This page provides direct links to the web resources mentioned in Amateur Gemstone Faceting, as well as new sites added since publication. Use the Quick Jump buttons to select the subject area you want.
Quick Jumps:
Online Gemology Courses and Learning Material
General Information and User Groups
The “official” website of this book, where you can find updates (including the following links), corrections, and other information. Yes, this sends you back to the home page...
A great web resource containing information on gems, gem materials, and all types of lapidary arts. It also hosts a very dynamic forum with expert contributors.
Home of the United States Faceter’s Guild, hosting faceting diagrams, helpful tips, and web links. You can also join the lively online discussion group on Yahoo.
The International Gem Society website. Plenty of information on gem materials, gemology instruments, book reviews, and even a fun activity area for kids.
A very useful site that maintains up to date information on gem treatments, new finds, and business ethics. The site hosts a list of “Safe Vendors” of gems and lapidary equipment.
Web home of the Texas Faceter’s Guild. They also have an online discussion group. Join by e-mailing TxFacetorsGuild-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
ganoksin.com/orchid/orchid.htm
Orchid is a moderated forum for gems and jewelry. They also host a collection of helpful articles on specific topics.
Home of the International Lapidary Association. Lots of great stuff here, but it seems to have been inactive since 2006.
Clubs, Guilds, and Schools
usfacetersguild.org/guilds.shtml
The USFG maintains a list of faceting guilds worldwide. Use this link as a starting point.
The Old Pueblo Lapidary Club in Tucson, Arizona. This is where I learned to cut, and it hosts an annual “hobnob” during the massive Tucson Gem Show (see Chapter 6.2.2).
The Australian Facetor’s Guild sponsors the renowned International Faceting Challenge, arguably the grandaddy of all faceting competitions.
The UK Facet Cutter’s Guild.
Comprehensive lists of gem and mineral clubs worldwide, as well as other information.
rockhounds.com/rockshop/clublist.shtml
List of over 900 mineralogical, lapidary, and fossil clubs in the United States.
This is the web home of the Willliam P. Holland School of Lapidary Arts in northern Georgia, USA. They offer week-long beginner and intermediate faceting classes.
Jim Perkins trains students on a one-on-one basis during his 5-day faceting course.
Gemstone artist John Bailey offers a 4-day basic and a 5-day advanced class.
riodoce.com/lapidary-instruction
The Rio Doce gem mine in North Carolina provides individual training broken down into six, one-week segments.
The American Institute of Diamond Cutting in southeast Florida runs 3-month courses at the beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels.
Free Form Artists of Montreux, Switzerland hold single-day classes in faceting. Also offered in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Gem Ethics – Jewelry Organizations and Government Agencies
The World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO). Download their Official CIBJO Gemstone Book at download.cibjo.org
The American Gem Trade Association (AGTA). Click the DISCLOSURE link to view their Code of Ethics and Gemstone Enhancement Codes.
ftc.gov/bcp/guides/jewel-gd.shtm
The USA Federal Trade Commission (FTC) maintains an ethics guide for the jewelry industry (see Chapter 13.5).
Online Gemstone Designs
A massive database of online diagrams based on Long and Steele’s Datavue program. Set up by Robert Strickland of GemCAD fame, facetdiagrams.org is growing daily with designs contributed by the community.
rockhounds.com/rockshop/gem_designs/design_index.shtml
Bob Keller’s online collection of over 150 gemstone designs, including Sun Twist from Chapter 16.2.2.
rockhounds.com/oplc/cd_online/
Online version of the Old Pueblo Lapidary Club’s CD, including 60 unique designs and links to plenty of additional faceting information.
In addition to selling collections of his gem designs, Jeff Graham offered almost 40 cutting diagrams free of charge on his website. Although no longer directly online, Jeff’s website is accessible on the Wayback Machine (www.archive.org).
boghome.com/TomsPages/MyDesigns/index.html
The web home of the BOG gem optimization program also hosts 15 gem designs, many of which are mentioned in this book.
Faceting Books and Reference Materials
Worldwide library search – 1.5 billion items. See page 354 of Volume 1.
Website of Basil Watermeyer, originator of the barion design (page <?>).
Commercial sites selling faceting related books:
cuttingrocks.com/catalog_books_faceting.shtml
Information on Gems and Minerals
These websites provide encyclopedic information on gem species, minerals, and localities:
https://www.alansfactoryoutlet.com/hubfs/hardness-of-metals-visual-representation-mohs-scale-5.png
A nice visual representation of the Mohs hardness of the metallic elements (and a few alloys). Thanks to the Junior Scouts!
https://brite.co/education/a-kids-guide-to-identifying-popular-gemstones-used-in-jewelry
A kid's guide to identifying gemstones. Thanks to Rachel!
Online Gemology Courses and Learning Material
Course material from an introductory class on gemology.
nature.berkeley.edu/classes/eps2/
Material from a Gems and Gem Material Class at Berkeley.
