u/abelliveau — reddlx

I think antique cuts have officially ruined me for modern brilliants

This is a flame-fusion lab sapphire I finished in an antique-inspired cushion. I’ve been on a scissor-cut kick for a while, but I keep coming back to these chunky facets and the open culet.

I love how this one turned out — especially the flashes it throws as it moves. There’s just something about antique-style faceting in colored stones that gets me.

Anyone else gone down the antique-cut rabbit hole lately?

u/abelliveau — 13 days ago

▲ 1 r/InstagramMarketing

Help growing my Jewelry brand

I’m trying to grow a very niche Instagram account for my small jewelry/gemcutting business, and I could use some constructive outside eyes.

I’m a gemcutter and I sell hand-cut gemstones and fine jewelry. My goal isn’t really to build an audience of other gemcutters — I’m trying to reach women who actually like/buy jewelry.

I’ve been experimenting pretty heavily with Reels, especially Trial Reels. I’m getting views and Instagram seems to be getting better at showing them to US women, but I’m struggling to turn those views into followers, engagement, and eventually customers.

My Instagram is @belliveauatelier

If you have a minute to actually look at the account: what would make you follow? What feels like it’s missing? Does the content feel too much like “watch me cut rocks” and not enough like a jewelry brand/person you’d want to keep following?

I’m especially interested in feedback on positioning, hooks, profile conversion, and whether the content makes sense to someone who knows absolutely nothing about gemstones.

reddit.com

u/abelliveau — 15 days ago

▲ 121 r/faceting+1 crossposts

Unheated Nigerian sapphire with some fun color zoning.

I picked this piece of rough because I liked the blue/green color zoning and wanted to see how it would look in a finished oval.

Watching it evolve on the dop was probably my favorite part. Every lap revealed more color interaction.

It’s an unheated Nigerian sapphire, precision cut by me. The finished stone ended up with olive body color and flashes of teal and blue that move around depending on the lighting. Definitely one of the more interesting stones I’ve cut.

u/abelliveau — 3 months ago

▲ 118 r/faceting+1 crossposts

My first zircon!

This was a really enjoyable stone to cut. Sometimes a piece of rough wants to fight you every step of the way, but this zircon was cooperative from start to finish and performed beautifully on the dop.

I started with a piece of honey-colored rough, designed the cut beforehand, and ended up with this finished oval with strong honey color.

One of my favorite parts of the process is photography. I love seeing how a gem behaves under different lighting conditions and trying to capture it in its best light.

Specs:
• Natural Honey Zircon
• 3.10 ct
• 9.7 × 7.9 × 4.5 mm

Swipe through to see the rough, design rendering, and finished gemstone.

u/abelliveau — 4 months ago