- uk facet cutters' guild -

About Us

The United Kingdom Facet Cutters’ Guild was set up in August 1994 by a group of faceting enthusiasts who wanted to communicate with other faceters, in order to improve their skills by exchanging ideas and techniques. There was considerable interest in faceting in Australia and America at that time and we wanted to be involved in that activity.

Since then we have made considerable progress towards our goals. We do not have any meetings, except the AGM  (held in Bakewell each October) as our members come from all parts of  the UK (and beyond!). Instead we have a newsletter, and members are able to contact each other both through our members’ directory and WhatsApp group. The links we have to a number of other guilds across the world also means that we can mutually exchange information for the benefit of all members.

The United Kingdom Facet Cutters’ Guild was set up in August 1994 by a group of faceting enthusiasts who wanted to communicate with other faceters in order to improve skills by exchanging ideas and techniques. There was considerable interest in faceting in Australia and America at that time and we wanted to be involved in that activity.

Since then we have made considerable progress towards our goals. We do not have any meetings, except the AGM  (held in Bakewell each October) as our members come from all parts of  the UK (and beyond!). Instead we produce a quarterly magazine, Stonechat, to which members are invited to contribute articles and other items of interest. The links we have to a number of other guilds across the world also means that we can mutually exchange articles for the benefit of all members.

Our Objectives

Our objectives are to promote the art and craft of facet cutting and the study of materials and techniques relative to gemstones. Also to encourage interaction and communication with other like-minded people worldwide.  This we do by:

Providing assistance

and mentoring to beginners by means of our mentoring scheme and training manual.

Disseminating information

about aspects of gem design, faceting techniques, machinery and gemmology through our quarterly magazine

Demonstrating

the craft to the general public at gem shows across the UK.

Operating a continuous assessment scheme

whereby members may submit gems for constructive comment and marking by internationally qualified judges.

Organising two competitions per year

The Regular, for members who have not yet achieved their Advanced Cutter award and a more challenging competition for members who are already Advanced Cutter, although this competition is called The Open, meaning any member may enter it.