From mid-2021, newsletter articles are no longer posted separately here. Interested readers should scan through the newsletter headings under the ‘Newsletters’ tab.

FACETIPS – A GEM CUTTER’S NOTEBOOK

by
Duncan Miller


The faceting articles published over the past few years in the Mineral Chatter have been compiled into a single 128 page document, available for download for those interested in saving all the articles together. To download the pdf file click here.

A 29,18 ct cuprite from Onganja, Namibia, cut by Duncan Miller and now in a private collection in Germany.


Browsing Archive: August, 2019

My New Toy

Posted by Site Moderator Webmaster on Sunday, August 25, 2019, In : Faceting 

by Duncan Miller

A few months ago I bought an Imahashi faceting machine, Faceting Unit Model FAC-8C, the earlier of two models. This one dates from 1970, co-incident with when I started faceting. Sometime during the 1970s my father owned one briefly, but I took no notice of it then. Now it intrigued me, because it is a platform machine, unlike the more familiar mast machines. Platform machines have several attractive features. You can lift the entire handpiece free of the machine to inspect th...


Continue reading ...
 

Return to Tubussis reveals Surprise

Posted by Site Moderator Webmaster on Sunday, August 25, 2019,

by Mandy Freeman

During one of the excursions arranged at the 2019 Gemboree, a group of enthusiasts decided to split from the main convoy to return to Tubussis to spend a little more time looking at what this tiny village has to offer. The Green Dragon Mine is located near to Tubussis, and the area is known for good quality demantoid or green garnets. One of the vendors had laid out tables, which due to time constraints, the convoy missed on the first visit, and some very nice aquamarine spe...


Continue reading ...
 

Rocking the Richtersveld 2019

Posted by Site Moderator Webmaster on Sunday, August 25, 2019,

‘Oh, oh, oh,
matchbox full of diamonds
pocket full of rain
I'm as happy as a hotel in the springtime
when the flowers bloom again’

David Kramer’s song about the Richtersveld starts on the road to Lekkersing: “O ja, vanaand stap ek alleen op die pad na lekka sing.”

It came bubbling into my brain the night we were briefed that we would be on the road to Lekkersing the next morning, deep in the Richtersveld, deep in diamond country, and it all seemed to make a new kind of sense. We w...


Continue reading ...
 
 

Make a free website with Yola