PLAYING WITH LIGHT
MOST OF US ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE PHRASE, “BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER.” THERE IS ALSO A LESS FAMOUS QUOTE BY FRANZ KAFKA, “ANYONE WHO KEEPS THE ABILITY TO SEE BEAUTY NEVER GROWS OLD.” THESE TWO STATEMENTS PUT FORTH THE IDEA THAT BEAUTY IS BOTH PERSONAL AND TIMELESS. I SPEND MY TIME CREATING THINGS OF BEAUTY. I AM A LAPIDARY; I CUT GEMSTONES. MY CREATIONS ARE SMALL AND MADE FROM TRANSPARENT EXPENSIVE NATURAL MATERIALS USING DESIGNS THAT PROMOTE LIGHT TO PLAY WITHIN A GEMSTONE TO PRODUCE STONES WITH SCINTILLATION, BRIGHTNESS, AND ENHANCED COLOR.
WHAT AM I ACTUALLY DOING TO CREATE THESE BEAUTIFUL JEWELS? I AM PLAYING WITH LIGHT. LIGHT IS A MAJOR COMPONENT OF ART AND CRAFT. LIGHT IS WHAT REFLECTS AND ALLOWS US TO SEE SHAPE, COLOR, AND THE SUBTLETIES OF THE HAND AND EYE THAT CREATED IT. HOWEVER, THE LAPIDARY WHO FACETS (THE PROCESS OF TURNING THE ROUGH GEMSTONE MATERIAL INTO A JEWEL) A JEWEL HAS TO CONSIDER LIGHT IN ANOTHER DIMENSION. LIGHT IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THE PROCESS, JUST LIKE PAINT IS ESSENTIAL TO A PORTRAIT.
I NEED TO CONSIDER LIGHT AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE MEDIUM THAT I AM WORKING. LIGHT AND THE GEMSTONE MATERIAL ARE MARRIED IN THE CREATION OF A JEWEL. THE LIGHT DOES MORE THAN JUST REFLECT OFF OF THE SURFACE OF A STONE. LIGHT ENTERS A JEWEL AND MOVES WITHIN IT TO CREATE OPTICAL PHENOMENA THAT MAKE IT BEAUTIFUL. THE GREATER QUANTITY OF LIGHT THAT CAN BE CAPTURED AND MOVED WITHIN THE GEMSTONE, THE MORE EXCITING THE JEWEL BECOMES. THE CREATION OF A JEWEL IS THE RESULT OF UNDERSTANDING AND APPLYING THE DISCIPLINES OF GEOLOGY, GEMOLOGY, GEOMETRY, CHEMISTRY, AND OPTICS.
GAINING THIS KNOWLEDGE, AS WELL AS UNDERSTANDING AND LEARNING HOW TO APPLY IT TO FACETING IS COMPLEX AND TAKES TIME. LIKE PLAYING AND INSTRUMENT OR LEARNING TO DANCE, THE KEY ELEMENT TO SUCCESS IS PRACTICE, PRACTICE, AND PRACTICE. AS ONE PRACTICES, ONE BEGINS TO SEE THE RESULTS OF THEIR EFFORTS AND UNDERSTANDS THE EFFECTS OF SUBTLE CHANGES AND MODIFICATIONS. WITH THIS KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE, A LAPIDARY CAN THEN START TO DEVELOP NEW AND BETTER TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE A JEWEL’S PERFORMANCE ATTRIBUTES.
WHEN DESIGNING AND FACETING A GEMSTONE, ONE HAS TO CONSIDER THE DIFFERENT PERFORMANCE ATTRIBUTES THAT WILL RESULT FROM THE VARIOUS TECHNIQUES USED IN FACETING.
* COLOR DEPENDS ON HOW A GEMSTONE IS CUT TO ENHANCE THE NATURAL COLOR RESULTING IN A VARIETY OF HUES AND TRANSPARENCIES.
* BRIGHTNESS IS PERCEIVED WHEN LIGHT ENTERS THE STONE, BOUNCES AROUND, AND REFLECTS BACK TO THE VIEWER’S EYES.
* SCINTILLATION COMES FROM DIFFERENT CUTS/FACETS AND THEIR ABILITY TO CREATE DIFFERENT BEAMS OF LIGHT THAT MAKE A SPARKLING EFFECT.
* DISPERSION OF LIGHT CREATES SECONDARY AND TERTIARY COLORS AND IS MADE BY CREATING ANGLES THAT SEPARATE THE COLORS OF THE LIGHT SPECTRUM.
* DARKNESS/LIGHTNESS OF A GEMSTONE IS DETERMINED BOTH FROM FACETING ANGLES AND THE DEPTH OF THE CUTS AND ARE USED TO DARKEN OR LIGHTEN THE STONE AND ULTIMATELY AFFECT THE JEWEL’S WEIGHT.
