THE MAKER
Hi! I’m Robert Russell, thank you so much for taking the time to explore my passion. I remember the day that I fell in love with stones. While walking with my sleeping son in my arms on a secluded Southern Oregon beach, I started to notice the colorful stones left behind in the receding waves. One after another, I filled my front and back pockets of my rolled-up jeans as I made my way back to the rest of my family. I can’t really explain the sudden awareness of those stones and my desire to pick them up. Perhaps it was because I was on vacation and caught up on sleep; perhaps it was because I was happy and my heart was open to a new discovery. Maybe it was just time for a new adventure in my life. Whatever the case may be, what I do know is that I’ve never looked back and have zealously pursued a passion for everything to do with stones since that day.
I had to know what the stones were made of, what made them so beautiful. Were they precious? Were they valuable? After discovering that they were indeed NOT valuable, they still remained precious because any time I saw them in the flower beds around the house, they transported me back to that beach and that moment of discovery. My thirst for knowledge led me to other beaches where more precious stones could be found and then to the mountains where all of the material washed down from eons ago.
I wanted to know what was inside of these treasures that we were collecting. I learned about and acquired the tools I needed to cut the hard material open so we could see what was hidden inside. I learned how to shape and polish them so that we could see the beautiful patterns and colors more clearly. I kept researching and planning trips to the next spot where we could find more colorful and more precious material. I was a full-blown rock hound determined to find the biggest and best stones possible. My passion for stones has taken me and my family to places I never would have imagined going.
What started on the beaches of Oregon has led me all over the Western United States, including Hawaii and Alaska and more recently around the globe. Every trip I take seems to have some connection to my passion for stones. My poor wife and kids have had just about every trip interrupted by some side action related to stones – from a Connemara, Ireland marble mine and hunting for amethyst on a remote beach in County Mayo, to a day of chit-chatting with a geologist-miner about boulder opal during our Australia trip. They might all make faces at the time, but some of our fondest memories derive from my tireless search for stones.
I never imagined my passion for stones taking me into the world of fine jewelry making. My lovely wife is substantially to blame for this journey. If I wasn’t so inclined to please her constantly, I would have never wanted to make her that first anniversary ring. Shortly before that, I had just recently taken a weekend faceting class with Bob Johnson at the Palomar Gem and Mineral Club here in San Diego. Unsurprisingly, I took a real liking to it. It wasn’t long before I found a second-hand Facetron so I could cut stones at home with no time limitations.
Getting into faceting is what led me to The Gem Garden in San Marcos, CA. I had met Greg Hays at the Palomar Gem and Mineral Club. He gave a presentation at the club on loading new Gearloose BATT laps with diamond. After I obtained my Facetron, I contacted Greg about laps and obtaining some gem rough to cut. Greg’s wife Grace is a GIA graduate gemologist, jewelry appraiser and bench jeweler. Together they own the Gem Garden in San Marcos. Together, they are quite the power couple when it comes to everything stone, lapidary, photography, jewelry and design. Grace provided me with an assortment of East African gemstones (garnets, sapphires, spinels) and Greg provided me with the laps and some handy advice about faceting and cutting methods on different types of rough. It was both overwhelming and exhilarating entering into the world of gem cutting and I wouldn’t be at the point that I am without their wisdom and guidance.
While learning to facet, my first few faceted stones ranged from glass to amethyst (quartz), which was great, but cutting gem rough is just different. First, there’s more pressure to perform one’ cutting well with gem rough so every step in the process has a heightened state of stress. Second, gem rough costs a lot more than synthetic material or quartz and it can’t just be replaced because every stone is hard to come by and they are all unique in color, size and clarity. Third, when you’re done with the final facet on gem rough and it’s time to take it off the dop, the magic of taking in all the glory of a finely cut gem stone defies explanation. They beam like you can’t imagine. There are no scratches or imperfections (detectable by the naked eye, anyway) to impede the light rays entering the stone from every direction. On a sunny day, a gem stone explodes with every color in the spectrum. Finally, if you’re at the point of enjoying the sight of a completed stone, there is a feeling of anticipation, relief, accomplishment and joy all at the same time. It’s like crushing that first tee shot on a championship golf course, or being on the first chair on a blue bird day after a foot of fresh powder fell the night before. The feeling is the same on every new gemstone, no matter how many stones I cut. I can stare at them forever. They practically demand being set into jewelry.
Setting gems into a piece of jewelry added new layers to my joy of all things stone. I think a part of it is legacy, which is something I’ve searched for and thought about all my life. A jewelry piece that I create is something that will quite literally last forever, with proper care. Of course, the metal and stones will independently survive the test of time, but when they are combined together in a unique jewelry piece, part of the me lives on with them. Aside from legacy, another layer is communicating emotion through these little objects. I have watched first hand that I can transmit some of my joy to another person through jewelry, and through them to still more people who see it. The high school graduation ring on a daughter’s finger communicated a father’s pride in everything that she had accomplished. It made her feel a little more grown-up, and to everyone else who noticed and admired her and the ring, she was a little more grown up. Yet another layer is creativity. Eugene Delacroix wrote in his journal, “If you cultivate your soul it will find the means to express itself. It will invent a language of its own far better than the metre or the prose of this or that great [artist].” I was gifted with the discovery of stones which both nourished my soul and manifested into making fine jewelry – a prose and medium all my own.
