Friday, October 30, 2015

All That Glitters Website and Info Changes for November 2015!


Here are the changes on the All That Glitters Website for November 2015:

This Month's Special:  Carved Oregon Sunstone with Schiller!
Just back from the cutter.  Check it out and Save Money…

This Month's Gem News:  De Beers’ Sight Highlights Market Disarray
Trouble in Diamond Paradise??

Newly Faceted or Photographed Gemstones:
Back from our Carver/Sculptor are two Oregon Sunstones - one is a rich lively Reddish Orange and the other displays Schiller with a color typical of this material (when tipped, one can see the shiny copper color of the schiller).
Both of these are carved by hand (v-grooves) as our cutter awaits a new machine for making smaller diameter concave facets.
GIA has certed 5 more of our gemstones - Rubies, all a Purplish Red.  One is unique as it is purple under fluorescent (and therefore could be called Sapphire, and it was certed as a Sapphire previously), and it goes purplish red under incandescent where it picks up more red - enough to be called and certed as a Ruby!  A unique piece.
We are also offering a Male Ant in Amber, with the stand.  This is an item that has graced the All That Glitters office for decades - the ant is approximately 50 Million Years Old - and is fascinating to look at with the naked eye, loupe or microscope.  (This is in our East Coast Office, and won't be available for shipping until May).

Gemstones in Cutting:
One Color Changing Diaspore is being Concave faceted, and two others will be carved/sculpted.
One final piece of Sunstone (Oregon) rough is currently in the possession of our carver/sculptor.  This last piece has HEAVY LARGE Schiller!   We recently delivered two final pieces for this year - a fan shaped Ametrine and a wonderful blue Tourmaline.  Hopefully, he can work his magic on both of these pieces, but we won't have any of these gems in our possession until perhaps the end of this year.  (This work is being created by an award winning cutter whom we are just starting to work as of this year.)

Three More All That Glitters Gemstones Set into Jewelry for Customers:
The recently sold Padparadscha-like Burmese Spinel and a Fine Glowing Blue Sapphire have been set for two of our more recent customers.  See the designs chosen for these super gems!  Both customers are wearing their new rings/gemstones and rarely take them off, admiring them under different lighting conditions throughout the day…
A custom created (via CAD) Platinum Pendant set with our 18+ct Oval Kunzite from the Oceanview Mine (Big Kahuna Pocket) and faceted by Supreme Master Gem Cutter Stephen Kotlowski, has been set and delivered to its new owner.  View the finished product along with the CAD images.

Sad News for the Cutting/Gemstone Community:
Stephen Kotlowski, a Supreme Master Gem Cutter and Facetor of our finest colored gemstones, passed away unexpectedly in Sedona, where he had been living for the past five years.  His giving nature and willingness to share his decades of  knowledge and experience with others who had interest or the need, will certainly be missed.  The owner of All That Glitters had met him for the first time over 20 years ago, and worked closely with him over the past 12 years for recutting and cutting the finest color that was in the All That Glitters inventory.  Stephen was extremely meticulous and patient when cutting difficult gemstones such as Diaspore and Kunzite.  No one could re-cut a gemstone with such a minimal loss as Stephen; he frequently created new cuts that were determined by the rough and didn't work off of design diagrams.  For these on-the-fly custom designs, he would use "UK" (Uniquely K - for Uniquely Kotlowski) along with the general description of the shape to describe his new cut.  He won numerous awards in the AGTA Cutting Competition (as well as others) in the past.  The gemstone community has lost not only a master in cutting, but a gentle kind person who had many interests he shared with others, was done to earth and freely gave his knowledge/help.