IN A PERFECT WORLD, I WOULD STRIVE TO MAXIMIZE ALL OF THE ABOVE PERFORMANCE ATTRIBUTES OF A FINISHED JEWEL. HOWEVER, IT IS MORE OF A BALANCING ACT GIVEN THAT IN ORDER TO ENHANCE ONE PERFORMANCE ASPECT OF A JEWEL, ANOTHER ONE MUST SUFFER. I CANNOT MAKE A STONE LIGHTER IN COLOR AND ALSO MAXIMIZE THE WEIGHT BY MAKING IT LARGER. ALL OF THE DIFFERENT ATTRIBUTES OF PERFORMANCE MUST BE BALANCED AND WORK TOGETHER TO CREATE THE BEST OUTCOME FOR THE JEWEL. THESE TRADE-OFFS ARE USUALLY DRIVEN BY THE BUYER, HENCE, “BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER,” IS THE DRIVING FACTOR. AS A LAPIDARY, I MUST CONSIDER THE CAPABILITIES OF EACH INDIVIDUAL GEMSTONE BOTH IN PERFORMANCE AND THE POTENTIAL MARKET VALUE OF THE RESULTING DESIGN/CUT. WITH BEAUTY BEING IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER, I NEED TO APPLY MY LAPIDARY TECHNIQUES IN SUCH A FASHION TO MEET THE EYE OF ITS NEW BEHOLDER (PERSONAL) AND THE GENERATIONS TO COME (TIMELESS).
GEMSTONES ARE CUT FOR DIFFERENT MARKETS BASED ON THAT MARKET’S PERCEPTION OF VALUE. THE TWO MAJOR ATTRIBUTES OF THE MASS MARKET FOR GEMSTONES ARE COLOR AND WEIGHT. IN MY OPINION, THIS IS BASED ON YEARS OF MARKET DEVELOPMENT ALONG WITH THE SIZES AND SHAPES OF AVAILABLE ROUGH GEMSTONES. THESE GEMSTONES ARE MASS-PRODUCED AND SOLD TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC THROUGH RETAIL VENUES. THE LAPIDARY THAT FACET THESE GEMSTONES ARE TALENTED, BUT THEY ARE RESTRICTED TO CREATING A STANDARD AND REPEATABLE RESULT TO MEET THE SIZE AND COLOR EXPECTATIONS OF THE INDUSTRY. HOWEVER, MOVEMENT AND PLAY-OF-LIGHT IS THE BIGGEST COMPONENT OF A JEWEL’S PERFORMANCE. I, ALONG WITH A LIMITED NUMBER OTHER LAPIDARY, PREFER TO CREATE GEMSTONES WHERE THE LIGHT PERFORMANCE TAKES PRIORITY OVER THE WEIGHT AND COLOR. WE SEE VALUE IN THIS. IT IS NOT THAT WE IGNORE THE ATTRIBUTES OF WEIGHT AND COLOR, THEY ARE VERY MUCH PRESENT IN OUR MINDS DURING THE GEMSTONE DESIGN PROCESS. IT IS THAT WE VIEW THE BEAUTY OF A FINISHED JEWEL FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE THAN THE MASS MARKET — WE ENJOY PLAYING WITH LIGHT AS MUCH AS WE ENJOY PLAYING WITH GEMSTONES. IT IS NOT ONLY THE SHAPE, DESIGN, AND SIZE OF THE GEMSTONE THAT CONCERNS US, BUT ALSO HOW THE LIGHT WILL PLAY WITHIN IT TO CREATE BEAUTY FOR THE NEW OWNER.
LIGHT PERFORMANCE WITHIN A JEWEL HAS ALWAYS BEEN A MAJOR COMPONENT OF GEMSTONE DESIGN. OVER THE CENTURIES, WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO USE SCIENCE TO UNDERSTAND AND APPLY THE KNOWLEDGE OF LIGHT PERFORMANCE TO OUR LAPIDARY DESIGNS AND TECHNIQUES. IN THE PAST 50 YEARS, LAPIDARY HAVE LOOKED AT GEMSTONE DESIGN AND FABRICATION DIFFERENTLY USING THE INCREASED KNOWLEDGE, NEWLY DEVELOPED TOOLS, AND HAVE FOUND A GROWING MARKET WILLING TO PAY FOR BEAUTY THAT IS BOTH INNOVATIVE AND PERFORMANCE-BASED. I BELIEVE THAT WE ARE IN A LAPIDARY RENAISSANCE OF GEMSTONE DESIGN AND FABRICATION. WHAT WILL WE SEE IN THE COMING YEARS? I WILL LET OTHERS DEBATE THAT QUESTION. IN THE MEANTIME, I WILL DANCE WITH BOTH LIGHT AND GEMSTONES TO CREATE JEWELS THAT ARE BOTH BEAUTIFUL TO BEHOLD AND NEVER GROW OLD.
