Kefke
Steampunker
@Kefke : I thought people meant the Large Gems... okay, checking the small gems, they did the same thing:
The Old Small Gems had what looked like lots of cracks all over them[SNIP]
Full stop. Cracks? Cracks?!
Those are facets. Because the old gems were gem cut.
Here's a picture of a real world sapphire, just as an example. Notice that it isn't smooth. It's covered in facets - angular planes that are designed to catch the light and enhance the beauty of the stone. Now, yes, stones don't come out of the ground looking like that, but Terrarria (and indeed most games I know) doesn't require you to cut and polish gemstones before use, either. Gems in games are typically shown as cut, because it's recognizable to people. Whereas uncut gems just look like colourful rocks.
So tell me which of these looks like a cut stone;