FRIDAY JULY 9:
The First Photos from Roger Dery and Jeffrey Hunt’s trip to Tanzania June-July 2010 are Up and Running: ARUSHA TANZANIA
The photos are located under the publish tab at the top of each page under the heading Articles from Contributors.
SATURDAY JUNE 19:
The June Edition is now here filed under the One World Gemstone Portfolio. You can also find them under recent additions at the bottom of the main page.
Amazing gemstones all!
SUNDAY JUNE 13:
Premiere addition today of a beautiful Amethyst set by Julia Kay Taylor, faceting by Elaine Songer. See the set under recent additions below.
Work continues on the June Edition of One World Gemstones. Watch for spectacular stones here.
MONDAY MAY 31:
“The Biz’
Solicited and unsolicited articles on any topic related to precision faceted stones.
Editorials, how tos – step-by-step demos, discussions of marketing, gem properties, folklore, a mining trip – the articles can be anything at all. The feature may be long or short and can informative on a topic or frankly even self promoting. A topic might be a new faceting design and instructions how to cut. The overall content that appear on these pages should be looked at as primary source material and ultimately new information to the industry at large. There will always be exceptions and the guidelines are flexible.
When considering a topic for submission keep in mind information that can be found elsewhere. Polishing gemstones is a good example. There are many techniques and practices individual faceters use to obtain the perfect polish, a search though the United States Faceters Guild faceters list or even the Gemology Online archives will yield a wealth of knowledge on this topic, so a new article on this might not make the most interesting choice. An article on how to find and sort through all this information might be a great topic though.
Another example of an article might be from a consumer standpoint. How to make sense of the terminology for instance and how to find trusted information. Windows, cullets, extinction, native cuts, refraction, color change? This might be a very useful topic.
The Gemstone Studio and “The Biz” are designed for Collectors, Faceters and Gemstone Enthusiasts alike.
FRIDAY MAY 28:
THE GEMSTONE STUDIO is open to everyone. There are no fees, no charges, no trades. Items may be offered for sale or show. The emphasis of the website is the custom faceted gemstone with high facet grade gem rough as an added category. Collectors, Faceters, Retailers and Gemstone Lovers may all add photos and comment. A gemstone or jewelry item may be for sale, for display, or to simply show off a project or represent your product.
THE GEMSTONE STUDIO and ONE WORLD GEMSTONE, have been developed as community service projects to support the custom faceted gemstone industry. The two sponsor spots you see to the right will hopefully offset a fraction of the programming costs and also provide a place for others in the larger jewelry industry to support this project. If these spots are not utilized by sponsors they will by used to showcase favorite websites – anything might pop up here.
Enjoy!
SUNDAY MAY 16:
See the new featured gems live! ONE WORLD GEMSTONE MAY EDITION All the new May Edition gems will soon be featured here on The Gemstone Studio – some with comment.
SUNDAY MAY 16:
To comment on a photo, SIGN UP click on a photo, and add your comment. Each new comment sends the stone to the top of the list on the PHOTO FORUM. Everyone can comment on a stone, and the designer just might respond. It is possible to add other photos to the comment section that are outside the publishing guidelines – and, it’s very easy.
The May Edition ONE WORLD GEMSTONE will be published early Monday Morning. Watch for it!
FRIDAY MAY 07:
Notes on Photo Format: Currently on the Gemstone Studio all photos added to portfolios are enlarged for a very close up view. Not all gem photos need to be seen at this large scale and it’s important to introduce a few options for large, medium and small photos. One World Gemstone photographs are almost exclusively presented in this large format. The Gemstone Studio is for all sizes – watch for changes in this down the line and more information about recommended phtoto format and file sizes. I’ve actually gone in and re-edited a few photos for optimum presentation.
Facebook: I don’t like the idea of promoting facebook with their ubiquitous Icon but I do want visitors to have the option to post pages and gems here on their individual facebook pages. When you click this or a similar links: Feature this page on facebook on any Gemstone Studio page, you will post that particular page or gemstone right up on your personal facepage. You can of course add comments. Try it out, it’s pretty nifty.
TUESDAY MAY 04:
Custom Gemstone: A precision cut gemstone where the design, designer and faceter are usually identified. The gemstone is cut and polished to exact repeatable specifications.
Commercial Gemstone: A gemstone usually faceted in a factory type setting. The faceter is most likely not identified and is usually a member of a larger group of faceters employed or commissioned by commercial interests. The faceters in this type of setting are traditionally paid by the piece emphasizing weight. Some commercial stones can be quite beautiful and many of these nicer – but very similar stones flood the market and can be found in many commercial jewelry stores and websites.
Please send additional information on the similarities and differences for later inclusion in the publishing categories.
SATURDAY MAY 01:
You are now peeking in on THE CUSTOM GEMSTONE STUDIO live for the first time!
Currently, anyone can sign up and start posting away. There is no registration or first post moderation – yet.
When registering you will receive a confirmation email. Look close, if the entire email link is not highlighted you will need to copy and paste the link. Currently spaces between first and last name cause the email link to break. Copying and pasting solves this problem. See my JETHRO TULL test entry.
FRIDAY APRIL 30:
You will notice the two trial sponsor spots towards the right on the home page. There will be two and only these two spots on THE CUSTOM GEMSTONE STUDIO website for paid advertisement to help offset ongoing programming costs. If these spots are not used for sponsors they will be used for select items and websites – send me your suggestions please – absolutely anything might pop up here. Go head… click on them.
For more information jump here: FUTURE SPONSORS page.
THURSDAY APRIL 29:
Please check out the PHOTO FORUM page.
You will find photo thumbnails sorted by the most recent comment made to that photo. This is a unique feature to custom gemstone and jewelry web sites.
