Most people never stop to ask who cuts their gemstone. But we do—because the cut changes everything: how light moves, how color glows, and how a gem can look bigger, brighter, and more alive than its carat weight suggests.
At Gem Breakfast, we’re proud to work with women across every part of the process—from our all-women team and independent designers to the gem cutters shaping the stones themselves.
Gem cutting is one of the most technical—and historically male-dominated—roles in the jewelry world. But that’s changing. The women we work with bring extraordinary skill, creativity, and perspective to the bench.
There’s Laura of Tatum Gems, who cuts entirely by intuition—letting color, shape, and experience lead the way. Jenna of Sloane Stones, who taught herself to facet and helps each gem find its voice. Diana of Clara Pepper Facets, who designs her own faceting patterns inspired by textiles and geometry. And Nadine of I Love Green Rocks, who started cutting gems at just twelve and is already shaping the future of the craft.
Come meet the women behind the stones—and see how they turn rough rocks into the glittering gems you love. A few of their stones have already been transformed into one-of-a-kind rings—shop the Cut Like a Woman collection to see which pieces are still available.
Nadine Marshall, I Love Green Rocks
Nadine cut her first gemstone at twelve—and never really stopped. What began as a childhood fascination quickly turned into a calling. Today, at 19, she’s known for her technical precision, vibrant color sense, and a perspective that’s far beyond her years.
You started cutting gems at just 12 (!) and now you’re speaking at gem shows and creating stunning, one-of-a-kind stones. How did you know what you wanted to do so early, and what’s it been like navigating the gemstone world as a young prodigy?
As a young kid, I was enamored by the fact that the earth could create beautiful gemstones for us as humans to use as symbols of the most important events in our lives. I always knew that I was called to work in the world of gemstones, but I never could have predicted I’d be given an opportunity at such a young age to join the industry. For me, that moment hit when I was 8 and my dad started taking me gold panning. I had previously been interested in rocks and minerals, but finding garnet sand in Southern Oregon really sparked my passion for gemstones.
Personally, I take joy in transforming Earth’s miraculously created treasures into something that can be adorned in jewelry. At first, it was a hobby, but through social media, I gained knowledge from successful leaders in the industry on how to grow my business and improve my social media presence to support my future career and the causes I believe in. It was through advice and feedback that I improved my cutting quality, communication/networking skills, and gemstone photography.
Just like anyone with a growing social media presence, I faced some discouragement, but overall, I’ve been given an overwhelming amount of support from the industry and my family, which has allowed me to pursue my lapidary and career-oriented dreams.
You’re also working through your Graduate Gemologist program — how has that shaped the way you look at stones, or influenced your work as a cutter?
With 7 years of gem cutting experience in the industry, I had already gained quite a bit of fundamental information. As a cutter, I need to know the basics of mineralogy and light theory to maximize the performance of my gemstones. However, before the Graduate Gemologist program at GIA, I didn’t understand the ins and outs of gemstone treatment and synthetic gemstone identification.
There are more tricks used to deceive the consumer than most people expect, and with the industry becoming more focused on ethical and sustainable business, I value the knowledge and experience I’m gaining to ensure that I’m accurately representing my gems. Gemology is not about simply classifying a stone; it’s about accurately representing to a customer the story and value of the gemstone.
For people who’ve never seen it done, what actually goes into cutting a gemstone? Can you walk us through your process — from rough to finished piece?
Cutting a gemstone is a perfect combination of art and science. A faceter needs to understand light performance, color theory, and even a little chemistry to be able to use the correct angles to facet a gemstone. On the other hand, it takes planning and vision to create something unique with each piece of rough.
The process starts with picking a design that will maximize the value of the gemstone.
- Once the shape is determined, angles and pattern decide how the gem will return light and look face-up.
- After a cutting plan is in place, the next step is preforming. This sets the approximate measurements and outlines the designated shape.
