How to Store a Rock Collection for Documentation

Know what you’ve got and document it! If self-collected, record the locality and date of collection. If purchased, record when, where, from whom, and the price paid. If trading with a fellow collector, record the transaction. “Provenance” is important in the collecting world and adds value. Keep a ledger and include a catalog number on each specimen. On a personal note, as a member of a gem club, I receive collections for our club museum and it is a rare joy when donations come with numbered specimens and a catalog. You can build a catalog with a handwritten ledger or, better, with database software. Whatever route you choose, don’t just keep loose cards with specimens. I knew a lady who lived in a rambling Victorian house and kept a Victorian-style collection—a bit of everything haphazardly placed in an eclectically cluttered funhouse. Regrettably, she stored all info on loose cards and in her head. Over the years, maids vacuumed up the cards while her memory of the specimens disappeared. This left her heirs with a superb collection much diminished in value. If you have specimens you purchased, keep the cards that came with them but also maintain an updated rock collection catalog.

Assessing Your Collection

After documenting your collection, consider having it appraised. Most collections are “specimen collections” of primarily common pieces. While a fossil may be near and dear, if it’s not truly world-class, it’s not worth your time to appraise. Pare down and focus on stuff that is truly rare, unusual, or would be in demand in a market environment. Per the late-great comedian George Carlin, junk is stuff we toss, but stuff is junk we keep. Assess good stuff, not junk!

Where to Get an Appraisal

Where to get a rock collection appraisal? Many gem clubs get requests but are not qualified and as nonprofits are not allowed to provide legal appraisals. Fancy auction houses like Sotheby’s mean paying fancy fees. A good place to start is a local jewelry store with staff who are GIA (Gemological Institute of America) certified. While it’s easy to find someone to appraise jewelry or cut gemstones, it’s more difficult with specimen minerals or fossils. Gem show dealers might appraise what you’ve self-collected or purchased.

However, some warn against going to dealers because they may have an interest in purchasing your collection and provide a low-ball assessment then pressure you to sell to them. It’s best to go to a neutral third party. If turning to an outside entity, seek agencies with qualifications and those versed in the category best matching your collection. Such companies sometimes advertise in hobby magazines or on websites.

Although some auction houses sponsor “appraisal days” with free verbal assessments, most appraisals come with fees based on the assessed value. Appraisers may charge a “per-piece” fee, an hourly fee, or another rate for services. If turning to an appraiser with an especially large collection, negotiate regarding fees and what sort of documentation will be produced.

Appraisal Alternative

Alternatively, do a self-assessment. If a specimen was purchased, what did you pay for it? Keep in mind: what you paid doesn’t necessarily reflect worth. One person paid $9,000 for a sapphire only to discover it was worth $30 after a professional appraisal. That said, compare specimens in your collection against going rates via online shops like Amazon, eBay, and Etsy. Search the internet and gem show aisles to see retail for “like” items.

The main thing to seek? A fair-market value you can document. Don’t go to a “We Buy Gold!” shop offering a commodity price for your carefully crafted collection of gold nuggets. What is the price fellow collectors might pay? Whatever route you choose, have a rationale behind assigned values. Use hard market data either deduced by yourself or obtained from an impartial third party, not based on sentimental value. Also, some insurance companies don’t accept self-assessments and insist on independent evaluations. This could cost you big bucks, so focus on unique pieces within your collection. Search the web for appraisers within your region.

Where to Get Insurance

After appraising a rock collection, most turn to their regular homeowner’s insurance. This can be the most inexpensive option, but while many companies are versed in insuring jewelry, not all have expertise regarding specimen minerals and fossils. And while homeowner’s insurance may provide coverage in a “personal articles floater,” such a floater may be exorbitantly expensive and most fail to offer full replacement cost. Seek better deals with specialized insurers offering “collectibles insurance.” As an example, one collector spends $120/year with a specialized insurer for a 200-piece collection worth $17,000 when her regular homeowner’s policy turned her down.

What Insurance to Get for Your Collection

You can get a rider on your homeowner’s insurance policy, but they say not to bother for individual pieces or an entire rock collection that isn’t worth at least a minimum amount. Most policies exclude or severely limit the value of coverage for collectibles, but if you have a small collection of ordinary specimens, this may be your best bet.

Alternatively, some companies focus specifically on gems and collectibles both for appraisal services and insurance for especially high-value collections. When seeking insurers—as in seeking appraisers— check advertisements within hobby magazines and/or do an internet search.

Whatever route, seek a policy insuring against theft, accidental breakage, fire/ water damage, and natural disasters. If you attend gem shows as an exhibitor, consider coverage for travel and show attendance. Finally, seek insurers versed in the unique properties involved in one-of-a-kind collectibles, including such concepts as “replacement value” versus “fair market value” or “agreed-value coverage” versus “actual or standard cash value.”

Protecting Your Rock Collection

If you wish to insure a collection, you’ll need to provide evidence that you’re protecting that collection. Store specimens in cabinets or flats. High-value items should be locked in a safe. Place small items with outsized values in a safety deposit box. Alternatively, adopt a high-strung Doberman Pinscher! As some members of my Ventura Gem & Mineral Society learned during the devastating 2017 Thomas Fire in California, even rocks burn. Have smoke detectors in every room of your home and keep them charged with fresh batteries to protect both your rocks and yourself.

Those with more means might install a sprinkler system. This is a step above, but it’s worth it when you consider what happened to the national museum in Brazil, which lacked smoke detectors and sprinkler systems and suffered a total loss of national treasure. Some choose to keep a secure location within their homes for especially valuable pieces, which can go as far as a “safe room” with a locked door and inside closets and vaults. Do your best to protect the best of what you’ve got!

