One World Gemstone – Custom Faceted Gemstones

I began cutting stones in the ’70’s as a college student. Self taught, I relied solely on a Sapphire faceting machine and Glenn and Martha Vargas’s book. I continued cutting and teaching basic to advanced jewelry classes for many years. After graduation, I worked as a bench jeweler for several shops in the area (Olympia WA.). Eventually I opened a private salon (Lakewood, Wa.) with a very creative partner. As an artistic expression it was a great success, but as a business proposition, it was a dismal failure. I then continued to work on private commissions and for various jewelry stores as a bench person and stone setter until my career took a different turn in the 80’s. I eventually became a union representative and found that after working 70 hour weeks, I didn’t have enough time to do the craft, and my customers, justice. I then decided to step away from the bench for a while. Recently I have retired and have begun to pursue my life’s passions once again. I have stepped back into it by cutting some of the rough that I have accumulated over the many years that I have had an interest in the craft.