Metals And Stones

Day 9: The hobby of rockhounding inevitably creates a desire to do more than tumble-polish stones, collect minerals and go on digs. The enthusiastic lapidarist finds himself (or herself) tempted by equipment such as rock saws, grinders and faceting machines. Naturally, the acquisition of one or more of those devices leads to the issue of what to do with your finished gems, and mounting them is the next logical step. Ready-made settings are commonly available for rings and pendants, but some hobbyists take their craftsmanship further and delve into casting or metalsmithing.

You would think that with my penchant for doing tiny needlework and beading that I might have fallen into this art easily, but that was far from the case. In fact, it was my ham-handed husband who painstakingly modelled the most detailed and delicate waxes to be cast in gold. His skill at faceting was amazing, and he spent hours at the machine, an Optivisor entrenched in the wrinkles of his forehead helping him see that the "meets" met at precise angles. On the other hand, I dabbled with silversmithing using pre-made bezels and shanks, soldering the parts together to hold the cabochons I turned out on a polisher. Bruce worked with precious stones: sapphire, tanzanite, garnet, alexandrite and such. I futzed with agates and opals and occasionally a piece of lapis lazuli. Mutt and Jeff we were, or Jack Spratt and his wife, opposite to what you would have expected of us. Bruce's work was elegant and classy, mine clunky and serviceable.

The stones and rings in this photo were all hand-cut save for the brown Linde star sapphire in the top left. All are Bruce's work except the bezel-mounted fire agate set in sterling. That one's mine.