Transitioning Your Rock Collection

If you’ve devoted time to documenting, appraising, and insuring your collection, you certainly want to consider what happens after you‘ve departed the scene. Do you care if your collection is broken up, or do you hope it might be kept whole? The latter is problematic unless you have an heir who shares your passion or unless you provide an endowment to a museum to pay for storage, display, and upkeep. First, consider immediate heirs. Desires should be spelled out in a will or, better, a trust. But if heirs have no interest, consider liquidating the collection in your lifespan.

If you do wish to keep it intact, build contacts with a local museum and make your wishes known. Museums want collections with clear provenance and no issues (e.g., no specimens collected from national parks or countries with human rights abuses in gemstone districts). Most cannot guarantee specimens will be put on display and can’t guarantee they won’t be decommissioned and disposed of. If you truly want your collection to have a permanent place in a museum, you may need to accompany it with a healthy cash endowment.

Continuing the Conversation…

This topic is not typically discussed within gem societies but, in my humble opinion, how to store a rock collection properly should be discussed. Our collections are a reflection of ourselves. How might we best preserve the best of ourselves for future generations?

This story about how to store a rock collection properly previously appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Story and photos by Jim Brace-Thompson.

The post How to Store a Rock Collection Properly first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

Many of us have often wondered if geology careers were possible. Geology is so interesting… but could it be a career? Here are eight geology careers that can provide a good living and fulfilling work.

1. Museums

Museum jobs are increasing by an amazing 12 percent each year as projected over the years 2021-2031 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Most require a master’s degree and the median annual salary for a curator was $50,100 according to May 2021 data. Johns Hopkins University offers degrees in museum studies.

2. Environmental Geology Careers

Environmental geology careers are growing in prevalence in many countries. Have you ever driven past a service station where a tank was being pulled out of the ground and the tank and surrounding soils were being tested and removed/replaced as needed? Did you know a geologist put together the plan for testing the soil and groundwater and determining the best strategies for remediation? The environmental geologist career is high-paying, sometimes six figures per year.

3. Geomorphologist

Geomorphologists are in demand in government and private companies. Their work focuses on understanding how landforms change over time. They perform hydraulic, hydrologic and geomorphic analyses to map resources such as groundwater and petroleum. If you love math and geology, geomorphology could be a perfect match. The career pays well too!

4. Hydrographic Surveyors

Hydrographic surveyors use instrumentation to map out the shape, contours and depth of streams, lakes, inlets and ocean bottoms. They often work for government agencies or private companies doing surveys for the government and nonprofits. For example, ecological restoration of channelized streams requires a hydrographic surveyor to determine the best approach to restoration. The median salary is around $80,000 per year.

5. Gemologist

When we buy a diamond or any precious colored stone from a fine jeweler, a gemologist was responsible for identifying, grading and selecting it. Careers include working as a lapidarist, bench jeweler, consignment director, appraiser, jewelry litigation expert witness, a fine jewelry polisher, and a precious metal tester. A college degree in geology is not necessary to get started gem cutting. There are many gemology schools with programs and diplomas.

6. Mineralogist

Mineralogists collect core logs, conduct geochemical and geophysical surveying, create geological mapping, and examine geochemical samples like petroleum, minerals or rocks using such instruments as gas chromatographs, carbon analyzers, microscopes and spectrometers. They perform original scientific research to determine the ages and other characteristics of specific soils, minerals and rocks. They oversee processes that separate minerals from their ores. The educational requirement for most mineralogist jobs is usually a master’s degree at minimum.

7. Mud Logger

Mud loggers analyze drilling fluids after they have been drilled up. They analyze the fluids in a laboratory. Mud loggers determine the position of hydrocarbons to depth. They also monitor natural gas and identify the physical characteristics of outcrops available in a given area of study.

8. Wellsite Geologist

Wellsite geologists are the next level up from mud loggers and you must be a mud logger first. Both require a bachelor’s degree in geology. Wellsite geologists classify rock cuttings removed from wells. They use rock-cutting data, core samples and specialized tests to advise gas and oil operators on how deep to drill wells. They prepare reports during and after the drilling. This is one of the highest-paying geology jobs with salaries topping six figures per year.

Geology Careers Provide Varied Work

The pay can be good. But geology careers are not just about making money. It’s also the wide variety of work and the demand for it. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 4.5 percent job growth in the geosciences, including environmental geoscientists, from 2021 to 2033, a 5 percent job growth in geoscientists, not including hydrologists, overall, and a 5.4 percent job growth increase in geoscience technicians.

Consulting Geology Careers

Dennis Papa, P.E. is a principal at dpSTU-DIO LLC, Environmental Consulting and Design with offices in Richmond, Virginia and Providence, Rhode Island.

“Back in the late 1980s (seems like the Precambrian!) many undergraduate geology programs were focused on petroleum exploration and mineral resources. That is what I was originally interested in, imagining a career looking for oil-bearing formations. When jobs in petroleum and coal exploration started to become scarce, the environmental industry was just ramping up. I was drawn to the idea of a job that offered a mix of both fieldwork (doing well installation, groundwater and soil sampling) as well as office work to write reports, use software, and engage with other experts and clients to study a contamination problem.”

Many wonder if a professional geologist license is needed. “The P.G. is simply a test that each state offers to a geologist who has the requisite degree and minimum years working in the industry. A national exam is now offered to standardize the test. but not all states require it. Many states require a P.G., or working directly under a P.G., to practice geology, but it is not a requirement for all careers in geology and is certainly not required once starting out.”

