Gem, Lapidary and Mineral Society of D.C. Inc.

Denise Nelson will present a Pearl Council of America DVD about pearl farming during our April meeting. Just back from her spring travels, Denise comes armed with facts and impressions to share with us about this film, made specifically for the pearl trade. Denise highly recommends this DVD, so come out and learn more about those wonderful, awesome pearls.

OUR REGULAR FEBRUARY MEETING IS MOVED! Instead, we're meeting on WEDNESDAY FEB. 27TH, for an exciting and informative tour of Creative Metalworks in Kensington, Maryland. Owner Michael R. Schwartz will lead us through the beautiful facility, where he"ll discuss the goals and functions of his multifaceted business, which include the design and manufacturing of original corporate gifts, ceremonial pieces, presentation art, custom jewelry, and restoration and conservation projects. Many projects involve casting of precious metals. We"ll also be introduced to the School of Design, a well#equipped workshop where students learn basic and advanced techniques of crafting jewelry and wearable art. If time permits, we"ll explore the Gallery, which showcases exemplary one-of-a-kind objects, as well as the Tool and Supply Room, which features quality tools of the trade. Don"t miss this fantastic tour! NOTE THE DATE & TIME ABOVE" and DIRECTIONS: Take 495 to the Connecticut Avenue Exit. Head north on Connecticut Avenue 1.8 miles and turn right on Plyers Mill Road. Make an immediate right on Metropolitan Avenue. Wheatley is the second street on the left. Creative Metalworks is on the corner of Metropolitan and Wheatley. Free parking is available.! Meet promptly at 6:50 p.m. at the Wheatley Street door - main entrance is on the upper level.!

Due to Christmas falling on the 4th Tuesday, we have moved the December meeting/Holiday Party to the 11th. Starting with appetizers and mingeling at 6 and catered dinner starting at 7. Please note this is slightly different than in the past where everyone brings pot luck. The dinner is being catered by the Knights of Columbus, SO you myst RSVP to Mike@colelladigital for call 301-520-9195. This party is free to members and spouses, guests will be charged a small fee of $10.

THERE ARE MANY REASONS for cutting cabs: to bring out and display the stone’s intrinsic beauty, to prepare calibrated cabs for standard jewelry settings, to make unique cabs as part of a jewelry design, or to replace a damaged stone in an existing piece of jewelry. Each of these purposes requires a particular approach to accomplish the goal. It’s also helpful for lapidaries to know how to set stones and for jewelry makers and designers to know how stones are cut. I began cutting stones in 1999 under the tutelage of Don Gerbrick at the Gem Cutters Guild of Baltimore. I soon purchased a Genie of my own so I could work at home. As a consequence, I accumulated a bunch of cabs, but I had no idea what to do with them. I started taking classes in jewelry making and metalsmithing. Over the years, I became sufficiently proficient that I could teach jewelry making for Gem Cutters and at Wildacres. Occasionally, I helped Don teach lapidary. When he was no longer able to teach, I took over his class. Among other activities for Gem Cutters, I chaired the class planning committee for many years and served as president for three years. Since my wife Leslie passed away in 2009, I have been less active in the guild and just enjoy working at my own pace in my home studio. I’ve also been studying the art of bonsai since 1965. When I moved to Maryland, I became active in the Baltimore Bonsai Club and the Potomac Bonsai Association, including holding the office of president in each group for several years. One of my bonsai is part of the National Bonsai Collection at the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, DC. I continue to maintain a small personal collection of bonsai at home.

WHAT DO COWS being moved from one pasture to another have anything to do with dinosaurs? What does the entire student population attending a one-room schoolhouse do for a field trip? And how do you get through a mud bog lined with water-filled ditches? Fossil collector Jim Patzer will answer these questions and discuss a sequence of events that started out as a relatively simple daily chore—for someone in Montana—that evolved into a couple of different and spectacular dinosaur fossil discoveries. The whole affair takes on a flare of adventure that most East Coasters wouldn’t typically encounter. Don’t miss this dinosaur detective story, presented with intriguing photos, at this month’s meeting. Jim has been a fossil collector since 1995. He started collecting marine vertebrate fossils along the shores of the Chesapeake Bay in Calvert County, Maryland. Later, he expanded his collecting to include marine vertebrate fossils in North Carolina and South Carolina, along with a variety of many different fossil type from Florida, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Later still, he made several trips to northwestern Nebraska to collect in the Oligocene Badlands region. His most recent fossil collecting activities have been trips to eastern Montana to search for dinosaur fossils. His primary fossil interest is vertebrate fossils from the Cretaceous period up to the Pleistocene epoch.

THE MARYLAND MINE WAS THE LARGEST and most long-lived gold mining operation in the State of Maryland. Its history spanned more than 70 years. Edgar Ingalls was the last underground foreman of the mine, and his family was connected to the mine for nearly all of its active years. In his presentation, The Inga's Collection: The Maryland Mine-Montgomery County, Maryland, 1867- 1940, Jeff Nagy - historian for the Gem, Lapidary and Mineral Society of Montgomery County, looks into the mine's history and geology and shares some of the items from the Ingalls' collection. A volunteer lecturer for the Montgomery County Historical Society and a member of the Baltimore Mineral Society, Jeff Nagy has spent the last 5 1/2 years working with Dr. Larry Bernstein and Fred Parker on an update of Minerals of the Washington, DC Area for the Maryland Geological Survey. Most recently, he has published "Our Woods Are Full of Mine Hunters: The Fountain Company of Colonial Maryland, 1744-1764", in the September 2011 issue of Maryland Historical Magazine. He also contributes to the Mineral Bliss website.

WHAT WOMAN ISN"T CAPTIVATED by the satiny elegance of pearls, precious organic gems with colors that range from the depths of a stormy sky to the soft hues of a desert sunset? Whether perfectly round or irregular, cultured in saltwater or freshwater, a pearl is an incomparable thing of beauty. On May 18, Lisa Carp will present Pearls for Girls, with an emphasis on wearing them. Her knowledge and experience is certain to provide an academic and fun#$lled evening, complete with samples to pass around. Lisa is an active member of our club. She spent her youth in New York, where she ultimately received her bachelor"s degree in biology from Hunter College of the City University of New York. However, while traveling around the world with her husband, her real love%gemology%took hold and began to develop. Lisa expanded her interest by studying gemology for many years under the caring tutelage of Louise Taggert. After Mrs. Taggert passed away in 1998, Lisa became the instructor and expanded the classes. Despite all that she has learned, she still claims to be a &dedicated student' of gems and is always on the lookout for anything new and exciting to incorporate into her lectures.