How does a drilled gemstone pendant actually come about? It's actually quite simple: saw, drill, grind, polish and you're done.
In detail it is quite complex. Everything starts with the raw material. Getting beautiful raw material is probably the hardest part, often processed stones are cheaper than the raw material. Depending on the stone, it is easier or more difficult to assess the quality. That's why for some stones, such as spectrolite, it is better to buy ready-cut slices.
If you have whole raw stones, the next step is sawing. With pietersite (see photo) it is important to cut the stone in the right direction. Otherwise you have a stone with a beautiful pattern but without the iridescence that actually makes pietersite so attractive. The direction can also change when cutting, so you have to check again and again.
If the slices are too big, continue dividing them until you have pieces of the desired size.
The next step is to use the grinder to shape the stone into the approximate shape you want.
The stone is then drilled. I use a bench drill with water flow through the drill (Homberg+Brusius Tibo). Here you have to proceed very slowly and carefully, otherwise you will damage the stone or the drill.
Once you have drilled the stone, you can begin the actual grinding. I use a Diamond Pacific Cabohon grinder.
There are 6 diamond grinding wheels here. The first two are made of metal and are used to give the stone the desired shape. With the additional 4 discs you gradually polish the stone finer and finer.
Finally, the finished pendant is polished to a high shine with polishing felt and polishing paste. Depending on the stone, different polishing pastes are used. Different polishing pastes are used for quartz than for opals, and different polishing pastes are needed for very soft stones.
After this step the trailer is ready!