Geology Tools & More…

As with any job, sometimes the fun is in the tools used. “Tools always offer that tangible connection to your trade. The geologist hammer is indispensable. A hand lens magnifier, soil color chart, and grain size chart used to compare sorting, size, etc. of sediment and rock samples are important tools to help provide useful data in standardized terms. Aerial photographs are used. We also routinely use a water level meter to accurately measure depth to water level.”

Dennis works closely with other specialists. “We rely very heavily on experienced and licensed well drillers, geotechnical engineers, wetland scientists, soil scientists, archeologists and geophysicists.”

In Dennis’ opinion, “I am partial to the environmental consulting field because it has offered me so much. However, I think there are so many geology career paths to choose from, and there have been so many advances in the subspecialties, that it just depends on your particular interests. Some offer more time in the field, others more opportunity to work in an office or laboratory. And if you can’t decide, the beauty is that many geology jobs offer a combination of both.”

Geologist

Claire Starke is a geologist with a large consulting firm with offices around the world.“I knew I wanted to be a geologist at age seven and I chose environmental geology because I felt that it would get me further in the business world and encompass different types of jobs. I graduated in the spring of 2021 so I was going to school through a time when environmental remediation and sustainability was a large chapter covered in all my major classes.”

A typical field day for Claire includes, “I mainly work with environmental sampling in groundwater monitoring wells. I use different types of well pumps to pull the water out of the well at a low flow rate. We work with drilling companies, and they will do the physical placement, but a geologist will tell them where to put the well, how deep to drill, and how deep to place the screen of the well. I have worked with hydrologists and hydrogeologists to figure out groundwater flow. I have worked with chemists to discuss the chemicals found in groundwater samples.”

What geology fields are best? “In my opinion, environmental remediation is the best geology field for the time we are in now. There are always new chemicals being found to be dangerous to human health, someone is needed to address the issue and needed for remediation, so it’s a sustainable career because the job is never done. You get a very nice blend of field and office activities. You also get to make the world cleaner and healthier in small and big ways.”

This story about geology careers appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Story by Deborah Painter.

The post 8 Top Geology Careers first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

What is the Gemological Institute of America?

GIA is a private, nonprofit educational institute founded in 1931 by Robert Shipley to focus on research and education in gemology and jewelry arts to professionalize the business and raise a cadre of jewelers the public could trust. A jeweler himself in the 1920s, Shipley recognized deficiencies in his knowledge, so he undertook training in Europe via the Great Britain National Association of Goldsmiths gemological course. Back in the U.S., he made it his mission to build a community of like-minded professionals.

The institute undertakes research, publishes the quarterly journal Gems & Gemology, and provides important resources for the industry, including a laboratory, library and newly developed instruments for identifying and grading gemstones. For instance, it was GIA that crafted the indispensable 10x eye loupe and devised the famous “Four C’s” approach to evaluating and grading diamonds based on cut, clarity, color and carat weight. Research conducted within institute labs develops ever-better methods for identifying, evaluating and grading gemstones and detecting synthetics and treated stones.

Equally important, GIA offers courses, programs and accreditation.

Apply and Attend GIA Worldwide

The primary GIA campus and headquarters are in Carlsbad, California. It has a worldwide presence with some 3,000 employees and campuses, labs and/or research centers in 13 countries. It also has the GIA Global Leadership Program with the Harvard Business School.

To apply and enroll in programs or courses, you need at least a high school diploma or GED and must be at least 18 years old for on-campus attendance. However, exceptions can be made for applicants as young as 16 with a high school degree and a parental letter of approval.

GIA Certification Courses and Programs

GIA offers individual courses and diploma programs. Students get hands-on experience identifying and grading gemstones, using cutting-edge instruments, identifying synthetic or treated stones and understanding the jewelry and gemstone market. General areas covered include gemology, jewelry and jewelry design. Full programs include the following and more:

• Graduate Gemologist Program®
• Graduate Diamonds Program
• Graduate Colored Stones Program
• Graduate Jeweler Program
• Jewelry Design & Technology Program
• Comprehensive CAD/CAM for Jewelry Program

Programs vary in length. For instance, the Graduate Gemologist Program® is the most comprehensive. It combines the Graduate Diamonds and the Colored Stones Programs, involves taking five courses and three labs and takes 26 weeks to complete. On the other hand, the Comprehensive CAD/CAM for Jewelry Program takes just seven weeks to complete.

A Certification Journey

Louisa May Carey, a Graduate Gemologist®, started her journey with an Applied Jewelry Professional diploma that consists of three classes, then the Graduate Pearls diploma. She says she then “went full-bore” with the endgame of reaching Graduate Gemologist®. It consists of two prerequisites of Diamond Essentials and Colored Stones Essentials then moves on to Diamond and Diamond Grading and Colored Stones Grading, including an in-person lab class for each, and lastly Gem Identification. Each eLearning class is made up of chapters with a corresponding quiz and a final exam. The remaining Gem ID course is in the traditional chapter-andquiz format with the second half adding in 500 gems sent in batches of 20 each. You complete the stone identification course and then submit it to your instructor for review. Both homework and the 20 stone final (which you can take on campus or have proctored) require a passing grade of nothing less than 100 percent.

GIA certification courses and programs are accredited by both the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC) and the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC). Beyond facts and skills, an equal focus is on instilling excellence, professionalism and high ethical standards.

Study on Campus or at Home

Most GIA certification courses can be attended either on-campus or via eLearning, but—because of their inherent hands-on nature—all lab courses must be taken on campus. Students can attend on-campus courses at the headquarters in Carlsbad or in New York. As an example, in the U.S. you can earn the Graduate Gemologist® diploma by studying full-time on campus in either Carlsbad or New York, or you can earn the same diploma by taking the five required courses online (in a media-rich environment with flexible completion times and online exams) and the three lab courses on campus.

