We have been busy with the preparations for the holidays, as well as the looming Tucson trip. There have been quite a few new pieces out of the shop including commission jobs, jewelry and of course custom gems for the inventory.    

This large piece of Pezzottaite cut 2 lovely gems. The piece had one large crack that I sawed down length wise, then I preformed them for high yield. Large pieces like this are hard to find of this rare Beryl. The final yield was just over 50% which was quite satisfying. Finished weights are 8.80 cts. and 2.05 cts.  

  I was giving a demonstration of the Hyper-Edge Grinding Laps and the polishing process I use for Garnet. This large Umbalite is over 16 ct and has my Atlantis Oval cut. The process for a stone of this size is fairly extensive. There are 5 different grits that every facet has to undergo to create a finished polish. There are 18 set of facets that make up the pavilion pattern and 13 sets on the crown. The cut is fairly complex to execute because the length/width has to be spot on or all of the steps don’t meet properly. 

  Allyce and I love carving gemstones. We currently do all of this work by hand with sintered burs from Mt. Mist. These are the best burs we have found thus far for carving and giving nice definition to the carvings with minimal chipping. The results after carving is a chalk white surface that is smooth and simple to polish. This Tourmaline is an Asscher shape that finished nearly 8 cts. It came out flawless and looks spectacular in hand. Each one of the bubbles on the pavilion went through 5 grits to create this high polish. Allyce did all of the faceting and I did the carving work. We like doing these collaboration pieces, especially since one of us is typically occupied with our little girl. Wouldn’t have it any other way! 

  We have been posting many of these new pieces on the website and Etsy. Every Sunday night we post a new update of gems and jewelry. This week we posted some nice hand beaded necklaces, a lovely pair of Aquamarine earrings in 14kt rose Gold, and 20 new gemstones and cabochons. Be sure to take a look at the new pieces!   

I mentioned that the Tucson Gem Show is looming, we have about 9 weeks until the show starts for us. It is a 3 week show that includes 2 separate shows we exhibit at (The Pueblo and TGMS). The Pueblo show is a 14 day exhibition and we set up approximately 30 feet of cases filled with gems and jewelry. The Tucson shows are a collection of hotels, tents and convention centers that thousands of dealers come to sell their goods once a year. It is typically a great time of year, right after the holidays where the jewelers of the country come to restock their inventories. There are a huge amount of foreign dealers and buyers, bringing with them some of the finest natural goods from all around the world. For our part it is extremely exciting and once we get to Tucson, but a long haul for the preparation! Lots of our friends that we only see once a year and usually nice warm weather.   

That’s it for today. I have a ring that I am carving out of wax for casting. Allyce cut a beautiful round pink tourmaline that I wanted to set, so I designed a large architectural ring for it. I will have photos of that process here soon.   

Brett