Technique

• Together with a chisel punch, chasing hammers shape and split stones using a succession of fast light blows. This way, the wrist and hand are the sources of power, with the hammerhead doing most of the work. This motion is important so that there will only be a small amount of energy that transfers to the gemstone, allowing a precise split. Some gemstones, depending on their hardness, can shatter with heavy blows.
  
  

Gemstone's Cleavage

• Cleaving is the process of splitting gemstones or minerals along the cleavage plane where the weak atomic structure is found as defined by the stone's crystalline structure. Most often, the crystalline structure defines if a gemstone can be split into one or more different pieces or directions. When splitting the gemstone, the hammer is used together with a chisel to hit the cleavage.
  
  

Sawing

• Cleaving does not only entail using a hammer to split chunks of gemstones. Diamond grit saws also are used in cutting gemstones, after which the stones are then ground on a coarse grinding wheel to achieve the desired shape. The finished product will be the gemstone shaped into its ideal cut, minus the facets.
  
  

Faceting

• A faceting machine is then used in creating the facets of the gemstone, which improves the stone's brilliance and shine. This is done by attaching the gemstone onto a dop stick and pressing the stone onto a revolving lap. It is important to maintain symmetry and precision of all the facet's angles so that maximum brilliance is achieved.