Stone at Smithsonian – “Smith Bar”
A bracelet featuring a forest green Tourmaline I cut to this design has been added to the Smithsonian’s collection and is on display in the Renwick Gallery.
The braclet was made by Sam Patania, if you want to see more of his work here is his website www.patanias.com
The stone is a medium forest green Tourmaline (with some blue over tones and flawless) 9.5mm x 16mm and weighs around 10 carats or so.
The picture was taken for a show that was done at the Tucson Art Museum and does not really do the stone a lot of justice. That is where the curator of the Smithsonian first saw the piece and started talking to Sam Patania about submitting it (and two other period pieces of his father’s and grandfather’s) for the Renwick Gallery at the Smithsonian. The bracelet that the stone is set in is white gold, and the stone is tension mounted.
Note: This cuts in Quartz with no changes, notice the lowest angle on the pavilion is 41 degrees.
This cut is easy and can be almost any L/W with no changes. It works well in Tourmaline that is dark or closed on the “c” axis. You can cut the corners in or leave them pointed.
Random – Cosine – ISO
Detailed faceting instructions by Jeff Graham available at The Rock Peddler
This edited version of an article by the late Jeff Graham is part of a special archived informational series from Gram Faceting. Used with permission.
