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The Wallace Cut is a revolutionary gem carving technique developed by artist Wallace Chan in the 1980s. This method creates the illusion of a three-dimensional face or figure suspended within a transparent gemstone, such as quartz or amethyst. It combines cameo, intaglio, and faceting all on the inside of the gem, using a custom-made, high-speed rotary tool Chan invented himself.
By precisely engraving from multiple angles, the Wallace Cut allows a single face to appear multiplied when viewed from different directions, almost like a hologram. The result is mesmerizing—an ethereal face that seems to float inside the stone. It’s considered one of the most technically and artistically complex innovations in modern gem sculpture
BBC video interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj072k_Brlw
EverNotRelevant
That's pretty neat.
ICanStopScrollingAnyTime
...put...put a grommet in it.
OtisTDrunk
Cool!
RustyRedbeard
The ultimate dickbutt...
OtisTDrunk
Awesome!!
foreverinchains
He's also developed a porcelain that's harder than steel.
dreikommavierzehn
there's a whole bunch stuff that's harder than steel including cast-iron and cement. Question: How much can you bend or stretch those materials before they break?
foreverinchains
Yes, there are a lot of things that are harder than steel, but very nearly none of them are porcelain.
xenomorph911
Yeah no, Porcelain is incredibly hard, but incredibly brittle, which is why ceramics tend to lend themselves towards hard wearing applications where little shock is involved, like cutting implements and even re-entry tiles. Steel is much softer, however it is far more malleable and ductile, which means it won't just shatter under stress unlike ceramics.
dreikommavierzehn
My point being: Porcelain is harder than steel. Fact.
Porcelaine is in the top half of the hardness scale with 7 Mohs vs steel in the lower half with 4 Mohs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohs_scale#Examples
So the question is usually not about more about what you want to do with it. Scratch resistance? Forget about pure steel, put a scratch resistant coat on it. Tensile strength? Forget about pure cement, put some steel into it.
foreverinchains
Steel varies widely in hardness depending on the alloy, and can as high as 70 HRC. The Rockwell scale doesn't convert directly to Mohs, but 70 HRC is harder than diamond.
Here's an article about the porcelain this guy made:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/20/fashion/jewelry-porcelain-wallace-chan.html