- After the gem is performed, the rough will be adhered to a metal stick called a dop to hold it in place during the cutting process.
- Then the stone is cut, polished using diamond tools, and removed from the dop to clean. During the entire process, I’m keeping an eye out for inclusions and durability risks that could present themselves in the finished stone.
- Every gemstone is soaked in acetone, then cleaned with denatured alcohol to remove all the residue.
Do you have a favorite stone you’ve cut so far — and what made it special?
I have a couple of gemstones that, over the years, have signified growth and a different aspect of my cutting journey that are meaningful to me. One in particular was a 6ct+ pear-shaped green-pink color change Sapphire for The North Way Studio, which was the beginning of my love of corundum (sapphires). At the time, I didn’t realize how significant the value and quality of the gem was, but I enjoyed every step of the process and afterwards knew that I wanted to be cutting larger high-end stones in the future, and not just commercial quality rough. It inspired me to seek feedback and improve my cutting, and now I’ve had the opportunity to cut many large sapphires for other customers and my own business
What inspires your work — is it certain colors, shapes, eras, or something totally unexpected?
I’m very inspired by nature. In all my photography, suits, and gemstone designs, I typically take inspiration from stars, flowers, and leaves. I’ve always been fascinated by the world's natural beauty.
What are the odds that the perfect geological conditions and elements are present in various mountain ranges to create a hidden treasure? Or that Earth would have the perfect atmosphere to sustain life?
In my opinion, manmade gems can replicate the minerals but will never compete with the beauty of God’s creation, and I love to bring that into my business and gemstones. It’s a special nod to where every piece of rough starts (in the ground), and it’s a big piece of why I love colored stones.
How does it feel knowing your gems end up in one-of-a-kind rings and forever pieces people wear every day?
It brings me an immense amount of joy when any of my gemstones are selected to be a part of a critical moment in someone's life. Ultimately, that’s why we love jewelry: it signifies something special, while holding value for generations. I feel honored that other artists and jewelers feel inspired to create their own art with my pieces. Then they continue to be worn and appreciated by someone else.
What’s it like being a young woman in an industry that’s still pretty male-dominated?
It's interesting to see the support in my cutting and photography skills from tenured men in the industry who were excited to support a young woman starting a career in colored stones. As my business has grown, my main recurring customers are women business owners and writers. I’ve been blessed by many men and women in the industry who have provided me support throughout the development of my gem journey.
The first couple of years, it was hard, learning how to build thick skin and my own voice. As a young woman, I believe we have to be more tactical for safety purposes. I’m 19 and still prefer traveling with my mom and dad. Partly for keeping track of time and inventory, but also because having a 6’3 body guard to be with my gems makes me feel safer.
I’ve learned how to navigate those situations and be confident in my skills and who I am as a person and business owner. I never want to disregard the many men in the industry who have been fundamental to my growth. I would not be where I am today if it weren’t for the skilled, knowledgeable, and kind male and female leaders in the gems and jewelry industry who have supported me.
To other future female gem artists, I would encourage them to make sure they balance input and feedback from men and women in the industry and develop a circle of trusted individuals to be inspired by, get feedback, and be open to criticism. Don't allow toxicity to infiltrate your path; only let in people who share similar values and morals, so you can be the best version of yourself. Also, learn to create healthy boundaries in order to preserve your personal and professional brand; it's important to establish those upfront.
What do you wish more people understood about gem cutting?
I believe the cutting aspect of the industry is often lost to the average consumer. Retailers, wholesalers, and even the mining industry all rely on various types of cutting in order to produce a marketable product. Whether it’s fantasy, cabochons, commercial, or precision faceting—cut and polished gemstones are a necessity for a finished piece of jewelry.
Yet nearly every consumer does not know or appreciate the different people that had to handle their gemstone to provide them a beautiful finished piece of jewelry. I wish that more people understood the economic value that is brought to their gemstone through cutters and the sourced community from the point of origin.