Even when studying online, students receive individualized attention. Louisa noted that one course in particular—Gem Identification—offered the most one-on-one instruction, but GIA instructors in all courses encouraged questions from students attending in-person or online. She especially liked the virtual Student Workroom. “If you are looking for more help or want to brush up on anything, the Student Workroom allows you to reserve a ‘seat’ for a half or full day with an instructor.”

Still, despite the flexibility of the online environment, Louisa found the in-person lab classes to be the best. “In general, eLearning is more solitary and you have to be very self-motivated. For me, not having the comradery of classmates and a group graduation at the end was the biggest drawback. But looking back, I will say not having the traditional classroom experience prepared me for what my current work is like.”

Louisa cautions that sticking with it once enrolled was not easy. “Having a distance education option is amazing. That being said, working full time, juggling homework and taking vacation time for the in-person lab classes, plus finding a place to stay within a budget…let’s just say you have to LOVE it!”

GIA Certification Costs & Financial Assistance

The cost of a GIA certification ranges. For instance, basic tuition ranges from a low of about $6,000 for a seven-week Jewelry Design program to a high of approximately $23,000 for the 26-week Graduate Gemologist® program.

Tables listing tuition for each program may be found in the GIA catalog and website. Those tables also provide estimates for the total “Cost of Attendance” (COA) for each program including housing, meals, transportation, books and supplies.

With its curricula approved by the U.S. Department of Education, students enrolled in on-campus programs are qualified to apply for Title IV federal financial aid. Qualifying students can also receive veteran benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. GIA itself offers scholarships to qualified students.

While some may look at the cost (especially total COA) and rethink, Louisa urges people to persevere, “Just like anything worth doing, before you do it there will never be enough time or money, but find a way. Investing in yourself will always be worth it.

Beyond the Courses

The research wing of GIA has invented many devices and instruments essential for gemstone testing and identification throughout its 90+ year history. Some of these are stocked in a campus store and available for students and professionals alike. Instruments range from simple tweezers and 10x loupes to spectroscopes, refractometers and polariscopes. A handy GIA Gem Identification Package, geared specifically to distance education students, provides devices for setting up a basic at-home gem testing and identification station. The store stocks books, classification charts and other print materials.

Benefits of a GIA Certification

How does being GIA-certified help in the long run? Wherever you go, people buy and wear jewelry and seek authorities they can trust. GIA can help a budding jeweler become that authority and obtain the professional skills to move to the next level.

To the average person on the street, mention gems and they’ll think of the person behind the counter in a jewelry or department store, but there are many more paths. GIA has helped people go on to careers as appraisers (for individuals, insurance companies, law enforcement), in retail sales and as wholesale buyers, as designers and bench jewelers, in the manufacturing world, and in auction houses, museums, and research and lab-based settings.

For Louisa, she learned to use state-of-the-art equipment; how to troubleshoot; how to take a moment away when looking at something too long. “I loved learning to listen and find the ‘tell’ in a gemstone and learning that if I don’t know something, to say so and how to find out. GIA did that for me. It gave me confidence. It gave me a skill set. Being able to apply my knowledge in a real-world setting was also life-changing.”

GIA Career Support

To give graduates a leg up, the institute established GIA Career Services to advise on options and how to plan and navigate the way to a successful career. They maintain a worldwide database of job offerings in the jewelry industry and hold an annual Jewelry Career Fair in Carlsbad, New York and London.

Help from GIA doesn’t end with graduation and a job. Per Louisa, “in the last few years online lectures, like the wonderful weekly GIA Knowledge Sessions, have been created. Continuing education and conversation are more accessible than ever. As a working professional, I am thankful to have such valuable platforms at my fingertips now.”

As for Louisa’s continuing journey, after a stint at an award-winning California jewelry store, she has struck out on her own. “I recently took my confidence to a new level by moving back to my childhood home of Whitefish, Montana, and opening my own business, LMC Jewelry Appraisal. It is so scary but so fun.”

This story about GIA certification appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Story and photos by Jim Brace-Thompson.

The post How to Get a GIA Certification first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

Old Rock Day – January 7

This day is set aside (though no one knows how long it has been observed or when it was first celebrated), to consider how old the Earth is and how it has shaped our lives. It’s also a shout-out to some of the earliest geologists like the Theophrathes, Pliny the Elder, Ulisse Aldovandi, James Hutton and William Smith.

National Jewel Day – March 13

This special day is set aside to appreciate precious stones and jewelry. From the earliest examples of stone, bone, and shell jewelry, to the most lavish and intricate designs of today, National Jewel Day is meant to recognize them all. Those who choose to participate are encouraged to wear their most spectacular bejeweled pieces and take the occasion to gift jewelry to those important people in their life.

Geologists Day – April 7

This day is dedicated to those folks who make it their life’s work to explore, research and disseminate their knowledge of rocks and Earth’s history. It is also the time to appreciate all of those things in our lives that we have or know because of geologists. This includes such daily used items as toothpaste and even cell phones. Younger folks contemplating a career in geology can take this opportunity to discuss with practitioners in the field, what the job is actually like.

Earth Day – April 22

You can’t get any “Earthier” than rocks, gems and minerals. This is a day for rockhounds to explore and to appreciate Earth’s treasures.

Nickel Day – May 16

Devoted to the mined element, nickel, this day was created to acknowledge this important metal. Nickel has been used by humans for at least 2,000 years. By the middle of the 19th century, it was ubiquitous in American coinage as well as that of other European nations.

Dinosaur Days – May 15 & June 1

Dinosaurs lived millions of years ago, but they’re top of mind today. So much is still unknown about these fascinating creatures. Celebrate what we know and anticipate what we don’t on this fun day for young and old alike.

