James R. Clark |
Lavender Cubic Zirconia 1st Place Winner 2010 International Faceting ChallengeAustralia 2010 International Faceting Challenge Section A1st place with a score of 100 Lavender CZ, 10mm Design: "Robin" by John Wren Faceted by James R. Clark The Section A stone, for the 2010 International Faceting Challenge, was the ROBIN designed by John Wren of the Australian Faceters Guild . The specified stone was to be cut in colored Cubic Zirconia with the size to be 10.00 +/- 0.1mm without penalty. I had a couple of pieces of one of my favorite colored CZ left from some that I had purchased from a local rock shop in 2003. It is called lavender but actually, depending on the light, goes from pink to light blue. I had cut several stones from that material and had been pleased with the way it cut -- especially the way it polished. The smallest of the pieces was chosen and I was sure it would produce a 10mm stone. Unfortunately, as I set the size of the stone and pre-polished the girdle, it became obvious that 10mm just wasn't possible. Close, but in competition close isn't enough. The stone was completed and goes on record as a "test" stone. And a real stunner at that. The second piece of rough was doped and the cutting went pretty much without incident. In late December, 2009 the ROBIN was packaged, along with my B and C Section entries, and sent off to Australia to be judged. The results were announced at the 2010 GEMBOREE held in Devonport Tasmania, April 2nd thru 5th, 2010. I received the results via an e-mail from the USA Coordinator on April 3, 2010. It was at that time that I realized that I had won the Section A with a perfect score of 100. My first 100! Now that is something I will remember for a long long time. Because stone photography is a skill I've yet to master -- or even begin to understand -- I sent it to Jeffrey Hunt for a big dose of his magic. And magic he did! Thank you, Jeff, for wonderful photos. Thank you John Wren for sharing this design. Thanks again, Jim Clark |