Last Summer, I was commissioned by Drew of DWDesign in Janesville, WI to cut a danburite asscher for a wedding ring set. Drew requested a portion of the rough from the main stone be cabbed for the man’s ring. It was a little unusual, but I didn’t think much of it at the time. Now … Read More
Journal
Merry Christmas 2014
Merry Christmas! Light Blue Cubic Zirconia. 41.88ct, 18.02×18.10×12.61mm. Synthetic. LC10. Christmas 2014. (CZ983) I had designed this as a snowflake, but found the Star of David at the center during computer modeling it. Seemed like a perfect Christmas project to me!
Bi-Color Montana Sapphire
Recently I was commissioned to facet a very large and unusual sapphire from the El Dorado Bar diggings in Montana, USA. The stone came to me as a 3.17g rough. As it pretty typical for the Montana deposits, the stone was water-worn a crystal section. Unusual for the Montana deposits, the stone has a straw-yellow … Read More
Heating Red Zircon
In 2011, I purchased this zircon rough in Tanzania. Zircon from Singeda, Tanzania is often a super-saturated, near-black shade of red. In reflected light, the stone appears near-black, but it is red in transmitted light. I cut the stone in a cut-corner square brilliant of my own design. But this kind of zircon is so … Read More
How to use Gem Boxes
Gem boxes come in various size and shapes — round (“gem jars”), rectangular, and square, each intended to both protect and display a loose gemstone. Most gem boxes are made of plastic; some have glass tops. They’re great for storage as well as shipping. All of this is common knowledge to anyone who has been … Read More
Color-Change Sapphire Surprise
I finished recutting this sapphire for Wildfish Gems today. When I received the stone, it appeared to be an untreated blue-green sapphire (no surprise there; untreated stones are Ed’s specialty). But after I finished recutting the stone, I noticed that it looked very different under my desktop diamond grading light than it did on my … Read More
Green Zircon Recut
About a month ago, a client contacted me with a special project for his wife. He wanted to make a custom pendant for her using a gemstone that was both unusual and suited her as a geologist. After some discussion, we settled on green zircon. Zircon is both a visually interesting gemstone and an important … Read More
What color is sapphire?
This morning there was a 2 hour delay for school, so I had the kids with me in the shop. My son, 10 years old, was helping me make some images of recent gemstones. I was letting him work the remote trigger on the camera & do some basic culling of rejected images. When he … Read More
Smokey Quartz Recut
Recut Smokey Quartz trilliant When I introduced myself to a jeweler, I like to explain the difference between my gemcutting and what is more commonly seen in the trade. I like to point out the fact that all of my stones are designed to be mounted. In choosing designs, I avoid sharp corners, overly thin … Read More
Memories: Lolatema, 2009
Tanzania Buying Trip, Day 4 – 5 July 2009 The first few days of our trip we spent in our broker’s (Jamal’s) office reviewing and buying stones — aside from the fact that every lot had to be priced by bartering, we could have been sitting in any other gem trading area doing the same … Read More