National Caves & Karst Day – June 6

This day is dedicated to the majesty and importance of these amazing rock formations. Most people know what caves are, but few are familiar with “karst” landscapes. A karst landscape is characterized by rocky hills, aquifers, springs, sinkholes and caves. Hundreds of different minerals and gems are found in caves, and 40 percent of drinking water in the U.S. comes from karst aquifers.

World Oceans Day – June 8

Beach finds from shells to rocks, minerals and sea glass are a favorite. Celebrate the oceans that bring us this bounty.

International Drop a Rock Day – July 3

This a day for having a bit of fun while inspiring kindness toward others. Across the world, individuals, families, and groups of all types get creative and paint rocks with pictures, themed messages, or even advertising and hide them. Anyone can try to find them. When they are found, the lucky holder of that rock can keep it, hide it again, or if it is part of a local promotion, contact the sponsoring group. This highly popular activity is not restricted to International Drop a Rock Day; many groups do this throughout the year and hold rock-painting parties before going out and hiding them.

International Rock Day – July 13

Sometimes referred to as World Rock Day, this day is intended to celebrate and to contemplate the importance of rocks to humankind. It is to honor the rock as one of the most fundamental aspects of human survival. If there is one day per year to give rocks their due, this is it!

National Pet Rock Day – September 1

This tongue-in-cheek holiday is dedicated to the 1975 marketing scheme that led to the sale of over one million pet rocks. On this day, many people “adopt” a pet rock at functions planned to celebrate this phenomenon.

Collect Rocks Day – September 16

Held since 2015, Collect Rocks Day celebrates all of the diverse types of rocks and all of the different places they can be collected, no matter where in the world you live. It is a celebration of Earth and geology for everyone.

National Fossil Day – October 16

As the name implies, this day is reserved for appreciating and exploring fossils. Of the approximately 250,000 different fossilized species that have been identified, it is estimated there are millions more to be found. Many groups organize fossil hunts and expeditions on this day in early fall. Be sure to find one near you.

This story about rockhound holidays appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Original story by Chris Bond. Updated yearly to reflect current dates and holidays. 

The post 2024 Rockhound Holidays first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

The transformation from a found piece of rough to a cabbed or faceted gem is beautiful and dramatic. Sometimes the finished piece bears little resemblance to its humble beginnings. Here are a few before and after photos of the beauty of nature’s treasures from mine to mine.

Hematite Hematite is one of the most important sources of iron because of its high iron content, wide distribution, and abundance. Hematite derivс its name from the blood-red color of its powder. It has been used as a paint pigment since prehistoric times.

Malachite Malachite derives its name from a Greek word meaning “mallow green color.” Copper can be obtained from malachite using the smelting process. Malachite was used as an eye paint by the Egyptians and as a paint pigment starting in the 7th century.

Agate Most of the Tennesee Paint Rock agate deposits are located on the west side of the Cumberland Plateau near the Tennesee-Alabama border. Agate is a common variety of chalcedony and is found with bands of different colors and transparency. Agate often gets their name from the location where they are found.

Smoky Quartz Smoky quartz is produced when clear quartz is exposed to natural radiation. It is transparent to opaque and has a brownish-gray color. With a Mohs hardness of seven, it is a good candidate for use in the jewelry trade.

Tiger’s Eye Tiger’s eye is a variety of cryptocrystalline chalcedony quartz. Its chatoyant property (cat’s eye effect ) makes it popular with collectors. Tiger’s eye is naturally golden brown. Other colors, such as red, are sold in stores and have been treated to achieve different colors.

This story about rough gemstones to jewelry appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Story by Richard Gross and Pam Freeman.

The post From Rough Gemstones to Jewelry first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

Exactly what are the lapidary arts? Succinctly put, lapidary arts are the activities involved with shaping stones, minerals and gems into decorative items such as cabochons and faceted gems.

Access = Growth

I have been playing and working in the lapidary world for the past ten years. I facet, cab and carve gemstones, sell rough materials to other lapidary artists, teach faceting and carving, along with selling ULTRA TEC faceting machines. From 1988 to 2000, I worked as a researcher and developer on the National Science Foundation project that kickstarted the birth of the Internet. I am seeing parallels between the amazing digital communications paradigm shift and the lapidary arts’ evolution. The internet is the main catalyst driving the current renaissance of lapidary arts. The other major factors propelling lapidary arts forward are design software, new equipment and materials, and the ability for people to work from home – a unique opportunity for growth in our industry.

Now information is at our fingertips and traveling to buy rough stones and lapidary materials is a luxury and an adventure. People can travel to the Bolivia mine to buy the world’s finest ametrine for gemstone faceting, but they can alternately receive photos, videos, descriptions, and pricing via WhatsApp minutes after a request. Payment takes just seconds and a purchase can be delivered in days. This replaces the old mine-to-broker-to-exporter-to-importer-to-broker-to-gemstone cutter system and negates the additional markup of price for each of these hand-offs. Being able to conduct business online is significant because it provides lapidary artists and jewelers quick, affordable, and easy access to gemstones and rough from around the world.

Learning & Sharing

Previous generations of cutters were constrained to years of training through the apprenticeship model of instruction. The internet has freed newcomers by providing access to most of the information needed to get started and the ability to purchase the necessary materials. On a personal note, I can provide remote video faceting training globally. Follow-up questions are answered via email text and messaging. Although in-studio lessons are superior, the ability to provide a live video lesson brings the cost of learning gemstone faceting down significantly.

