I'm John Bailey, gemstone cutter and creator of this site. I offer high-quality custom gem cutting and
one-of-a-kind faceted gems and carved gemstone art. I create designer jewelry and
can create custom gem designs for your special person, occasion, or group. Click here
to see some of my original faceting designs, or click here to see photos and
information illustrating the gem-cutting process.
Some people have a great emptiness in their lives – maybe the empty spot in your setting that’s crying
out for the right stone – or it may be the idea you have for a unique gem that you haven’t found. In
either case, I’ll help you fill those empty places with a unique gem that will dazzle. Tell me about
your emptiness and let me fill it with color!
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Services & Rates:
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Rough Evaluation
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$40 flat fee
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Custom Design Work
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$125 per hour
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Faceting & Repair Time
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$125 per hour
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CUSTOM FACETING (your rough)
GEMSTONE REPAIR CUTTING
CUTTING INVESTMENT CALCULATOR
CUSTOM DESIGNER JEWELRY
CUSTOM FACETING (your rough)
Some people have a treasure that’s not quite polished, yet. If you already know about gem rough and
cutting then I’ll evaluate your stones (no charge – you pay the shipping, both ways). If you’re not
an expert on gem rough or cutting issues, you may want to read the page on evaluating gem rough
and the one on gemstone geometry before you commit the postage to
send me your rough gemstones.
I won't ever offer to cut a stone unless I think the cutting fees are a wise investment in the rough material.
(Here's the calculator I use to assist with this decision)
Otherwise, I’ll recommend having it commercially cut or perhaps just keeping it as a mineral specimen.
Here are some stones I’ve custom-cut for clients:
I cut this beautiful 19.55 carat Sphalerite in a free-form step design
to maximize the beauty of the color and to accent the unusually
fine clarity of this special piece.
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I cut this outstanding 22.69 carat Sphalerite in a free-form step design
to show-off the extraordinary dispersion of this material.
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This extraordinary 10.52 carat Oregon Sunstone is registered in the
Certificate of Design program
as the first rendition of my Omni Oval 1.33 pattern, and so
the design was named "The Indigo Oval" - for the Production Company that owns it.
This very special gem, appraised at over $5,000.00, will soon appear on the Travel Channel.
The fantastic Red Labradorite (TM) Sunstone rough came from the
Spectrum Mine Free Dig.
Check it out and get some for yourself!
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This pretty 3.64 carat Tourmaline was treated to custom design,
and is registered in the
Certificate of Design program
as the first rendition of my Houseki II pattern, which was
created explicitly for this gem.
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This Spodumene from Afghanistan is a 13.64 carat gem
cut in my own Sexy Native design.
It measures 16 x 12 mm and displays extra fine color.
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Dichroic Oregon Sunstone from the Dust Devil Mine.
This 4.35 carat finished stone displays a nice array of color
under incandescent light, and a nice color-change to green
when sunlight washes out the red tones and intensifies the
green ones. This project required custom design and an upside-down
cutting sequence to keep colors seperate and to retain saturation.
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6 millimeter 1.31 carat natural, untreated Australian Sapphire
cut in an unusual "twisted triangle" design. This stone was
produced to-order for a custom engagement ring.
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Here's another cut-to-order Sapphire for a custom engagement ring.
This African Sapphire is faceted in a fancy apex design that really
throws the light around. It measures 6.3 mm and weighs 1.12 carats.
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15.6 x 10.4 millimeter 8.50 carat dichroic Oregon Sunstone cut in a barion oval.
This incredible stone is intensely multi-colored, showing deep Kelly Green, a strong
metallic peach, champagne, and flashes of red. Look carefully and you'll find a rainbow
halo in the pavailion faces of this stone. That visual effect is due to careful orientation
of polysynthetic twinning present in the original crystal. Here's a closer look.
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13 x 8.5 millimeter 4.90 carat dichroic Oregon Sunstone cut in a barion oval.
This stone shows the dichroic effect so well that it is repeatedly mistaken for
andalusite!
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CUTTING INVESTMENT CALCULATOR:
Should you have your stones custom cut in the U.S. or should you have
them sent overseas for bargain basement commercial cutting?
Enter the following information about the INDIVIDUAL PIECE of rough that you are considering for custom cutting.
