Yield, face-up size, symmetry, brilliance, colour, durability, and the position of inclusions can point toward different plans.
Commercial weight thresholds can encourage shallow proportions or retained bulges. In coloured stones, however, extra depth may intensify colour, while orientation can manage pleochroism or zoning.
Evaluating cut therefore means asking what the material offered and which trade-offs the finished object makes visible.