Laura, Tatum Gems
Laura doesn’t just cut gems—she listens to them. With a background in repairs and a deep well of experience, she skips the software and follows her instincts. Every decision—from angles to final shape—is guided by the guided by the stone itself and her years of hands-on experience.
You create such unique, freehand cuts — can you share how that process works for you, and what you love about working intuitively?
When I was first trained in gem cutting I worked in repairs. We did a lot of recutting and repolishing of damaged stones, so there weren’t diagrams to follow—it was guesswork and precision to figure out the angles and indexes to cut down, to remove the smallest amount of material and get the stone looking perfect again.
I credit my creative and intuitive style of cutting to this. I like to look at a piece of rough and calculate the best angles and indexes to retain the best weight while still keeping a beautiful and aesthetic shape. I enjoy the creative challenge of making up shapes and designs. I’ve never much followed diagrams in all my cutting journey.
How do you decide where to take a stone, especially when you’re not working from software or diagrams?
Again—it’s intuition, and experience. Software will only get you so far, especially when you're working with pleochroic colours or bi-colour stones. Software can’t account for that.
I’m a trained Gemmologist, so part of that knowledge comes from my gemmology training—understanding pleochroism in a gemstone (when you look down different axes of certain crystals and they display 2 or 3 different colours). But it also comes from experience. I’ve cut a lot of tanzanite over the years, which has 3 directions of colour. Only from cutting so many can I predict how the final colour or blend may turn out, how to hide unfavourable colours like browns, and accentuate favourable colours like purple or blue.
I love bold colourful gems and so I mostly seek out gem rough that will produce exciting colours, or bi-colors and parti colors. Often, the weirder the shape of the rough, the more I enjoy the challenge of cutting an unusual shape to suit it.
Do you have a favorite stone you’ve cut so far — and what made it special?
I’ve had many favourite stones over the years that I’ve cut, probably all for different reasons. Maybe the shape was beautiful, or colour, or origin—or it was just a unique gem I don’t get to cut often.
I cut a beautiful ruby from Malawi a few years ago. Not common for that origin, and as an independent cutter it’s rare to get my hands on ruby rough.
I kept a Montana sapphire I cut for myself and had it set into a ring—a large 2.60ct teal colour, which is also hard to come by.
I’ve had some unique shapes I created as I went along, and put a lot of time into perfecting the faceting pattern on them.
What inspires your work — is it certain colors, shapes, eras, or something totally unexpected?
I’m predominantly inspired by colour. I look at rough parcels before any other part of the process—so I’m drawn to the colour first. Garnets, tanzanite, sapphire.
From there, I begin to imagine the shapes they might take on. I mostly like to work with the shape of the rough—is it elongated, is it blocky or chunky, is there colour zoning?
Each cutter has their style or ‘go-to’ shapes. I tend toward geometric, quirky shapes. I also love asscher, emerald, cushion, or round. I don’t often favour cutting pear or marquise shapes—partly because they’re not suited to a lot of rough, but also because they just aren’t my go-to.
What’s it like being a woman in the gem cutting world?
I had never thought about it much—until recently. In Australia (and maybe also in America), there are definitely more men in the gem-cutting world, but I’ve never felt like a minority or disadvantaged for being a woman. I’m just cutting gems and doing what I love.
Over the last few years, though, I’ve started to realize the importance of being a female gem cutter. I’ve become a role model for other women who want to step into a space that has traditionally been male-dominated. It wasn’t until younger women began approaching me—thanking me for showing them that they could succeed at this too—that I truly understood the value of sharing my journey.
How does it feel knowing your gems end up in one-of-a-kind rings and forever pieces people wear every day and pass down for generations?
It feels very special! I love working with jewellers or designers who create such unique pieces and although I don’t often hear the feedback or joy from the customer directly when they pick up their ring or design and fall in love with it, it feels very special to me that someone loved my stone and will wear it proudly, and that I crafted something from the earth that resonates with their style.
