John has been faceting gemstones since 2001 with more than 1,000 faceted stones and 350 cabochon stones to his credit. John personally hand selects premium facet grade rough from mines all over the globe including Africa, Brazil, China, Czech Republic, Russia, Thailand and the United States. The best finished gems start with the finest gemstone rough. And, it is easy to see quality in colored gemstones - rich vibrant colors and sparkle radiate from every stone John cuts. He regularly cuts for individuals, gem connoisseurs, and jewelers across the United States; Midwest & Central regions; states surrounding Kentucky - Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Missouri, Virginia; North to South - Michigan to Florida; East to West - Rhode Island to California; and across the globe - Australia, Kuwait, Afghanistan.

 
Finally set up my studio to cut precious opal and cut these cabochons clockwise from top left is 1) Gray Opal bright multicolored fire red, green orange, yellow & violet  2) Black Opal with deep blue and black looking like an Ariel view of the pacific ocean 3) Carmel brown boulder opal with red and green pin fire. - June 2007 -

LAPIDARY
  Cuts stones to show best  COLOR & CLARITY

FACETER
Cuts flat surfaces on stones to bring out  FIRE & BRILLIANCE

Mixed Cuts - Faceted Cabochon Gemstones

Citrine, Peridot, Amethyst
Jade, Fire Opal orange & red
  
client said "the gems are spectacular" and is offering them for sale in one-of-a-kind cocktail rings

 
Oregon Sunstone before and after faceting.

This is a sterling silver bracelet with a stone that was lost.  My jeweler client ask me to cut a blue opal to match and she provided the kite shaped opal triplet shown in photo one.  In the second photo above you can see how I cut out a pattern in a piece of paper to match the shape of the missing stone using the stone bezel as a guide.

  
This photo above left show the trimmed opal and above right shows the opal with a nail fastened to the back to hold the stone during cutting.  

I use a Pixie machine (above left) to cut the opal cabochon.  The finished stone is shown in the photo above right.  Ready to go back to my jeweler client who will do the final stone setting. and return the bracelet to her client.   

I cut this large piece of Arizona Peridot into a 4.3 carat 10 mm x 8 mm emerald cut and then set the stone in this 14K yellow gold man's ring, for my uncle in Oklahoma - July 2003 -

This was a 14K yellow gold ring and facet grade rough amethyst stone (upper left photo) that I gave away at a white elephant gift exchange. 
The proud  recipient hired me to cut the gemstone and set it in the ring.  Very nice.

FACETING AMETHYST
Natural Amethyst varies widely in color ranging from pale violet to deep purple. It can be very challenging to cut a set of matched stones and even more challenging to replace a lost stone.

Uncle Ben ask that I cut a pair of natural Amethyst earrings and pendant for my aunt. I chose medium purple stones from a box of faceting rough purchased last year from a dealer in Florida. I faceted two round stones from a single piece sawed in half. Ensuring good color match is simpler if you can do that. And the pendant stone was cut from a second stone with similar color. The amethyst gemstone jewelry set in 14K white gold was a smash. Aunt Norene was thrilled with her Christmas gift. Well, she was, that is, right up to the time when I got the call.

The call was from my uncle who said my aunt was distraught since losing one of the earrings. He asked if I could cut a replacement. And, I requested that he send back the one original so I could match the color. However, before it arrived by mail, I used some pictures of the original earring stones to select and cut a replacement stone from a piece of the original batch of facet rough.

When the earring arrived, it was quite obvious that the color was not a good match. There just is not any good way to match colors without physically holding two pieces side-by-side.

So, I chose a new piece of amethyst using the original to guide me and cut another stone. The following photographs and captions show the steps I followed to complete this finished project – Faceting Color Matched Natural Amethyst Earrings.

I think the replacement amethyst faceted stone and the original are a very good color match. The new stone measures 5.9mm in diameter, weighs 0.65 carats, and is set in 14K white gold earring dangle with a white CZ baguette accent. No one would ever know just by looking at the earrings that one was replaced if they were not told this story about how I cut four stones to make one set of earrings.

I’M LOCATED IN
LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY
HORSE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD


MAILING ADDRESS
Gems By John LLC
Suite 150-195
4101 Tates Creek Centre Dr
Lexington, KY 40517

PHONE NUMBER
(859) 539-2407

E-MAIL
JohnWright@GemsByJohn.com

       
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