The Al Gerding competition is a great way to test your novice faceting skills and get positive feedback from the judge.
Please see the downloadable application form below for entry details and deadlines. It really does help to have several stones in the case and, who knows, yours might be the one to get the cool engraved glass trophy. Any design, any material!
Portland Regional Gem and Mineral Show Association
Entry Rules for the
Al Gerding Memorial Trophy
Sponsored by the Columbia Willamette Faceters Guild
These are the rules as put forth by the Portland Regional Gem and Mineral Association. In general, the AFMS rules will be the standard to follow. Those rules may be viewed and downloaded from their site: www.amfed.org.
Do not send your stone without an application.
1. This trophy will be awarded for the best single natural or synthetic faceted stone by an
adult (person who has reached their 18th birthday) Novice (one who has never won this
trophy nor a novice rosette for faceting in any other show). The trophy will become
the permanent property of the winner.
2. A single faceted stone is to be displayed together with other Single Stone Trophy entries
in a special display case to be provided by the host society. The entrant is to supply a pad,
box or display stand, not larger than 3×3 inches, for their entry. Stones in competition for
the Single Stone Trophy may not be included with other entries or exhibits except as
stated above.
3. A label shall identify the material used, weight of the finished stone, name of the cut and
the number of facets. Additional information is optional but will be judged. (Do not put
your name anywhere on the label.)
4. The stone must have been cut by the exhibitor and may not exceed 25 ct in weight.
5. The exhibitor must be a bona fide amateur and not gain any sizeable portion of their
income from gem cutting or any their form of the lapidary trade.
6. Judging percentages:
i. Workmanship 70 percent
ii. Quality of material 10 percent
iii. Variety of cut 15 percent
iv. Labeling 5 percent
Decision of the Rules Chairman is Final
7. Minimum score of 75 points is required for trophy consideration.
Selected excerpts from the Amfed rules: www.amfed.org/rules/
This is a 99-page pdf, most of which does not apply to this competition.
Look under Division C, including subdivision CF, for rules on labeling and more. Pay
attention to these rules.
Rule 9.3 (h) Labeling:
Guide to capitalization: Gem names when used in labels, titles, or headings, are written in
all capital letters, but when used within text material they are not capitalized. Descriptive
terms may be placed on the label in parentheses, if so desired, and will be judged for
accuracy, spelling, and punctuation, e.g. AGATE (Crazy Lace) or AGATE, Crazy Lace;
AGATE (Botswana) or AGATE, BOTSWANA; JASPER (Biggs) or JASPER, Biggs;
TOURMALINE (Bi-color) or TOURMALINE, Bi-color, etc. If a material is cut and polished as
a gemstone, then the name of the base material and any inclusions shall be given, e.g.
EPIDOTE in QUARTZ, GOLD in QUARTZ, COPPER in DATOLITE, MARCASITE in AGATE,
etc.
Rule 12.7 Workmanship is a measure of the perfection of the meets between facets, the
correctness of angles to achieve maximum brilliance and color, the perfection of polish,
the proportion and alignment of facets, the uniformity of similar facets and the ability to
minimize the undesirable effects of inclusions and/or flaws. All girdles shall be polished,
with the exception of diamonds.
Rule 12.8 Difficulty/Variety of Work refers to the originality, the diversity of type of cut
and design of stones, and to the skill that is required to accomplish a near perfect cut of
the design and material in question.
Rule 12.9 Showmanship shall refer to the ability of the exhibitor to use the material
exhibited, the background material, lighting, arrangement, and labeling features (such as
size and neatness), to create a display which will attract and hold the interest of the
viewer.
Rule 12.11 When synthetic or other man-made stones are permitted, they must be
identified as such on the label.
Download Award Application in .docx format