Cutting the Stones

Jewelry stones begin in the ground, mined, quarried, or collected by man in appreciation of their natural beauty.

Michael takes rough stones, just as they come out of the ground and first with a diamond edged saw, slices the stone into slabs.

He then chooses a scene or pattern in the slab and a pleasing shape to best present that pattern and trims the slab down to the chosen shape.

Then, after sticking the stone on a stick (called a dop stick), he grinds the stone down on a series of six diamond wheels, water cooled, getting progressively finer and closer to a polish.

At last, after a final polish on a leather lap with polishing compound, the stone is ready to include in a jewelry creation.