Ultra Tec Machines That Shape the Gemcutters' World

A lucky few find their life's passion in a bucket of gravel.

- BY AMY GRISAK

Collection of stones from Tom Mitchell.

Mitchell Jewelry Studio

This was the case for Tom Mitchell, owner of Mitchell Jewelry Studio, who tried his hand at looking for gemstones as a way to enjoy the outdoors in his new home. Moving from California to Florida, Tom and his wife were looking for ways to spend time outdoors, so they traveled to a rockhounding business in northern Georgia that provided material for screening.

FROM PEBBLES TO BUSINESS

Sorting through the pebbles, he found rubies, sapphires and amethysts. He also found a new direction. After the success of his first bucket of gravel, he ordered another.

Tom says his wife told him, “You're having too much fun.” She joined the activity and discovered an emerald the size of his thumb, which he had fashioned into a pair of earrings and a 15.1-carat pendant.

While the initial expenditure of gravel didn't seem extravagant, Tom chuckles, “I neglected to mention to my wife how much it cost to have them facet these stones.”

Yet, when he calculated the cost of the rockhounding along with what it took to facet the gems, he realized it was a good investment. With the 28 stones he had appraised, 24 of them were worth twice as much as what he paid to dig and facet them. An amethyst he found was worth five times its value, and the emerald pendant was worth over 2,700 times more than what it cost to dig the stone and have it faceted.

LAPIDARY FUNDAMENTALS

A month later, he attended the William Holland School of Lapidary Arts and Sciences, a seat of creativity and education for over 40 years, located in the lush mountain landscape of northern Georgia, where he learned the fundamentals of gem cutting.