How did you first connect with Gem Breakfast — and when you saw one of your stones in its finished ring, did it match the vision you had in your head while cutting, or totally surprise you?
I think we first connected on Instagram. I’ve been a long-time follower and absolutely LOVE the creative vision Cat and her team have.
I was lucky enough to visit the GB office in San Francisco a few years ago and see everything in person—and if you haven’t been, wow it’s fun!
I always trust the vision any client has with my stones. Sometimes I have a vision for how a stone might be set. Sometimes I don’t. But I always love seeing the diverse ways people interpret the same gem. That’s the special joy of creating what I do—and cutting unique gems lends itself to unique possibilities.
Jenna SLOANE — Sloane Stones
If gem cutting had a rebel with a cause, it would be Jenna. She’s self-taught, fearlessly original, and deeply in tune with the personality of each stone. Her approach isn’t just about angles and polish—it’s about letting every gem show off its quirks, colors, and unique brilliance.
You taught yourself to facet gemstones and built your own business from the ground up — how has that shaped the way you cut today?
Being self-taught, some of my practices are a bit unconventional or more of a modern approach than how those who were traditionally taught to cut gems.
You’ve written candidly about being a young woman in a very traditional, male-dominated industry. How has that shaped your experience?
Being the only daughter growing up with three brothers really prepared me for my role as a gem cutter. While it still isn't easy, I am grateful that I do know when to be more assertive and can stand up for myself when I find myself in situations when others might talk over me, question me, and belittle me.
Yes, I am a petite, young woman, so I often am underestimated, which makes me more grateful when people do trust me to do things like custom-cut gems and gemstone repairs.
You’ve talked about helping a stone “find its voice” — how do you bring that out in your cutting process?
In the rough, a gemstone can be in very strange dimensions or have inclusions that can be a bit tricky to decipher. A part of helping a gem find its voice is observing its outline shape and trying to accentuate it, even if it's a more funky shape.
Another way I make my gems feel more special is by romanticizing their scientific characteristics, like inclusions, color change, or phenomena.
Can you walk us through your process — from rough to finished piece?
I try to describe my faceting machine like an orbital sander, but much more powerful and stationary. To explain the process might require a novel, but to try and keep it simple:
- I start with evaluating the rough gemstone to make sure it is free of cracks and any major inclusions, which can result in the gem crumbling, chipping, or fully falling apart (speaking from experience).
- Once the gem has passed the evaluation, I rough in the outline on a higher grit ‘lap’ on my faceting machine so I can get an idea of the outline shape of the gem. That's what we call a ‘pre form’.
- Next, the gem is glued or adhered with wax to a brass stick called a ‘dop’. I secure the dop in the gem cutting machine to hold it in place.
Do you have a favorite stone you’ve cut so far — and what made it special?
One of my favorites is a recent one. I originally cut it for someone else but ended up buying it back once it was done.
It’s a 2.37ct heated Dry Cottonwood Creek Montana sapphire. I don’t usually care for orange and yellow, yet yellow gems always seem to sneak into my heart!
It had an extreme hint of blue in the rough, practically colorless with an orangey yellow center. But when finished, a light greenish teal crept into the edges, making it a parti-colored stone. The cut is one I plan to repeat. It sparkles brilliantly in both dim indoor lighting and direct sunlight.
What inspires your work — colors, shapes, eras, or something unexpected?
Typically, when shopping for rough gems, I look for a gem that inspires me. I usually shop with a grocery list, but I end up buying everything but what’s on it!
Colors and shapes always change—even from the same mine. Spinel, sapphire, chrysoberyl, and zircon excite me most for their color and refractive index. I usually avoid beryl, garnet, and quartz—they tend to limit my creativity.
How does it feel knowing your gems end up in one-of-a-kind rings people wear every day and pass down?