Home to a large collection of articles, opinion, book reviews, etc.
attawaygems.com/NMFG/Lets_talk_gemstones_index.html
A collection of articles by gemologist, Edna B. Anthony.
Faceting Machine Manufacturers
This section contains links to the manufacturers of the most popular current faceting machines. To track down other hardware, consult Chapter 2.8.
The Graves Company (Mark I, Mark IV, Mark 5XL machines)
Jarvi Tool Co. (Facetron machine)
Jersey Instruments (Patriot, Tom Thumb machines)
Poly-Metric Instruments Inc. (Xristal-Tek 99, Scintillator 88, O.M.F, Xristal-Tek 87)
Ultra Tec (V5, V2, Concave, and Fantasy machines)
Lap Manufacturers
Website of the gearloose family of faceting products (see page <?> of Volume 1).
raytechgemprocessing.com/lapidary/diamond-products/facets-tombstone.php
Home of the NuBond and Fast Lap, as well as bonded steel, copper and tin laps.
The Pol-A-Gem cerium oxide permanently charged polishing lap.
Web home of the Lightning Lap, as well as the MagDop, Beast polish, and more.
Website for Crystalite cutting laps.
Synthetic and Simulant Gemstone Material
Morion manufactures an array of synthetic gemstone materials and sells it by the carat.
This company offers synthetic garnets and CZ, as well as recrystallized corundum.
Grady and Phyllis Harris offer a variety of synthetics and simulants.
The Facet Shoppe carries all manner of faceting supplies, from machines to natural and synthetic rough.
Other Manufacturers
This section lists manufacturers of specific products mentioned in this book.
Findings and Mountings:
Immersion Fluids for both refractive index (Chapter 4.5) and density (page 121):
Edmund sells a huge variety of optical components, including the first-surface mirrors discussed in Chapter 7.6.4.
usdigital.com/products/encoders
This company manufactures incremental optical encoders, such as those needed to upgrade your faceting machine with a precision digital protractor (Chapter 20.8).
European manufacturer of optical encoders suitable for the faceting machine upgrade described in Chapter 20.8.
The home of all things Arduino. See Chapter 20.8.
An electronics tinkerer’s paradise. You can find almost anything here, including Arduinos and the liquid crystal displays discussed in Chapter 20.8.
Another hobbyist electronics superstore for Arduino projects and related hardware.
Software
Gem Design and Optimization Software
The home of Robert Strickland’s excellent GemCAD and GemRay programs.
Website of the BOG optimization program (see Section 15.3.2).
The DiamCalc and GemAdviser programs help you visualize and adjust gem properties to maximize impact. Geared toward diamonds.
www.northcoastlapidary.com/?p=434
Jim Perkins hosts a downloadable version of Anton Vasiliev’s Facet Designer software.
Software for three-dimensional rendering (Section 15.4):
Home of the freeware Blender program.
Physically-based renderer plugin for blender.
Alternate freeware rendering program.
Website hosting 3D models of various gemstone designs in common formats.
Virtualization / Emulation Tools - These programs let you run Microsoft Windows within another operating system (see page 192).
microsoft.com/windows/virtualpc/
oracle.com/us/technologies/virtualization/index.html
Free online tools for creating your own video tutorials (see page 191):
Miscellaneous
archive.org/details/plinysnaturalhis00plinrich
Pliny the Elder’s 37-Volume Historia Naturalis, all readable online!
Marcel Tolkowsky’s monograph on diamond design.
Online gemstone appraisal service. Access to valuation of most coloured gems is free, although some will require a subscription.
rocktumbler.com/blog/fee-mining-and-digging-sites
Extensive list (with links) of fee dig sites in the USA and Canada.
Another take on the laser transfer cheat technique described in Chapter 7.6.4.
gemologyproject.com/wiki/index.php?title=Dichroscope
Detailed description, including video, of the principle and operation of the dichroscope.
beyond4cs.com/free-gemology-courses-and-resources/
Nice collection of links to gemology courses and other online resources.
Various depth of cut indicator implementations (see Chapter 20.7).
usfacetersguild.org/articles/dave_wooley/beale_wooley_indicator
rockhounds.com/rockshop/gem_designs/kavan_bw_installation
boghome.com/TomsPages/Micrometer.html
Faceting Machine Alignment:
lapidaryworld.com/pdf/faceting_machine_alignment.pdf
usfacetersguild.org/articles/paul_head/machine_alignment
Build your own faceting machine:
Enter “Make Your Own Gemstone Faceting Machine” in the search box to link to the article shown in Figure 2-22.
Instructions and drawings for the Revision H faceting head by Gearloose.
True Miscellany:
Manufacturers of Mystic Topaz (see page <?>).
An invaluable resource with which you can catch up on all the latest lingo and memes, including the definition of facetable. Warning: occasionally (often) not safe for work.
The USA Bureau of Labor Statistics is the home of the consumer price index (referenced in Chapter 6.5).
Site Manager: Tom Herbst
Last Updated:
10 October 2014