MARK OROS
HASHNU STONES & GEMS LLC
HASHNUSTONES.COM
INSTAGRAM.COM/HASHNUSTONES
WHAT AM I ACTUALLY DOING TO CREATE THESE BEAUTIFUL JEWELS? I AM PLAYING WITH LIGHT. LIGHT IS A MAJOR COMPONENT OF ART AND CRAFT. LIGHT IS WHAT REFLECTS AND ALLOWS US TO SEE SHAPE, COLOR, AND THE SUBTLETIES OF THE HAND AND EYE THAT CREATED IT. HOWEVER, THE LAPIDARY WHO FACETS (THE PROCESS OF TURNING THE ROUGH GEMSTONE MATERIAL INTO A JEWEL) A JEWEL HAS TO CONSIDER LIGHT IN ANOTHER DIMENSION. LIGHT IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THE PROCESS, JUST LIKE PAINT IS ESSENTIAL TO A PORTRAIT.
I NEED TO CONSIDER LIGHT AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE MEDIUM THAT I AM WORKING. LIGHT AND THE GEMSTONE MATERIAL ARE MARRIED IN THE CREATION OF A JEWEL. THE LIGHT DOES MORE THAN JUST REFLECT OFF OF THE SURFACE OF A STONE. LIGHT ENTERS A JEWEL AND MOVES WITHIN IT TO CREATE OPTICAL PHENOMENA THAT MAKE IT BEAUTIFUL. THE GREATER QUANTITY OF LIGHT THAT CAN BE CAPTURED AND MOVED WITHIN THE GEMSTONE, THE MORE EXCITING THE JEWEL BECOMES. THE CREATION OF A JEWEL IS THE RESULT OF UNDERSTANDING AND APPLYING THE DISCIPLINES OF GEOLOGY, GEMOLOGY, GEOMETRY, CHEMISTRY, AND OPTICS.
GAINING THIS KNOWLEDGE, AS WELL AS UNDERSTANDING AND LEARNING HOW TO APPLY IT TO FACETING IS COMPLEX AND TAKES TIME. LIKE PLAYING AND INSTRUMENT OR LEARNING TO DANCE, THE KEY ELEMENT TO SUCCESS IS PRACTICE, PRACTICE, AND PRACTICE. AS ONE PRACTICES, ONE BEGINS TO SEE THE RESULTS OF THEIR EFFORTS AND UNDERSTANDS THE EFFECTS OF SUBTLE CHANGES AND MODIFICATIONS. WITH THIS KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE, A LAPIDARY CAN THEN START TO DEVELOP NEW AND BETTER TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE A JEWEL’S PERFORMANCE ATTRIBUTES.
WHEN DESIGNING AND FACETING A GEMSTONE, ONE HAS TO CONSIDER THE DIFFERENT PERFORMANCE ATTRIBUTES THAT WILL RESULT FROM THE VARIOUS TECHNIQUES USED IN FACETING.
* COLOR DEPENDS ON HOW A GEMSTONE IS CUT TO ENHANCE THE NATURAL COLOR RESULTING IN A VARIETY OF HUES AND TRANSPARENCIES.
* BRIGHTNESS IS PERCEIVED WHEN LIGHT ENTERS THE STONE, BOUNCES AROUND, AND REFLECTS BACK TO THE VIEWER’S EYES.
* SCINTILLATION COMES FROM DIFFERENT CUTS/FACETS AND THEIR ABILITY TO CREATE DIFFERENT BEAMS OF LIGHT THAT MAKE A SPARKLING EFFECT.
* DISPERSION OF LIGHT CREATES SECONDARY AND TERTIARY COLORS AND IS MADE BY CREATING ANGLES THAT SEPARATE THE COLORS OF THE LIGHT SPECTRUM.
* DARKNESS/LIGHTNESS OF A GEMSTONE IS DETERMINED BOTH FROM FACETING ANGLES AND THE DEPTH OF THE CUTS AND ARE USED TO DARKEN OR LIGHTEN THE STONE AND ULTIMATELY AFFECT THE JEWEL’S WEIGHT.