The biggest reason why I love cutting gemstones is knowing they inspire other people's work—and that they get to be adorned and admired.
How did you first connect with Gem Breakfast — and what was it like seeing one of your stones in a finished ring?
The glorious and wonderful Alyssa Balderas reached out to me to meet at the Tucson gem show for a private showing of my gemstones!
I had admired Cat’s taste in gems and hoped to work with Gem Breakfast since the early days. The first finished ring using one of my stones was a total surprise. Everyone’s creativity is different—and that’s what makes seeing the final piece so exciting.
Diana trujillo — Clara Pepper FACETS
Diana designs original faceting patterns—not from sketches, but by playing with angles in software until something beautiful emerges. Her work blends technical skill with a creative eye, and always centers around the unique potential of the gem itself.
For people who’ve never seen it done, what actually goes into cutting a gemstone?
- I start out by examining the rough closely and performing a slight preform to remove obvious flaws and distracting inclusions. The more expensive the material, the longer I spend preshaping it!
- I use superglue to attach the preformed stone to a metal dop, linking the stone to the faceting machine. The arm of the faceting machine positions the stone at specified orientations and angles, allowing me to hold the stone against interchangeable spinning plates with various diamond grits (analogous to sandpaper grits), from coarse to super fine.
- I shape the facets of the stone, going through the angles and orientations provided by the Gem Cut Studio design program, finally ending in an extremely shiny polish.
Do you have a favorite stone you’ve cut so far — and what made it special?
I’ve had many favorites, but they’re almost always sapphires. What I look for is opalescence—the exact right amount of silk to give the gem an ethereal, misty glow without making it opaque or dull.
My current favorite is a lavender sapphire from Sri Lanka.
You’ve created some truly original cutting designs — like the Petal Fold, Fluttery Lotus, and Reedling. How do those shapes come to life?
I use a gem design program called Gem Cut Studio, which predicts how light will bounce inside a stone depending on its refractive index. I usually sit down with a cup of coffee and play around with angles until something interesting comes through. There's no real rhyme or reason to it, just tinkering until a certain feature catches my eye. The design below seemed to have feather shaped reflections, and 'Reedling' was born!
The gem rendering that inspired 'Reedling'
Diana's signature 'Reedling' gemstone design
What inspires your work — colors, shapes, themes, something unexpected?
A lot of the designs I've created seem to have fabric pattern themes, like my 'Tartan' design, and several quilt-based ones that explore the idea of repeating geometric shapes. My 'Quilt / Solar Panels' design works under certain lights, and ends up looking like solar panels in other lights. You never really know how the predicted design will work out until you test it!
My 'MN Quilt' design has a North Star element in honor of my home state.
How does it feel knowing your gems end up in one-of-a-kind rings people wear every day?
A highlight of my day is getting ring updates from customers. It gives me true joy to know that a gem I created is now cherished and part of someone’s story. I’ve even had people visit my studio years later just to say hi and show me their ring again. I'm smiling just thinking about it!
What do you wish more people understood about gem cutting?
Not all gemstones are created in a factory type setting. I try to create using conscientious intention in every step of the process, from sourcing rough, to creating designs, to interacting with customers to achieve their dream stone.
What was it like seeing your stone in a finished Gem Breakfast ring?
I was so excited to see how the pink hexagon ring turned out! The pink sapphire from Badakhshan was a soft silky pastel color, which was contrasted perfectly against a suite of shocking bright pink/red rubies. It was an unexpected combination, but it worked so well to give the ring that extra wow factor.
A few of the one-of-a-kind rings featured in this story—each set with stones cut by these incredible artists—are still up for grabs. Shop the Cut Like a Woman collection here.
And if you’re dreaming of something custom, we can work directly with cutters like Jenna, Diana, Laura, and Nadine to source one-of-a-kind gems for our custom rings. Let’s cook something up together.
Start your custom ring here or browse our custom gallery for more inspiration.