I faceted this Radiant cut Aquamarine which was
found on Mount Antero in Colorado

Video of an Aquamarine from Mount Antero Colorado.

Click for Video of Aqua

Colorado has vast mineral wealth and is known for gold and silver and numerous other metals. Gem quality Aquamarine is also found in one location in Colorado. Aquamarine crystals can be found near the top of one of Colorado's towering 14,000 ft mountain peaks known as Mount Antero.

The most adventurous of prospectors ascend to the 13,000 ft level and move heavy boulders, rock and gravel to dig, sometimes dodging lightning storms, to unearth the beautiful crystals.

Last year, a young man who had just returned from a digging trip to Mt. Antero contacted me inquiring if I could cut his Aqua crystal.

Below, you will see photos and description of the cutting process.

Aquamarine crystal from Mount Antero

This was one of the nicest Mount Antero Aquamarine crystals I had seen in years.

An arrow telling users to click on the photo to make it larger.

The collector who found it wanted to know if it would cut into nice gemstone. So I examined it closely.

I told him that it would not cut a flawless finished stone becuase of the flaws in the material. But it would have sparkle and brilliance.

He decided to have me cut it for him.

Blocking it out

Just prior to making the actual shape of the stone, I start taking the sides in to explore where the flaws are which limit where the sides of the stone can be or cannot be due to flaws.

Side view

In this view you can see some of the zoning in the crystal.

I have this positioned so that it will work to our advantage with the position of the pavilion.

You can also see some flaws in the middle of the stone. The way these are positioned they will not greatly interfere with the brilliance of the final stone.

Shaping the stone

Here you can see that I am starting to place the emerald cut corners on the stone to create the shape.

First facets

Here I am placing he first facets on the pavilion.

Flaw at the top

At the very top you can see a light colored 'cap' which will be cut away in the process of adding more facets.

More facets

The pattern is starting to become more complex.

Polishing the pavilion

Here you can see that I am have placed all of the facets on the pavilion of the Aqua and I am in the process of polishing it.

The polish helps the blue color to come out.

Click here to see a Video of cutting the pavilion

Working on the Crown

I am not placing the first facets onto the crown.

The long shiny area which you can see is actually one of the natural crystal faces. It is almost nice enough to be used as one of the facets, but not quite.