We can share information easily, but that does not mean that it happens. As with most trades, crafts, and artistic endeavors, processes and techniques have often been secretive. I see that the new generation of lapidary artists is more willing to share their knowledge with colleagues and beginners. We are starting to understand that knowledge is power, but only when it is shared. Social media provides rapid sharing and co-development of ideas, allowing quick development of new designs, techniques, and collaborations.

Selling Online

Easily available e-commerce gives stone dealers, cutters, and jewelers the ability to sell their materials online. Using social media, we have been able to create profitable and growing businesses. We no longer have to own a physical storefront, visit jewelry store clients, or attend gem and mineral shows. In four years, I was able to amass 60,000 followers on Instagram and Facebook. The result of this social media growth translates into my gemstone faceting business being booked nine months out. The cost of presenting and selling my finished lapidary creations is now at a minimum. My faceting students can set up and sell their gemstones six months after their first lesson with minimal sales infrastructure investment.

Digital Lapidary Design

The digital benefits of lapidary are not limited to information and commerce. Over the past years, gemstone designers have used computers to calculate the mathematical equations and geometry necessary to both improve and create better-performing and spectacular gemstones. Robert Wood Strickland developed the GemCad and GemRay programs that allow any gemstone cutter to use a computer to design and optimize their gemstone creations. The recent addition of the Gem Cut Studio has made creating gemstone designs available to anyone who has a computer, the time to read the manual, and a commitment to practice. All the basics of math, geometry, and gemstone attributes (such as material hardness and refractive indexes) have been put in the CAD (Computer-Aided Design) programs. The programs/apps shorten the learning curve in gemstone design by months if not years. Of course, knowing the basic principles of these disciplines is beneficial, but no longer an obstacle to generating cutting-edge designs. These programs are tools that put current cutters years ahead of their predecessors.

Precision Lapidary Tools & Materials

Newly developed precision tools have allowed artists to work faster, more accurately, and with finer detail. There are also new materials such as better abrasives for faceting, cabbing, and carving all varieties of rocks and gems. In addition, cutters are using instruments made for different media in their lapidary work. In Henry Hunt’s book, “American Lapidary, Designing the Carved Gemstone,” the author claims that in any artistic endeavor, originality follows the introduction of new tools and techniques. With this break from tradition, we are seeing the new generation of lapidary artists developing new processes and techniques that are innovative and exciting.

An Exciting Future for Lapidary Work

All of these innovations and advancements put new and young individuals looking to create their own lapidary art business in a unique and advantageous position. The ability to build one’s own business is a catalyst in the evolution of the lapidary arts.

We have a new generation of craftspeople and artists who grew up understanding and applying the components of this digital and readily accessible world. They find more rewarding and meaningful employment with the freedom to define their lives on their own terms. The recent development of accessible individual health care and the stay-at-home mentality that COVID-19 instilled also advanced this new breed of independent workers. These shifts enabled people to work at their home studios and within a new business model. Lapidary artists can make and sell whatever they want and whenever they want and are no longer restricted by a brick-and-mortar store, corporate structure, or marketing research reports.

Driven by Industry Pioneers

A renaissance is driven by a group of pioneers. There are dozens of lapidary artists, engineers, and free thinkers who have laid the path for the new generation of lapidary artists. It’s worth your time to look at some of the groundbreaking lapidary artists in the United States. Enjoy their creations and get inspired.

Years from now, when the next generation of lapidary artists looks back at this era of lapidary advancement, I hope that they see what I am seeing – a revolution, an evolution, and a renaissance. This is what happens when advanced technology, global trade, instant communications, social media e-commerce, and a new generational shift of the paradigm exists. I invite you to be aware, open your eyes, seek out, and enjoy the magnificent and wondrous creations of our contemporary lapidary artists during these innovative times.

This story about a lapidary renaissance appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Story by Mark Oros.

The post Exploring a Lapidary Renaissance first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

Tips For Cutting the Kal-Toh Design

1. Since we do not have the luxury of meetpoint faceting in this design, try to keep the visual proportions that Kim shows in the diagrams. Do not worry about getting the proportions perfect on rough grit laps, but work on getting the proportions of the facets closer each time you go to a new lap/grit.

2. Choose the optimal material to cut. Kim Lembke suggests that it be faceted in medium saturation garnet. I decided to facet the gemstone in golden citrine to give it a more dramatic effect by adding some extinction to the gemstone. Extinction is when the gemstone loses light and we see dark areas in the gemstone. To quote Tuvok, “Without the darkness, how would we recognize the light?”

Although this worked for my purposes, I would suggest following Kim’s suggestion and using medium saturated garnet or YAG, Yttrium Aluminum Garnet, a synthetic gem material used for optic and laser technology.

3. If you are a North American gem cutter, facet G1 after P2. Kim is from Australia and I have noticed that Australian gemstone designers tend to use a different cutting sequence on the pavilion. Their North American colleagues usually facet the girdle early in their gemstone cutting sequence. Regardless of when you facet the girdle, keep in mind that the crown is very high on this gemstone and you should leave enough room to cut the girdle and crown. The pavilion is the same depth as the girdle and crown both are high.

4. When faceting the pavilion, I do not cut P6 and P7 until I have polished all the other pavilion facets. This gives me the ability to be more precise with putting in the frosted facets of P6 and P7. I use a worn-out 1,200-grit lap to cut P6 and P7 to give me the frosted facets and dramatize the difference between these facets and the polished facets. I cut my frosted facets in my example in a similar proportion as shown in the diagram, however, I think a variation of thinner facets or polished facets for P6 and P7 would be a welcome variation.

5. When cutting the crown, the only meet points you have are on the table. Your table size will depend on the depth that you cut C2 and C3. The deeper you cut these facets (or the smaller C1 is) the larger the outcome of your table. Gauge the table size when cutting in C2 and C3 with your rough grit laps and refine your facet sizes as you progress with your finer grit laps. Keep an eye on the place and size of the table.