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GEMSTONE REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT CUTTING
Some people have lost a sparkle from their lives – That which used to dazzle has become scarred from
life’s trials. Often a stone with scratches and rounded faces can be "repaired" (actually re-polished
or slightly re-cut) to give the gem a complete face-lift, restoring (or sometimes even surpassing)
its former beauty.
Be aware that repair work can never add material to a stone – and will always involve removing material.
A loss of weight (sometimes significant weight) will occur, and the stone may no longer fit into the
setting it came out of. If these are critical issues, you want to make sure I am aware of them – and
you may want to send the setting along with the stone for me to evaluate the viability of the repair
job. Feel free to send me an e-mail with any questions you have about gem repair cutting. Here are some
stones that I’ve repaired:
The "before" photo on the left shows the beat-up and broken original.
The "after" photo on the right shows the
new stone I designed and cut to fit the custom gold work the original came out of.
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Next is an example of a beautiful 4.99-carat Spinel that had showed crown damage,
including furrows in the table, abraded facet junctions, and scratched crown
facets. This native-cut stone also had a razor-thin girdle, exposing it to potential breakage
during setting. The before and after images speak for themselves, and show just what a nice change
be had for a few hours cutting and a loss of only one-third of a carat.
Sometimes, the crown is just fine, and the pavilion has damage from mishandling or from natural
flaws, poor cutting, etc. This following bubblegum pink Spinel has an internal fracture that
evidenced itself in the pavilion where chips had been broken away. This injury reflected throughout
the stone and severely impacted beauty, value, and marketability. This stone also had a knife-edge girdle.
The native-cut stone had a lopsided culet and too-shallow angles to begin with, so the solution
was to repair the girdle, and then remove the deep gashes by carefully laying-in stratgically-placed
concave facets. The result is a striking gemstone that is quite marketable, for a loss of only 0.42 carat:
Here's another example of a nice Tourmaline with a native-cut, lopsided culet and shallow angles.
I placed concave faces and the stone came to life:
Click here for one high-res image of the concaves or
click here for another high-res image
of the concaves to see the finish left by my Voodoo Polish.
Finally, sometimes a stone is so severly damaged that we can only "start over", using the gem
as a piece of rough. Under these cirsumstances, the original is often a badly-proportioned native-cut
with a thin girdle and insufficient depth to optically support the width (see my article on gem geometry).
In these cases, the yield is often poor, but the results are generally quite pretty. Note the fascinating inclusions
in this piece:
ABOUT CUTTING FEES:
I charge $100 per hour (a little more than your automobile mechanic), and I spend the
amount of time necessary to produce a very fine result from your rough. I won't recommend
using my personal services unless your rough appears to have a potential for benefiting
from the investment.
NOTE:
Naural crystals may have hidden flaws or cleavages or sttresses
that can succumb to the rigors of cutting (or re-cutting). I am very careful and do my best, and so far I have never damaged
or destroyed a stone entrusted to me. While I can guarantee the quality of my workmanship, I cannot
guarantee nature's cooperation. Therefore, I am not responsible (and accept no liability) for losses due to the
precipitous disintegration of any natural stone.
If you are considering a custom gem or
gem repair cutting project, I would appreciate the opportunity to help make your dreams come true.
Please contact me.
CUSTOM DESIGNER JEWELRY
You are as unique as the gems you wear, and every jewel deserves the right wardrobe to show their best
features. In addition to designing custom gemstones, I also design custom wardrobe to help you show your
most sparkling treasures at their luminescent best. I’m always anxious to create new presentations, whether
flowing lines or striking angles – to catch the eye of admiration. Here are a few of my recent creations:
10 x 8 millimeter 3.43 carat Emerald, set in white gold.
Goldsmithing by Don Tamplin.
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One of my flower-cut Amethysts in custom-designed Yellow Gold.
Goldsmithing by Don Tamplin.
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A natural (unheated) Blue Sapphire from the mine of our friends Maureen and Stephen, set in
Yellow Gold by Don Tamplin. The pendulum is active, and displays craftsmanship that would
make a watch-maker jealous.
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Oregon Sunstone with schiller bars set in Yellow Gold - again, by Don Tamplin.
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Untreated Yellow Sapphire from our Australian friends, Stephen and Maureen. Goldsmithing by Don Tamplin.
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