IN A PERFECT WORLD, I WOULD STRIVE TO MAXIMIZE ALL OF THE ABOVE PERFORMANCE ATTRIBUTES OF A FINISHED JEWEL. HOWEVER, IT IS MORE OF A BALANCING ACT GIVEN THAT IN ORDER TO ENHANCE ONE PERFORMANCE ASPECT OF A JEWEL, ANOTHER ONE MUST SUFFER. I CANNOT MAKE A STONE LIGHTER IN COLOR AND ALSO MAXIMIZE THE WEIGHT BY MAKING IT LARGER. ALL OF THE DIFFERENT ATTRIBUTES OF PERFORMANCE MUST BE BALANCED AND WORK TOGETHER TO CREATE THE BEST OUTCOME FOR THE JEWEL. THESE TRADE-OFFS ARE USUALLY DRIVEN BY THE BUYER, HENCE, “BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER,” IS THE DRIVING FACTOR. AS A LAPIDARY, I MUST CONSIDER THE CAPABILITIES OF EACH INDIVIDUAL GEMSTONE BOTH IN PERFORMANCE AND THE POTENTIAL MARKET VALUE OF THE RESULTING DESIGN/CUT. WITH BEAUTY BEING IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER, I NEED TO APPLY MY LAPIDARY TECHNIQUES IN SUCH A FASHION TO MEET THE EYE OF ITS NEW BEHOLDER (PERSONAL) AND THE GENERATIONS TO COME (TIMELESS).
GEMSTONES ARE CUT FOR DIFFERENT MARKETS BASED ON THAT MARKET’S PERCEPTION OF VALUE. THE TWO MAJOR ATTRIBUTES OF THE MASS MARKET FOR GEMSTONES ARE COLOR AND WEIGHT. IN MY OPINION, THIS IS BASED ON YEARS OF MARKET DEVELOPMENT ALONG WITH THE SIZES AND SHAPES OF AVAILABLE ROUGH GEMSTONES. THESE GEMSTONES ARE MASS-PRODUCED AND SOLD TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC THROUGH RETAIL VENUES. THE LAPIDARY THAT FACET THESE GEMSTONES ARE TALENTED, BUT THEY ARE RESTRICTED TO CREATING A STANDARD AND REPEATABLE RESULT TO MEET THE SIZE AND COLOR EXPECTATIONS OF THE INDUSTRY. HOWEVER, MOVEMENT AND PLAY-OF-LIGHT IS THE BIGGEST COMPONENT OF A JEWEL’S PERFORMANCE. I, ALONG WITH A LIMITED NUMBER OTHER LAPIDARY, PREFER TO CREATE GEMSTONES WHERE THE LIGHT PERFORMANCE TAKES PRIORITY OVER THE WEIGHT AND COLOR. WE SEE VALUE IN THIS. IT IS NOT THAT WE IGNORE THE ATTRIBUTES OF WEIGHT AND COLOR, THEY ARE VERY MUCH PRESENT IN OUR MINDS DURING THE GEMSTONE DESIGN PROCESS. IT IS THAT WE VIEW THE BEAUTY OF A FINISHED JEWEL FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE THAN THE MASS MARKET — WE ENJOY PLAYING WITH LIGHT AS MUCH AS WE ENJOY PLAYING WITH GEMSTONES. IT IS NOT ONLY THE SHAPE, DESIGN, AND SIZE OF THE GEMSTONE THAT CONCERNS US, BUT ALSO HOW THE LIGHT WILL PLAY WITHIN IT TO CREATE BEAUTY FOR THE NEW OWNER.
LIGHT PERFORMANCE WITHIN A JEWEL HAS ALWAYS BEEN A MAJOR COMPONENT OF GEMSTONE DESIGN. OVER THE CENTURIES, WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO USE SCIENCE TO UNDERSTAND AND APPLY THE KNOWLEDGE OF LIGHT PERFORMANCE TO OUR LAPIDARY DESIGNS AND TECHNIQUES. IN THE PAST 50 YEARS, LAPIDARY HAVE LOOKED AT GEMSTONE DESIGN AND FABRICATION DIFFERENTLY USING THE INCREASED KNOWLEDGE, NEWLY DEVELOPED TOOLS, AND HAVE FOUND A GROWING MARKET WILLING TO PAY FOR BEAUTY THAT IS BOTH INNOVATIVE AND PERFORMANCE-BASED. I BELIEVE THAT WE ARE IN A LAPIDARY RENAISSANCE OF GEMSTONE DESIGN AND FABRICATION. WHAT WILL WE SEE IN THE COMING YEARS? I WILL LET OTHERS DEBATE THAT QUESTION. IN THE MEANTIME, I WILL DANCE WITH BOTH LIGHT AND GEMSTONES TO CREATE JEWELS THAT ARE BOTH BEAUTIFUL TO BEHOLD AND NEVER GROW OLD.
MARK OROS
HASHNU STONES & GEMS LLC
HASHNUSTONES.COM
INSTAGRAM.COM/HASHNUSTONES