Give it a Try!

Kal-toh is a challenging gemstone to facet. In the game, “Kal-toh is to chess what chess is to tic-tac-toe” said Tuvok. I hope that you give this gemstone design a try and that my suggestions make the faceting experience a pleasant journey. Keep in mind that a no-meet-point design also gives you the ability to play with the proportions and the gemstone’s final outcome. As Captain James T. Kirk said, “Without freedom of choice, there is no creativity.”

This story about gem faceting the Kal Toh design appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Story by Mark Oros.

The post Gem Faceting: Kal-Toh Design first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

The Impact of Light

Light is a major component of art and craft. Light is what reflects and allows us to see shape, color and the subtleties that the hand and eye created. However, the lapidary who facets (the process of turning the rough gem crystal material into a decorative gemstone) a stone has to consider light in another dimension. Light is an essential part of the medium and process, just like paint is essential to painting a portrait.

Light and the gemstone’s material are married in the creation of a jewel. Light reflects off the gemstone surface and returns to your eye like any craft or art. However, how to cut gemstones properly involves light also entering the gemstone and bouncing around, and returning from inside the gemstone. The greater quantity of light that can be captured and moved within the gemstone, the more exciting the jewel becomes. Poorly cut facet angles will allow the light to simply pass through the gemstone making a window. Correct angle facets can also be cut to break up the returning light, creating scintillation. Now, the gem sparkles! The attention given to light is a major difference between mass-produced faceted colored gemstones and performance-faceted colored gemstones cut by lapidary artists.

Learning to Work With Light

Gaining knowledge, as well as understanding and learning how to cut gemstones to apply it to faceting is complex and takes time. Like playing an instrument or learning to dance, the key element to success is practice. Through practice, artists begin to see the results of their efforts and understand the effects of subtle changes and modifications. With this knowledge and experience, a lapidary can then start to develop new and better techniques to improve a jewel’s performance.

When designing and faceting a gemstone, a designer has to consider and make decisions regarding the different performance attributes of the stone that result from various cutting techniques. These attributes include the following.

• Color depends on how to cut gemstones to enhance their natural color, resulting in a variety of saturations, hues and transparencies.

• Brightness is perceived when light enters the stone, bounces around and reflects back to the viewer’s eyes.

• Scintillation comes from different facets and their ability to create different beams of light that make a sparkling effect.

• Dispersion of light creates secondary and tertiary colors and is made by creating angles that separate the colors of the light spectrum.

• The darkness or lightness of a gemstone is determined both by how to cut gemstones using faceting angles and the depth of the cuts to darken or lighten the stone and ultimately affect the jewel’s weight.

Everything All at Once?

In a perfect world, artists try to maximize all of the performance attributes of a finished jewel. However, it is a balancing act because enhancing one performance aspect of a jewel means another may suffer. Making a stone lighter in color and also maximizing its weight by making it larger doesn’t necessarily work together.

The different attributes of light performance must be balanced and work together to create the best outcome for the jewel. These trade-offs are usually driven by the buyer. Lapidaries must consider the capabilities of each individual gemstone both in performance and the potential market value of the resulting design/ cut. With beauty being in the eye of the beholder, lapidary techniques must be applied to meet the eye of its new beholder (personal beauty) and the generations to come (timeless beauty).

Mass Market Vs. Small Business

Gemstones are cut for different markets based on that market’s perception of value. The two major attributes of the mass market for gemstones are color and weight. This is based on years of market development along with the original sizes and shapes of available rough gemstone crystals. The lapidaries that facet these gemstones are talented, but they are restricted to creating a standard and repeatable result to meet the size and color expectations of the industry. They do not have the luxury of forfeiting the gemstone’s color or weight for better light performance.

However, movement and play-of-light is the biggest component of a jewel’s performance. Many lapidaries prefer to create gemstones where light performance takes priority over weight and color. The artists and their clients see value in this. While weight and color are still top of mind, the beauty of the finished jewel is viewed from a different perspective than the mass market. It is not only the shape, design and size of the gemstone, but also how the light will play within it to create beauty for the new owner.

How to Cut Gemstones: The Science of Light

How to cut gemstones is the result of understanding and applying the disciplines of geology, gemology, geometry, chemistry and optics. Understanding the science of light and its movement within a faceted gemstone is important to get the brightest, most sparkling and most beautiful gemstone.

Material refractive indexes, dispersion and critical angles are major components to getting the best light performance from a gemstone Gemstone designer, Jim Perkins had a gemstone performance mission. He wanted to design gemstones that dazzled the beholder. He would create new and unique gemstone designs, but his forte was taking classic gemstone designs and maximizing their performance. He used to say that his designs were “10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration,” meaning that he worked harder at the gemstone performance attributes of light return and scintillation than he did at making new geometric designs.

Client Satisfaction

On a personal note, I began using Jim Perkins’ gemstone designs and started to get immediate reactions from my jewelry design and setting clients. I remember the first couple of times I brought a set of Jim’s designs faceted in quartz, amethyst, citrine and rose quartz to show my jewelry clients. They were startled. I asked them what was wrong and they all said the same thing, “I didn’t know tourmaline came in this color.” I informed them it was a quartz gemstone and they all said the same thing, “You can’t make quartz do that!” But there it was in their hands, a beautiful piece of performance-based faceted quartz using Jim Perkins’ design, born from his perspiration and affinity for bouncing the light back to the viewer.

Light performance within a jewel has always been a major component of gemstone design. Over the centuries, we have been able to use science to better understand and apply the knowledge of light performance and crystal structure to our lapidary designs and techniques. In the past 50 years, lapidary has started to look at gemstone design and fabrication differently by using increased knowledge and newly developed tools. Cutters have found a growing market willing to pay for beauty that is both innovative and performance-based.

