STEPHEN KOTLOWSKI
SUPREME MASTER GEMCUTTER
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It is our honor and pleasure to offer you twelve gemstones faceted by the late Stephen Kotlowski. Stephen Kotlowski was a self-taught professional gem cutter and a Graduate Gemologist. He made a name for himself by being able to facet some of the most difficult lapidary material such as kunzite and diaspore. He was instrumental in bringing color-change diaspore, trade name Zultanite, from Turkey, to market.
Mr. Kotlowski was known for being very patient, meticulous, and creative when cutting and recutting stones, and during his lifetime he was known as one of the best cutters in the industry. It’s been said that nobody could re-cut a gemstone with as minimal a loss as Mr. Kotlowski and he frequently created new cuts that were determined by the shape of the rough. He didn’t work off of diagrams and as a result created numerous unique, on-the-fly custom designs over the years, which he referred to as “Uniquely K.” Over his career, he won several AGTA Spectrum “Cutting Edge” awards and most notably, was awarded the title of Supreme Master Gemcutter from the American Society of Gemcutters (ASG), with a score of 99.9 out of 100! Everything he cut was competition-quality so that every customer received the very best that he could do. It was important to Stephen that he always gave his most when faceting and doing work for his clients and others. Stephen is famous for cutting some world-renowned gems such as the legendary 1,345.15 ct “Agnus Dei Tribute Topaz” as seen on the The Weather Channel series, “Prospectors.” Unfortunately, Stephen passed away unexpectedly in October 2015. In addition to being a true artist and a gifted talent, he was a kind, loving, giving person whose friends describe him as one of the nicest people you could ever meet. He was a selfless human being and was always willing to share his decades of knowledge and experience with others who had the interest or the need. Consigned to us by a close friend and student of Mr. Kotlowski, we are humbled and honored to feature twelve of Stephen’s world-class masterpieces on the Hashnu website. As of today, from my understanding, there are no other known stones of Mr. Kotlowski currently for sale. Each Stephen Kotlowski gemstone purchase will come with a notarized copy of the Michael Hill letter authenticating that the gemstone was faceted by his good friend, Stephen Kotlowski. 
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