How to inlay natural gemstones

Here's an article written by my brother. He is mastering the art of lapidary. This is a very brief article; however, many more are soon to come. Bookmark my blog and keep checking out or jewelry article page for subsequent jewelry how to's and other useful jewelry information. So, without further ado:

Brent DeSantis writes:

What I am about to explain is very valuable and can potentially make you a very good inlayer. I have spent many years figuring out how to inlay all types of precious stones into jewelry, mostly through trial and error. I am self taught with no formal instruction or teachings.

When I first started inlaying, I used an old wet lapidary machine arbor with worn trizact belts. I was getting sub-standard results. The drums were very old and the machine would rattle around which gave me an inconsistent straight edge for grinding and polishing. Once a piece is inlayed, there is much to consider, such as multi-stone polishing and polishing stones next to metal whether it's silver, gold, etc. In my opinion, cabbing is far easier than inlaying. It is easier because you are only grinding and polishing one stone.

I also started inlaying hand carved channels which were not symmetrical making the inlay process more difficult. A good straight channel will make a noticeable difference, just as a perfect round channel is easier to inlay rather than an imperfect round channel. For round inlay pieces, I glue a toothpick to the stone such as a dop stick, then inlay with ease. For all other pieces, I use small tweezers which feel comfortable to the grip.

Once I bought my first diamond 220 grit steel back wheel, I was inlaying cleaner and faster! You will find that diamond tools are superior to any other lapidary tools on the market. After years of working with this wheel, it still has a clean edge and cuts remarkably fast. You get what you pay for. A 220 grit soft back wheel comes in handy for fragile stones such as lapis and spiney oyster. When inlaying these stones, I use the soft back wheel first, and then gently touch them on the steel back wheel creating a flush and uniform straight edge. These wheels work well on most lapidary arbors.

Carving wax for a 3 stone custom ring

Finally, after many inquiries, here are some images of me at the bench. I'm working on a custom 3 stone ring for a customer who wants a new right-hand ring.

Personal Development for Smart People

I was up late last night surfing for ways to bring more traffic to my website and stumbled upon an extremely informative website produced and maintained by a guy named Steve Pavlina. He writes articles which provide very useful information when it comes to the subject of improving your life. His web address is www.stevepavlina.com. I'm sure you'll find it as enlightening as I did. -Jonas

Pics of our jewelry studio

Here are a few pics of the studio. Wax carving, metal working, mold making and casting. Hope you enjoy.

New Colorful Rings for Summer

I added a few new rings to our catalog today. You can check them out under our New Products page.

Jewelry Definition

Jewellery (Jewelry in American English) is literally any piece of fine material used to adorn one's self. The word jewellery is derived from the word jewel, which was anglicised from the Old French "jouel" in around the 13th century. Further tracing leads back to the Latin word "jocale", meaning plaything.

Our new studio in Tucson

We now have an additional jewelry fabrication studio set up in Tucson, AZ. In the past, at our Tucson jewelry retail store, we were forced into sending our repairs and custom jewelry work back to our Albuquerque, NM studio. Now, with full scale jewelry design studios in both Albuquerque, NM and Tucson, AZ, we can gladly offer a faster turn around time on jewelry repairs and custom jewelry fabrication. I will post some pics of out new Tucson studio very soon.

Jonas DeSantis