Recut

A recut is the refashioning of a finished stone to improve its colour return, symmetry or condition, paid for in weight. Nobody recuts for fun. The cutter takes the stone down on purpose, closing a window, lifting a bulging native pavilion into proper proportions, or grinding out a chip on the girdle, and the carats lost are the fee. Done well, the value of what remains rises further than the weight fell. A 3.20 ct Ceylon sapphire with a pale centre can come back at 2.75 ct and fetch more, because colour now fills the whole face rather than the rim. Done badly, or on rough that never had the depth, it is simply a smaller stone.

Two things drive the decision. First, the threshold weights the market prices from: taking a stone from 2.05 ct to 1.90 ct crosses a line buyers feel. Second, what the recut actually buys, a closed window, an even outline, a centred culet, none of which show on an invoice but all of which show face up.

On a lab report

A recut strands the old report. Weight and measurements no longer match, and a report that does not match its stone reads as a certificate mismatch, whatever the innocent reason. GIA, Gübelin, SSEF and the rest will re-examine and issue a fresh document; the report number changes, and the treatment and origin lines are tested again rather than copied across. Some laboratories offer an update service if the stone returns soon after the original examination. Either way, the paperwork must be redone before the stone is offered again.

Ask whether the stone has been recut since its report was issued, and if so, whether it has gone back to the laboratory. A dealer who says the certificate is from before the recut has told you the report is void.