The Faceting Apprentice Institute is an online and in-person school for gemstone cutting. The goal is to present the potential gemcutter with a path and a goal. Like the lapidary apprenticeships of old, FacetingApprentice.com offers a long term learning program that will take you from the first steps of gemcutting to the most advanced faceting projects.

After creating an account, you can login and sign up for courses with PayPal or a credit card. Once you've purchased a course, you can watch it whenever you like and as many times as you want. The video courses can be streamed on any device from anywhere in the world.

Watch each course as many times as you need! If you purchase an individual course, then you can watch it repeatedly, forever. If you purchase a subscription package, then you have access to all the video courses for as long as you are subscribed.

Great question! You need to have a full faceting setup in your cutting environment. We have a complete list of tools required in a PDF here.

There are currently two instructors for the Faceting Apprentice curriculum.

Justin K Prim is an American lapidary and gemologist living and working in Bangkok, Thailand. He has studied gemcutting traditions all over the world as well as attending gemology programs at GIA and AIGS. He is the author of The Secret Teachings of Gemcutting and has previously taught gemology and faceting courses at AIGS and IGT. He also writes articles, produces videos, and gives talks about gem cutting history.

Victoria Raynaud is French gemcutter and gemologist. She studied gemcutting as an apprentice in Geneva as well as attending gemology programs at both Gem-A and GIA. She worked as a professional lapidary for three years in Switzerland, specializing in the cutting of small, precision-cut stones for the Swiss watch industry. Since then, she has worked in the gem laboratories of GIA and DANAT. Victoria has taught gemcutting in Bahrain and Thailand and is able to teach in multiple languages and on multiple machines.

To read full bios, click here.

All the initial Faceting Apprentice courses are presented on a handpiece style faceting machine. For mast cutters it is also possible to utilize these courses. All the practical advise and guidance is applicable to any type of index gear-based faceting machine, however there will be a few specific Handpiece-only tricks presented that the mast cutter can ignore. In the future, we plan to add specific videos made with a mast-machine.

There is a detailed list that presents our recommend course order here.

We offer a no-risk refund policy on all of our courses. Please check each individual course page for the refund policy.

Yes! We highly recommend the following links:

- The Secret Teachings of Gemcutting: A newly published book that contains a collection of time tested, industry-standard gemstone designs that can been found in the jewelry from high-end brands as well as independent bespoke jewelry designers.

- Articles by Justin K Prim: Here you will find a large collection of original articles covering a range of topics; gemcutting, lapidary history, gemology, and the gem trade.

- Gemcutters Craft Youtube Channel: Here you will find a collection of videos organized by theme. In The Gemcutters Craft series, you can learn tips, tricks, and history related to gemcutting. In the Gemcutting Conversations series, you can listen to interviews with professional cutters from around the world as they explain their business models and cutting practices.