Lapidary

A few of the gems and stones I’ve cut and polished for use in my jewelry…

Table view of the Quartz Frost Star Hex, showing the frosted pattern reflections from the pavilion facets.

Clear Quartz from Brazil cut in a “Frost Star Hex” (6.05 carats, 12.25 mm in diameter [11 mm across the hexagonal flats]). Design by Andrew Ian Brown and published in his free PDF book “Twelve Easy Gemstone Faceting Designs – A guide for the beginner Gemcutter”.

Yellow CZ cut in the "Graham Portuguese" design with 161 facets. The gem came in at 13.50 carats and 11.75 mm diameter.

A Yellow Cubic Zirconia cut in Jeff R. Graham’s “Graham Portuguese” design with 161 facets (13.50 carats at 11.75 mm diameter).

Amethyst SRB faceting completed. 6 mm diameter, 0.85 carats.

An Amethyst (Quartz) from Brazil cut in a “Charles Schlagel Quartz” SRB (0.85 carats, 6 mm). Design in an article by Charles Parsons, Gem & Minerals Magazine, March 1966.

Santa Ana Madeira Citrine "Golden Steps" Emerald Cut (0.80 carats, 5x8 mm).

A Santa Ana Madeira Citrine (Quartz) “Golden Steps” Emerald Cut (0.80 carats, 5×8 mm). Design by Greg Glenn.

Custom Hybrid Citrine Quartz, 2.75 carats at 9.50 mm diameter.

A Citrine Quartz cut in a “Custom Hybrid” design (2.75 carats, 9.50 mm diameter). Design by myself (crown) and Michiko Huynh (pavilion).

A Sunstone (Labradorite) cut as a Brilliant Pear (1.00 caret, 7 x 8.15 mm).

A Sunstone (Labradorite) cut as a “Brilliant Pear” (1.00 carat, 7 x 8.15 mm). Design by Jeff R. Graham.

A video of a Yellow Cubic Zirconia faceted in Jeff R. Graham’s “Smith Bar” opposing bar-cut design (11.50 carats at 11.8 x 9.2 mm) showing the pixelating effects the facets play on light.

Standard Round Brilliant Arizona Peridot

A beautiful Arizona Peridot cut as a Standard Round Brilliant (0.5 carats at 5 mm in diameter). An SRB cut has 73 facets total, which helps to give many gems lots of sparkle and flash.

Floater Trillion in Brown Topaz

A “Floater Trillion” design in Brown Topaz (0.85 carats at 6.35 mm in diameter). Another great design by Jeff R. Graham.

Easy Eight in Yellow CZ and Easy Cushion in Violet CZ

An “Easy Eight” in Yellow CZ (9.25 carats, 11.85 mm diameter) and an “Easy Cushion” in Violet CZ (5.40 carats, 8.65 mm square). Both designs by Jeff R. Graham.

Two gems cut in the “GeM101” design by Tom Herbst in Clear Quartz and Amethyst Cubic Zirconia (CZ), weighing in at 1.6 carats (9.5 mm diameter) and 3.75 carats (9.15 mm diameter) respectively.

Butterfly Jasper Hearts

Two Butterfly Jasper heart cabs, one 26×26 mm and the other 20×20 mm.

Mahogany Obsidian

Three Mahogany Obsidian cabs in oval and teardrop.

Maury Mtn. Moss Agate

Three Maury Mountain Moss Agate cabs in oval and free-form kite.

Maury Mtn. Moss Agate

Two Maury Mountain Moss Agate cabs with druzy pockets in oval and free-form quadrilateral.

Maury Mtn. Moss Agate

Three Maury Mountain Moss Agate cabs in round, teardrop and oval.

Green Jasper, Sodalite and Tiger Eye Cabs

Two Green Jasper free-forms, Sodalite oval and Tiger Eye oval and slim-oval.

Carnelian Cabs

A Carnelian Agate oval and two free-forms.

Chinese Writing Stone Cabs

Chinese Writing Stone ovals and a pear.

Turritella Cabs

Two Turritella Agate free-forms, three ovals, a tear-drop and a pear.

Unakite Cabs

Unakite ovals and slim-oval.

Black Marble ovals, slim-ovals, tear-drop and round (a couple with white quartz veining).