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FEATURE STORY
For more than a decade, natural and polished crystals have become a common sight in jewelry for both men and women, especially in pendants and earrings but also occasionally in rings. Since completely natural crystals suitable for mounting in jewelry are extremely scarce - possibly more so than the benchmark one-carat, D-flawless diamond - a substance industry has developed to produce what Nature holds back. In Brazil particularly, lapidaries polish natural, less-than-pristine crystal faces into glowing ones, and grind faceless polycrystalline material, such as rose quartz, into the shapes of crystals. The immense popularity of these shapes is easily borne out by visiting any gem and mineral show or thumbing through the ads in an issue of this magazine. Just last month (in “Cut Like Crystals"), we described how gem cutter Klaus Schafer uses the basic principle of the unit cell - the basic concept of crystallography, originally formulated in the 18th century by Abbé Haüy - to design gems and a style of jewelry for them. So when Kendra Cook started talking about her studies of crystallography and the influence this has had on her gem and jewelry designs, we had a distinct sense of déjà vu. In her designs, Cook uses the basic shapes of the seven crystal systems, an idea based on symmetry that scientists use to classify crystals. She taught the Brazilian lapidaries who cut for her how to cut these forms to the correct angles using modern American faceting machines, which she imported to Brazil. Some of these forms were more successful than others, however. The triclinic crystal, for instance, was difficult to cut, and showing only a type of symmetry called a center of symmetry, was harder to understand. This didn't surprise us, since the triclinic is always difficult to understand. Other forms, such as double hexagonal pyramid or a rhombic dodecahedron, are highly symmetric shapes that are much easier to cut, understand, and appreciate. We found these basic forms executed in sparkly rock crystal, then mounted on 18K gold, to be stunningly beautiful. Of course, cutting models in rock crystal is hardly a new concept. LJ once ran a pair of detailed descriptions of how to facet an extensive array of fine crystal models that is as useful today as it was the day it was published (see “How to Make Your Own Models of Gem and Mineral Crystals,“ Parts 1 and 2, February and March 1963). Today these models would be considered not only wearable but quite in style. A few quartz crystal models are usually available in Idar-Oberstein, Germany, as well, but all those that we've seen have been too large for jewelry and a bit pricey - but what luscious decorative objects! We find it quite remarkable that two talented lapidary and jewelry artists working independently half a world apart from each other both reached back to the most basic principles of what we know about the structure of crystals for inspiration. Then again, perhaps that's not so surprising: humans have been fascinated for millennia by the beauty, perfection, and mystique of crystals - and evidently, we still are. -S&A F Return to the Fragrant Gems story |
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