There are two kinds of people in the world: People who agree with me and satanic terrorist nazis who literally caused 9/11.
Oi. Be careful of Godwin's law.
On topic: I've gotten more than a little annoyed with cutting gems, since mining adds gems, and I have to re-set the workshop to cut all gems.
I see two possibilities:
1) Set it so that all gems will be auto-cut before set. This would make the gem setting+cutting take longer, but won't require a stockpile of cut gems, and simplify production of encrusted items. A separate action would just cut gems, but make them unavailable for setting. This is how some jewelers worked in real-life in the early middle ages (in Germany).
2) Create a generalized 'cut gems' action at the jewelers, that will cut all gems as they become available. I like this option, more so because the gem cutting and setting are separate labours, and like this we can more easily separate them. Perhaps we can also include a generalized 'set gems' action.
As a programmer myself, I dread making the statement "it's only one small change", so I'd love some feedback on these options from someone more familiar with DF's inner workings.
Edit: also, making 'set of armor' would be awesome. One long action, requiring multiple materials, resulting in multiple items has been implemented before.