This story about how to cut gemstones appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Story by Mark Oros.

The post How to Cut Gemstones to Reflect Light first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

While viewing the front of the Brazilian agate slab, I spotted a much more interesting group of features that I could use to enhance the overall aesthetic of the piece. A three-inch circle would allow me to bring out all of the best patterns that the piece could offer. I sketched the circle and added a curved feature on the top so I could drill a hole for suspending the piece as a pendant.

Where do I get my project inspiration? First, this column pushes me out of my usual cab shape routine and into using different materials, shapes, textures, patterns or colors. I read a lot of books on lapidary and jewelry design and also subscribe to a couple of magazines that have current jewelry styles and materials such as blue gems and minerals. Sorting through my multiple boxes of slabs often triggers my imagination too.

MAKING THE SHAPE

Before and during grinding, I make sure to follow proper lapidary safety precautions. While grinding the piece to a preformed shape, I used a one-inch diameter Mizzy silicon carbide wheel run dry to shape the inside curves on the top section. I drew a line halfway up the girdle as a guide for shaping the dome of the cab. I used an ultra-fine Sharpie felt tip pen to draw the line.

After I finished shaping and sanding the front of the Brazilian agate cab, I turned it over and focused on the translucent area. It was to be enhanced and ultimately be the main focus of the cab. From the start, I intended to drill four holes in the back of the cab so they would show through from the front. I drew a curved line in the center of the translucent area so I could lay out the position of the four holes. (It gives more visual interest if the holes aren’t in a straight line and if they are varied in size from larger to smaller.) I also made sure that they were evenly spaced between the holes.

DRILLING & FINISHING

I drilled small pilot holes for each bit and placed the bits in these holes to verify the correct spacing. I started drilling with a small coarse diamond bit. To get the best drilling action on the bits, I turned them on their sides. If you try drilling by placing the bit vertically, the very center of the bit does no work because it is spinning in one spot. By placing it sideways, the diamonds in the bit sweep across the cab and remove material.

I gradually stepped up in bit size and grit size until I reached the desired hole size. Because I wanted to ensure that the holes were highly visible from the front I drilled the holes up to 1mm from the front of the cab. I used an inside caliper to measure the 1mm depth. The final grinding step involved using a very large bit to chamfer the top edge of the hole to remove any chips.

The finishing steps were done with shaped wood bits using 220 and 400-grit tumbling media followed by shaped wood bits and cerium oxide polish.

The finished Brazilian agate piece came out much better than I had expected!

This story about Brazilian agate appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Story by Bob Rush.

Step By Step

The post Brazilian Agate Inspiration first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

ABOUT MOROCCAN SEAM AGATE

Moroccan seam agate’s colors are amazing, just like the fall in New England. The colors range from red, orange, pink, peach and green. They are sandwiched between a basalt host stone, and the outer layers are mostly a mix of hematite and goethite. This creates a beautiful border, that at times, has a plume or even a paisley appearance. The majority of the inside of this agate will have a common range of color from red to orange, with decorative banding or fortifications.

HOW TO BUY

When purchasing Moroccan seam agate, you can easily see the patterns showing on the edges. This gives you a good idea of what the slabs will look like inside.

Most of this agate will range from 1/4-inch to two inches thick. This isn’t very thick and it can be a challenge to create shapes from it. What Moroccan seam agate lacks in size, it makes up in color and patterns. Most of the time it’s best to slab this material from north to south. If pieces are a bit thicker and show signs of agate pockets, these can be sliced horizontally, and you can accommodate a different pattern.

CUTTING MOROCCAN SEAM AGATE

The slabbing process is fairly easy with this material. Most of the pieces are like trimming the edges off of a slice of bread. I do all my cuts on a 10-inch trim saw.

Once Moroccan seam agate slabs are cut, this is where the challenge starts. Creating cabs with long thin narrow pieces can be difficult, at least to create a variety of shapes. I tend to choose large oblong ovals or marquise shapes for the majority of my cabs, however, you can get creative and find various ways to cut them utilizing the patterns in each slab. Always take into account that the very edges of each slab are softer grainy basalt that won’t be very good to leave in your cab design, so mark out each preform accordingly.

CABBING THIS MATERIAL

Once your preforms are trimmed out, the cabbing process is pretty standard for most agates. There are just a few things to note upfront.

The outer basalt rind should be trimmed off until you reach solid material, then grind your edges down to your preform marks.

The hematite/goethite edges might be a slight bit softer than the agate center. Don’t worry. This material won’t undercut, however, you will still need to closely watch your edges as cracks may appear as you start grinding down your girdle edge. They usually don’t go all the way through, they tend to show up, but only about 1mm deep. If this happens, you may have to alter your pattern slightly and grind that portion down or draw the edge of your cab in ever so slightly. You may also just shrink down your girdle edge and see if that makes it go away.

From this point, shape and dome on the 80 grit steel wheel. Once your shape is obtained, you can start smoothing out the top on either a 140 soft resin wheel or 220 grit wheel. This should remove the majority of the scratches. Next, finish sanding on the 280 soft resin wheel and continue to dry the cab off checking for any remaining scratches. It’s important to get all of the scratches out on this wheel before moving on since the 600 grit will not be able to get them out.

From this point, the remaining routine will finish off your Moroccan seam agate cab leaving a beautiful high polish on the 14k grit wheel and your cab is all ready to set into jewelry.

This story about Moroccan seam agate appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Story by Russ Kaniuth.

The post Moroccan Seam Agate: What to Cut first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.