THE MAKER
Hi! I’m Robert Russell, thank you so much for taking the time to explore my passion. I remember the day that I fell in love with stones. While walking with my sleeping son in my arms on a secluded Southern Oregon beach, I started to notice the colorful stones left behind in the receding waves. One after another, I filled my front and back pockets of my rolled-up jeans as I made my way back to the rest of my family. I can’t really explain the sudden awareness of those stones and my desire to pick them up. Perhaps it was because I was on vacation and caught up on sleep; perhaps it was because I was happy and my heart was open to a new discovery. Maybe it was just time for a new adventure in my life. Whatever the case may be, what I do know is that I’ve never looked back and have zealously pursued a passion for everything to do with stones since that day.
I had to know what the stones were made of, what made them so beautiful. Were they precious? Were they valuable? After discovering that they were indeed NOT valuable, they still remained precious because any time I saw them in the flower beds around the house, they transported me back to that beach and that moment of discovery. My thirst for knowledge led me to other beaches where more precious stones could be found and then to the mountains where all of the material washed down from eons ago.
I wanted to know what was inside of these treasures that we were collecting. I learned about and acquired the tools I needed to cut the hard material open so we could see what was hidden inside. I learned how to shape and polish them so that we could see the beautiful patterns and colors more clearly. I kept researching and planning trips to the next spot where we could find more colorful and more precious material. I was a full-blown rock hound determined to find the biggest and best stones possible. My passion for stones has taken me and my family to places I never would have imagined going.
What started on the beaches of Oregon has led me all over the Western United States, including Hawaii and Alaska and more recently around the globe. Every trip I take seems to have some connection to my passion for stones. My poor wife and kids have had just about every trip interrupted by some side action related to stones – from a Connemara, Ireland marble mine and hunting for amethyst on a remote beach in County Mayo, to a day of chit-chatting with a geologist-miner about boulder opal during our Australia trip. They might all make faces at the time, but some of our fondest memories derive from my tireless search for stones.
I never imagined my passion for stones taking me into the world of fine jewelry making. My lovely wife is substantially to blame for this journey. If I wasn’t so inclined to please her constantly, I would have never wanted to make her that first anniversary ring. Shortly before that, I had just recently taken a weekend faceting class with Bob Johnson at the Palomar Gem and Mineral Club here in San Diego. Unsurprisingly, I took a real liking to it. It wasn’t long before I found a second-hand Facetron so I could cut stones at home with no time limitations.
Getting into faceting is what led me to The Gem Garden in San Marcos, CA. I had met Greg Hays at the Palomar Gem and Mineral Club. He gave a presentation at the club on loading new Gearloose BATT laps with diamond. After I obtained my Facetron, I contacted Greg about laps and obtaining some gem rough to cut. Greg’s wife Grace is a GIA graduate gemologist, jewelry appraiser and bench jeweler. Together they own the Gem Garden in San Marcos. Together, they are quite the power couple when it comes to everything stone, lapidary, photography, jewelry and design. Grace provided me with an assortment of East African gemstones (garnets, sapphires, spinels) and Greg provided me with the laps and some handy advice about faceting and cutting methods on different types of rough. It was both overwhelming and exhilarating entering into the world of gem cutting and I wouldn’t be at the point that I am without their wisdom and guidance.
While learning to facet, my first few faceted stones ranged from glass to amethyst (quartz), which was great, but cutting gem rough is just different. First, there’s more pressure to perform one’ cutting well with gem rough so every step in the process has a heightened state of stress. Second, gem rough costs a lot more than synthetic material or quartz and it can’t just be replaced because every stone is hard to come by and they are all unique in color, size and clarity. Third, when you’re done with the final facet on gem rough and it’s time to take it off the dop, the magic of taking in all the glory of a finely cut gem stone defies explanation. They beam like you can’t imagine. There are no scratches or imperfections (detectable by the naked eye, anyway) to impede the light rays entering the stone from every direction. On a sunny day, a gem stone explodes with every color in the spectrum. Finally, if you’re at the point of enjoying the sight of a completed stone, there is a feeling of anticipation, relief, accomplishment and joy all at the same time. It’s like crushing that first tee shot on a championship golf course, or being on the first chair on a blue bird day after a foot of fresh powder fell the night before. The feeling is the same on every new gemstone, no matter how many stones I cut. I can stare at them forever. They practically demand being set into jewelry.
Setting gems into a piece of jewelry added new layers to my joy of all things stone. I think a part of it is legacy, which is something I’ve searched for and thought about all my life. A jewelry piece that I create is something that will quite literally last forever, with proper care. Of course, the metal and stones will independently survive the test of time, but when they are combined together in a unique jewelry piece, part of the me lives on with them. Aside from legacy, another layer is communicating emotion through these little objects. I have watched first hand that I can transmit some of my joy to another person through jewelry, and through them to still more people who see it. The high school graduation ring on a daughter’s finger communicated a father’s pride in everything that she had accomplished. It made her feel a little more grown-up, and to everyone else who noticed and admired her and the ring, she was a little more grown up. Yet another layer is creativity. Eugene Delacroix wrote in his journal, “If you cultivate your soul it will find the means to express itself. It will invent a language of its own far better than the metre or the prose of this or that great [artist].” I was gifted with the discovery of stones which both nourished my soul and manifested into making fine jewelry – a prose and medium all my own.
