This will be a Gem Show like no other! Join us on Tuesday, September 24th from 10AM to 4PM when we’ll welcome back world-renowned gem cutter Roger Dery to our store! This gemstone event will be an up close and personal experience in a fun environment. You’ll be able to touch and feel rough gems, as well as faceted gems, in a wide variety of colors, shapes and types. Roger, a professional gem cutter, precision faceter, and avid world traveler will share his extensive knowledge of the world of colored gemstones.
Roger’s holistic and ethical practices are backed up by 36 trips to Africa, visits to over 450 mines, and faceting over 14,000 gems. In August 2019, Cline Jewelers’ own Gina Hawkins partnered with Roger on a trip to East Africa on a tour to both donate books to an orphanage in Kenya and bring back stunning gemstones to share with Cline Jewelers’ customers.
During her trip, Gina visited the Baraka Mine, the second oldest mine in Kenya, but the first mine owned by a woman. Gina states of her travels, “The Precious Woman Mine is run primarily by women. Most of the women working at the mine are widows. They have found green tourmaline and beautiful tsavorite garnet in this location. The Gem Legacy, a non-profit started by Roger, recently delivered them an air compressor so they can use power tools in the mine, instead of mining only by hand.”
On a different day of her trip, Gina recalls, “Today we bought rough gemstones in Voi, Kenya! We saw all shapes and colors of gemstones from the dozens of sellers in Voi. There were a variety of stones, from grossular garnet to sapphires. We quickly realized that buying rough gems is hard work! It is important to know about the gem type in order to know what may happen during the cutting process. Many of the stones we saw had inclusions that were clearly visible and others were just waiting to be transformed when cut. We were so thankful to have Roger Dery there with his wealth of gemstone knowledge!”
Finally on one more exciting gem trip, Gina & Roger visited a gem dealer in Arusha, Tanzania. “It takes a very specific vision to predict what a stone will look like once it is cut. Roger Dery shared his vision and wisdom with us while we asked many questions about the specifics of gem cutting. There was an amazing selection of zircon, tourmaline, garnet, aquamarine gemstones and more! I learned so much and made quite a few purchases. You’ll have to come by Cline Jewelers and take a look at the treasures we collected from Kenya and Tanzania! We can’t wait to show you!”
While Gina did gather up some fabulous gems to bring back to us at Cline Jewelers in Edmonds, WA, this collection of gems tours the country and is not available on a daily basis at Cline. Learn the story behind them, and perhaps fall in love with one or more that you can’t live without! And, don’t forget to join us for our Gem Show on Tuesday, September 24th from 10AM to 4PM.