Previous Programs

2022

  • January 2022: Justin K. Prim discussed his book The Secrets of Gemcutting.
  • February 2022: Alan Lindberg talked about his cerium oxide polishing laps.
  • March 2022: Steve Mastin talked about “The Mineral Beryl and Its Gemstone Varieties”.
  • April 2022: Adam Bigelow talked about the latest in sunstone news, his mine, and other fun topics about Oregon Sunstones.  In person at OMSI or on Zoom.
  • May 2022: Steve Mastin talked about the science of Oregon Sunstones, their physical and chemical properties.
  • June 2022: Alex Knotts presented a program on using Gem Cut Studio.
  • July 2022: GIA Gemologist and CWFG Life Member Sylvia LaCroix will give a presentation on Dichroic and Trichroic Gemstones.
  • August 2022: Eric Braunwat, Columbia Gem House, will talk about Responsibly Sourced Rough.
  • September 2022: Mike Dunn, Jeweler, Gemologist, talked about Gemstone Appraising and more.
  • October 2022: Dr. Emily Cahoon, OSU Regional Geology and Volcanology of Oregon gave a presentation on Sunstone.
  • November 2022: Justin Primm presented “A Journey through Painted Jewels.” Justin discussed paintings from the 1300’s until today by examining and analyzing the gemstones depicted within the paintings and then comparing them with real-life jewelry.
  • December 2022: Our Annual Holiday Dinner was held  at the Old Spaghetti Factory.

2021

  • January 2021: Guild Show and Tell.
  • February 2021: “Ask the Experts” panel hosted by Larry Stewart.
  • March 2021: Scott Sucher gave a presentation on how to facet and laminate dichroic glass.
  • April 6th: Jon “Gearloose” Rolfe discussed the various specialty laps he has created: the BATT lap, the BA5T lap, the DarkSide lap, the Greenway lap, and his sintered laps.
  • May 2021:  Leslie Moclock talked about a book she has written about Rocks and Minerals of the PNW.
  • June 2021: Dr. Tayyab Suratwala from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory presented “Material Science of Grinding & Polishing” and focused on 1) the fundamentals of grinding & polishing from a material science perspective; and 2) insights from optical fabrication applied to faceting.
  • July 2021: No presentation was given.
  • August 2021: Aurore Giguet, the new Executive Director at the NW Rice Museum, spoke about the goings on at the museum.
  • September 2021:  Arya Akhavan spoke about his designs and other faceting topics.  Arya’s designs can be found on the Gemology Project website.
  • October 2021:  Steve Mastin talked about Zircon, including history, formation, locations, mining, processing, varieties, origin of color and other properties.
  • November 2021:  No presentation was given.
  • December 2021:  No meeting was held.

2020

  • Jan 2020: The board of directors discussed a few technical terms, got some suggestions from the membership in regards to future programming and support.
  • Feb 2020: Lap show and tell.  There was discussion on a variety of laps, old and newer style, cutting and polishing.
  • Mar 2020: Show & Tell on Polishes.
  • Apr 2020: Our April presentation was cancelled due to COVID-19.  It was to be by Frank Roberts.
  • May 2020: Our May presentation was cancelled due to COVID-19.  It was to be by Adam O’Grady of Element 6 Technologies.
  • Jun 2020: First online ZOOM meeting. Need details.
  • Jul 2020: ZOOM meeting. Need details.
  • Aug 2020: ZOOM meeting. Need details.
  • Sep 2020: ZOOM meeting. Need details.
  • Oct 2020: ZOOM meeting. Need details.
  • Nov 2020: ZOOM meeting. Need details.
  • Dec 2020: ZOOM meeting. Need details.

2019

  • Jan 2019:  Adam Bigelow gave a presentation about selling gems in Japan.
  • Feb 2019:  Joe Henley gave a presentation gem buying in Africa.
  • Mar 2019: Panel of Experts – Open forum about the art of faceting.
  • Apr 2019:  Sylvia Lacroix gave a presentation on Trapiche gemstones.
  • May 2019: Rej Poinier gave a presentation on GemCutStudio.
  • Jun 2019:  Potluck and presentation by Julian Grey at the Rice Museum.
  • Jul 2019:   Edward Perry of R & D Consultants (Hyper-Edge Laps) gave a presentation about his products.
  • Aug 2019:  Annual swap meet.
  • Sep 2019:  Scott Sucher gave a presentation on the Art of Grinding and Polishing.
  • Oct 2019:  Lisa Elser gave a presentation on heat treating and brought rough to sell.  She also held a separate class on evaluating gem rough
  • Nov 2019:
  • Dec 2019:  Annual Holiday Dinner Potluck  held at the Woodburn Senior Estates.

2018

  • Jan 2018:  Julian Gray from the Rice NW Museum of Rocks and Minerals gave a talk about what to do with a collection after the owner passes away.
  • Feb  2018:  Glenn Ruminson and the design group discussed their role in the Guild.
  • Mar 2018:  Annual Panel of Experts.
  • Apr 2018:  This month’s program featured Scott Sucher of MuseumDiamonds.com on replicating famous diamonds of history.
  • May 2018: Larry Stewart reported on a trip to the tourmaline mines of the Pala Valley in Southern California.
  • Jun 2018:  Tom Smith of Adamas Facet discussed sintered diamond laps and tribochemical polishing.
  • Jul 2018:  Potluck at the Rice Museum.  Julian Gray gave a presentation.
  • Aug 2018:  Program canceled.
  • Sep 2018:  Annual swap meet.
  • Oct 2018:  Lisa Elser talked about evaluating rough and had rough available for purchase.
  • Nov 2018:  Glenn Ruminson demonstrated how to use GemCad to make meet point corrections on existing designs.
    Dec 2018:  Annual Christmas Dinner at Saylor’s Old Country Kitchen. White elephant greedy Santa exchange.

2017

  • Jan 2017: Dopping class with Karen Isley.  Shortened because of a fire alarm at OMSI.
  • Feb 2017: Part I of a two-part video presentation: Sharing the rough– Journey of a Gemstone.
  • Mar 2017: Part II of a two-part video presentation: Sharing the rough– Journey of a Gemstone.
  • Apr 2017: Featured speaker: Joe Apidoca Free Form Faceting, with a demonstration.
  • May 2017: Panel of Experts.
  • Jun 2017: Chris Harold Ultratec w/ Encoder, Chris will be bringing the machine in and demonstrating and answering questions concerning the Encoder.
  • Jul 2017: @Rice Museum. General Meeting with potluck and museum tour.
  • Aug 2017: Dopping Class – Take two! No fire alarms allowed.
  • Oct 2017: Annual Swap meet.
  • Nov 2017: Roughing It: Lisa Elser of Lisa Elser Gems, came down from Vancouver BC to talk about buying rough overseas and brought rough to sell.
  • Dec 2017: >Annual Holiday Dinner @Saylors Old Country Kitchen. Fun and games were had by all!