What makes a beautiful colored gemstone and why are some of them more inviting and fascinating than others? The short answer is the beauty of light. Most of us are familiar with the phrase, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” There is also a less famous quote by Franz Kafk a, “Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.” These two statements put forth the idea that beauty is both personal and timeless.
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. 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 apply it to gemstone 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.
This story is from the June 2023 edition of Rock&Gem Magazine.
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This story is from the June 2023 edition of Rock&Gem Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORGAN HILL POPPY JASPER
In California, there are very few places to collect semi-precious stones. Many locations from the past have been either exhausted of the material or the land has been developed.
THE ACORN
The briolette gemstone has the same design attributes of a regular gemstone, however, the pavilion is elongated and the crown is usually domed. This is perfect for an elegant pendant, earrings or a pendulum.
HOW TO PUT A PROTECTIVE CAP ON A CAB
To protect a specimen cab, often a cap is needed. In my case, I had a slab with the because of the color of the background and the pattern. This background had a more silicified consistency than most sandstones. It had no graininess like most sandstone, so I'm inclined to compare it to a jasper. The pattern was typical of a dendrite.
The Resilient Revival of Anne Brontë & Her Stones
For the first time, the Anne Brontë rock collection underwent complete description and identification, and along with Professor Hazel Hutchison of Leeds University and Dr. Enrique Lozano Diz at ELODIZ (a company specializing in spectroscopy analysis), an analysis of that collaboration, Anne Brontë and Geology: A Study of her Collection of Stones, was published in April 2022 in Volume 47, Issue 2 of the peer-reviewed journal, Brontë Studies & Gazette.\"
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The Case of the Bleeding Glacier
It's a gory sight called Blood Falls. Ever since British geologist Thomas Griffith Taylor first noted it in 1911, it has been a mystery.
Asteroid Samples Are Said to Hold Invaluable Secrets
If Only Scientists Can Pop the Lid!
Paleontologists Embrace a New Method for Seeing Fossils within Rock
Fossil bone can be delicate. Attempts to remove it from a hard rock matrix by picking and scratching or etching with acids can be time-consuming and/or may end up obliterating that which you hope to study.
Need a Map of the Ocean Floor?
Call in the Seals!
A Step Closer to Hydrogen, the "Climate-Friendly Fuel"
As I reported last June, the world is racing to find sustainably renewable, nonpolluting sources of energy to replace our carbon-based reserves of coal, oil and gas.
