Most of these are faceted overseas in India or other very low income countries, and the stones are typically not cut very well with a focus on preserving carat weight over any other consideration.
For the stones that are both small, and cut well, were likely done by those wanting to test or improve their skills. Small stones are very hard to cut well, so being able to do so is a mark of skill. Additionally, very large stones (100 carat+) also takes exceptional skill.
1 Like