This past week in my Jewelry II class I got the opportunity to cut my first stone, shape it, and then polish it. It was an exciting experience for me because it’s another step closer to becoming a jeweler. I’ve been learning a lot more this semester and soon I’ll be able to set stones. So the pieces that I make won’t just be plain metal they’ll have a lot more to them. I’m already starting to come up with designs that I can apply my new skills to.

When I first got the piece of stone I had to cut it so that it was a size that I could work with. I had to use a diamond band saw to be able to cut through it. Next there are eight different kinds of shaping/polishing wheels that have to be used on the stone. But before I could use them I had to attach the stone to a small dowel so that I could hold it while shaping it. My teacher showed me how to do this with a green almost gum-like substance. Once that hardened it didn’t take long for me to finish the shaping and polishing steps. It took about forty-five minutes but this is the first stone I’ve done so once I get the hang of it it won’t take as long next time. I honestly can’t wait to create new pieces of jewelry with all kinds of different stones in them!