June 2021 - The Snob Blog

One of our primary services, at Snob Appeal Jewelry, is custom lapidary services.

ocean jasper slabs at Snob Appeal Jewelry — Polished slabs of Ocean Jasper

Stones are fascinating and invite us to pick them up and enjoy their uniqueness. Sometimes we want to do a bit more with them, requiring custom lapidary work. We realize most people do not have the skills of equipment to bring their dreams to fruition. Here are some of the lapidary techniques we use to assist our customers in enjoying their rocks.

Rock Cutting

With several sizes of saws I can cut rocks up to 12″ tall, or slice your rock into pieces, chunks or slabs. I can face polish these rocks in most cases. (Face polishing means polishing just one side, leaving the other outer crust natural.) People sometimes request slabs of certain sizes to fit a backsplash or tabletop. Some rocks would not be suitable for a tabletop, but for a backsplash or wall trim piece, they may be perfect. I cannot guarantee your rock’s stability. Any solid rock may have cracks in it that you don’t see.

Rock Slabbing

Slabbing: rocks and minerals are generally slabbed in order to cut cabochons or custom shapes. We do this.

I wire wrapped this CZ for the person who cut it. It turned out very striking.

I never did figure out what this was, but the customer found it and wanted a pendant. I re-worked it by cross etching, so the fossil would stand out.

Enhanced fossil at Snob Appeal Jewelry — Doesn’t this look better?

Cabochon Cutting

Yes; I can cut your African rock into the shape of Africa.

Shaping and polishing cabochons: We can cut almost any shape from a slab or rock. We make cabochons both calibrated (round, oval, square, triangle, and such), and freeform designer shapes as well. “I found this rock in Africa, can you cut out the shape of Africa, out of it?” YES! I can. “Can you make Christmas Tree ornaments from my Petoskey Stones?” YES! I can.

Colorful Datolite Cabochons. Snob Appeal Jewelry — Datolite Cabochons ready for jewelry,

CustomBeading

We can make a custom beaded necklace and matching earrings. Tell us your vision, and we’ll work with you to create a special piece of jewelry. Bonnie is professionally trained in beading, including hand knotting. She doesn’t just go buy beads at a craft store and throw them on a string. This is not “art” to us.

Petoskey Stone and Leland Blue Bracelet. Snob Appeal Jewelry — One of Bonnie’s creations. Petoskey Stone, Datolite, and Leland Blue.

I polished this for a lady whose husband had terminal cancer. I had no idea there would be an angel in it. It was really a good omen for them. He saw it before he passed on.

A customer sent these stones from a nostalgic family outing. I drilled and stacked them into a 2″ tall pendant. Happy Camper!

Small Unpolished Michigan Greenstone. Snob Appeal Jewelry — Perhaps you have found a Greenstone that needs polishing.

Isle Royale Greenstone cabochon. Snob Appeal Jewelry — A Greenstone like the one above, might look this good. Have you found one you think is nice. Let me cut it.

Custom Lapidary Work

Making Jewelry from a Special Rock. People often call or send me an E-mail, for example, that they have a certain nostalgic rock, found many years ago with Grandpa, found on a memorable trip, or found in the basement of garage of their Rockhound grandparents. These are perfect candidates for custom lapidary work. I’ve made a pendant for a lady whose husband had terminal cancer, and she wanted me to cut and wrap a rock that he had given her years ago. I was able to get this done before he passed away, so he could see it.

I can get backed up on these custom orders, but I will advise you of my estimated backload, and when you should expect any custom work. No matter how homely that nostalgic stone is, I treat it as it is the most treasued Diamond; as if it were mine. You are always kept “in the loop”, with progress reports as your project is made.

Star Crinoids. Snob Appeal Jewelry — A customer sent these Star Crinoids, he found, to be made into pendants and earrings. The material was not very stable, and was a challenge.

Polishing your rock: Polishing is often combined with cutting, but not all the time. As an example, we live in an area where people find Michigan’s Official State Stone, the Petoskey Stone. These stones are almost pure Calcite, and some of them get pretty beat up in the surf of Lake Michigan. Barely any Petoskey Stones are water polished, so the crust needs to be removed, and a nice polish needs to be added. If you are looking for someone to polish your Petoskey, or most other stones, look no further.

One of my all-time favorite projects, A Greenstone and Petoskey Stone Turtle I made for a Christmas gift for one of my friends’ wife. A Christmas present of a lifetime.

Did you find any Yooperstones in the U.P.? Let me make something of them.

Datolite with Copper Lightning. Snob Appeal Jewelry — Datolite with copper Lightning.

Laguna Agate. Snob Appeal Jewelry — Very unusual Laguna Agate.

My Busy Workbench

An average day on my workbench. Several things happening at once.

Lake Superior Agate slices. Snob Appeal Jewelry — I cut some deluxe Lake Superior Agates for myself. I could cut yours’ also.

We are like that guy on the TV commercials, that’s seen it all. When it comes to rocks, I have not seen it all, but I’ve been around long enough that I have seen a lot, and done a lot, with rocks.

Even though I make jewelry from Precious Metal Wire, I have studied Lost Wax, Silversmithing, Chain Making, faceting, and other disciplines at William Holland School of Lapidary Arts. I have settled on Wire wrapping, because it is very a very creative art form. My wire wrapping skills are a step (or many steps), above most. This is because I try to improve every aspect of what I do, each time I do it. I never settle on “Good Enough”. I strive for perfection, but realize there is always room for improvement.

Lake Superior Agate Pendant and cabochon. Snob Appeal Jewelry — **Send me a picture of what you have, and there is a possibility I could make something amazing for you.**

Wire Wrapping

The stone is the star with my wire wrapping. Our custom lapidary work enhances whatever gemstone I use. I do not hide my gemstones in a lot of wire. Some Wire Artists use lots of wire with loop-de-loops and curlicues galore, but it is not my style. I spend too much time cutting my unusual, and/or rare stones, to hide them in a tangle of wire. I have been taught wrapping using a lot of wire, often referred to as “Wire Sculpture”, but my personal style is considered “classical”, with a more restrained use of the wire as decoration.

We are not a big production shop, so if you want multiple. production line, type work, I’m not your guy. We are a small business, based on honesty and integrity, creating one-of-a-kind pieces. We always treat our customers as if they are friends and family.

If you have a Lapidary project that you have been thinking about, let us know. We look forward to working with you. If I can’t do your project, I may know someone who can.

Read more about our custom work:

Monthly Archives: June 2021

I Can Cut, Shape, and Polish your Rock