Thomas J Janstrom
Precision Faceting
I came to faceting via my love of camping and the natural world, this led me to lapidary work in general when I saw my first faceted stone — I just had to know how to do that. This was the beginning of a twelve-year journey. The first stone I cut, a piece of something green, was faceted by hand guessing all the angles by eye. The polish left a lot to be desired but it worked, there was light return: I was 15. I had to wait a further two more years before I gained access to a proper faceting machine, an early Gemmasta, a machine very like the early Sapphire machines seen in the USA. Over the next decade I went to university (which I have returned to, though to a new field this time round), and travelled. In 2005 I built my first machine, a clone of the J-2 as detailed on the Gearloose website; it served me well until I purchased a used Gemmasta GFE-3 faceting machine in 2008. I have been cutting with this now near 30 year old machine on such a regular basis that I know some designs by heart.
The Green Gem Connection
Tanzanian Scapolite
Gem rough faceted as a faceting donation by Thomas J Janstrom.
Finished Gems are faceted in an un-named original square design by Thomas J Janstrom.
Total ct weight: 3.64
Available
Tanzania Scapolite Oval
Green Gem rough faceted as donation by Thomas J Janstrom
Gem Design: Omni Oval 1.50 by Robert Strickland
Finished Gemstone is Available
Nigerian Topaz
Gem rough faceted as a faceting donation by Thomas J Janstrom.
Rainbow Design by Jeff Graham
Original rough donated by Ikem Onwude
Finished Gemstone Weight: 16.40 ct
Finished Gemstone is Available
Tanzanian Scapolite
Gem rough faceted as a faceting donation by Thomas J Janstrom
Weight: 1.60 ct
Finished Gem Design: Standard Round Brilliant Base 16 Variant
Photograph of finished gemstone is unavailable
Gemstone is Available
