First Stone Carving!
I’ve been suffering from an inordinate love for Oregon Sunstone since July of this year. There, I said it. When I got my first taste of the stones to polish and set, their radiance and clarity were intoxicating. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been tasting them. It’s a unique adventure to unveil one from rough to finish as every one is different and full of surprises. We finally got a chance to go mine some stones (trip pics coming in the next blog!) so I have some fun rough pieces hanging around taunting me to come and play.
There’s one now just minding its own business. It’s 1.8 grams rough which calculates to 9 carats, wow, that’s gargantuan (not really). Also, I didn’t realize how badly the studio needs to be dusted, that’s pretty gritty. You can see one of the reasons why they call them Sunstones, look at how sunny and glowy that thing is. Sunstones from Oregon contain copper (the only ones in the world!) and even just a little can cause this Champagne stone to glimmer with inner light.
While doing research on the Sunstone, I came across faceted, cabochon, and also carved versions of the gems. With all the metal carving I’ve been doing lately in the jewelry, I secretly fantasized about getting some pieces big enough to try my hand on the stone. I have never carved gemstone before but always really appreciated the artistry when seeing it at Tucson Gem Show and in galleries and such. We scored some bigger clear stones at the Spectrum mine that make perfect candidates for my lapidary experiments in the lab.
With all the stones, it’s most interesting to let the stone dictate what shape it wants to be. That’s been the driving force behind all of my lapidary so far. The approach to carving is no different. The rough stone already had dips and curves that guided the grinding bur along to smooth its undulating surface. As the carving commenced, it became apparent there were lovely ghost like schiller streaks flowing through. I thought we were working on an abstract design but the stone had another idea.
So, after all the grinding, sanding, and 14,000 diamond polish, taaa-daaa. A moon setting into a wave emerged from the Sunstone! It was really addictive revealing the stone through carving so I know I’ll be doing more. This stone started at 9 carats and ended up 4.5 so it really lost weight through the work. What a cool design that was hiding inside.
It’s pretty cool to see something go from rough to a finished jewelry piece. That discovery and challenge keeps the pieces landing on the jewelry bench. It’s fun not knowing exactly what you’ll find in a stone and how it will artistically unfurl. Stay tuned for more Oregon Sunstone carving, the blog about mining the stones (including pictures of the mine!) and Opals are coming too. Feel free to like and share. Cheers.
