CUTTING OPERATION


Perfection from the hand of the master: Rolf Cullmann after a fruitful session at work (Top)
Paraiba tourmaline, fully faceted (Bottom)

Time and again Rolf Cullmann holds the gemstone to the wheel, until the required perfection is achieved.

Cutting, sawing, creation of the basic form, cementing the stone on wooden sticks and naturally grinding on the many different wheels all occurs here. Jürgen Brunk selects the rough stones and discusses them with the cutters and lapidarists. Each of the steps that follows is a work of hand craftsmanship. Time and again, the cutters and lapidarists apply the stones to the grinding wheels at the correct angle, carefully checking the interim results after each facet. Piece by piece the precious treasures of nature are transformed into jewellery of irresistible beauty.

The light breaks into the various different angles of the carefully-added facets, revealing itself in a new sparkle from each different perspective.

At Groh + Ripp the stones are cut to perfection rather than to weight or size, because only when the relationship between the facets and the angles is right can the full beauty of the stone be revealed. The tour, then, takes us from the uncut stone store to the cutting area and lapidary department, with explanation of the respective stages of work that a stone must pass through from uncut stage to the perfect stone.

Not all stones are capable of being faceted. Many of the precious pieces are also cut into cabochons. The raw material typical has inclusions and it is not the precisely-angled facets that breathe life into the stone here — instead, it is hollow channels, small needles or a net-like natural appearance. In many minerals this cut even emphasises unusual inclusions, lending the stone a very special aesthetic appearance. 

Stones of a particularly high quality are cut in the lapidary department. Full concentration and an unbroken fascination for the beauty of the cut and uncut stones are characteristics of the lapidarists as they go about their unique work. Rolf Cullmann is a master of his craft — there are few lapidarists that understand their work as well as he does. He carefully guides a neon-turquoise Paraiba tourmaline to the cutting wheel and holds it to the light, turning it critically back and forth before applying it. He repeats the pro-cess countless times, until he is finally satisfied. He holds the stone, now cut with endless facets, to the light one last time. And now the full, breathtakingly majestic colour of the Paraiba tourmaline is finally revealed. 

At Groh + Ripp they are proud of every member of staff, because their perfectionism is impressive — but they are also the prerequisite for satisfying the demands of the customers.