80 ORNAMENT 22 (3) 1999 ftheoutside sales. of A p the rough buyingitsown andcuttingitinChina, started Gem but Dikra when cut when inGermany, strand per which derives from soldyears ago for three hundred dollars sixty Picassomarble, Arizona, of beads ple, For exam- cost andquality. dominant interms both of China hasbecome laborcosts, rising with however, constituted themajor suppliers to thegemstone trade; T T Hong Kong, Germany, stones have alsooccurred. precious andsemiprecious orcutting production of t formerly shunned as amotif faceted stones asaccents, ing thissamep t ha each has Now intheirfirm, own equal partners dealer. gem alongtime and David Kramer left Lucien Stern, uemo r.Artiigmjri olg,Kramer c Aretailing major incollege, Art. Museum of the Metropolitan reproductionobjects of department Diengott once worked inthe sculpture andgraphics, w as thebuyinganddesigning, Diengott handles rience. F hman irn rlo f1m n aee irn rlo f1m.Largest stoneis5.5carats. of12mmandfaceted of10mm. trilion trilion champagne citrine citrine faceted two buff amethyst of6mm, toptriangular cabochons faceted oval of10/8mm, peridot faceted oval amethyst of10/8mm, A o o o ai rice dropped to thirty-six dollars per strand. dollars per rice dropped to thirty-six hailand, Brazil andthewestern Brazil United States once hailand, e CETED PRECIOUS o nd DIKRA GEM d DIKRA GEM l oiaetefn eer akt Interestingly dur- market. dominate thefinejewelry T wan, l c he c ap as guidingq uc o designer jewelry, although faceted although stones continue jewelry, designer increasing preference for free-form gemstones in sometrend two thatbegan decades ago shows an mme p ts thefinancialasp oiaeyadcd’ ot fgemstone expe- roximately adecade’s of worth o the P mpan rcial. Significant changes Significant intheworldwide rcial. e o y N EIRCOSGM,asalpr fteivnoycridb ir nti aeoyo esoe.From left toright: byofgemstones. carried Dikra asmalloftheinventory inthiscategory part AND SEMIPRECIOUSGEMS, e ple uality control. With a master of arts in arts With amaster of control. uality id many to jewelers use began art riod, star ’ s t eulco hn,Ida Korea, India, China, Republic of e d in 1990 when Diane Diengott Diane in 1990when e t fthebusiness andmost of cts inf the cuttersChinese will thebad, rough is if currently; cu theroughis orhalf all With expensive highly material, thecutters relationshipsarewith good paramount. ed, the cu andmaintainingexclusivity yields of good achieving firm’s The success onbased is stored at the factory. by to it isshipped boat China and bought, the roughis w sp also enterprise The handbagmanufacturers. evenwith g unique and because Canadian or Mexican material, C by stones. andcuttingitsown designing edge hasadistinct thefirm market inNew YorkCity, all d tops, bevelbuff cabochons andsingle its drops, T nat goldsmiths craftspeople, and ho manufacturers, designers, mar stones andofferit well finished tothe thedesigner o sge yDegt.Withcompetitive the stone by Diengott. esigned he hinese cu ith av e t o o inotprhsswrdie including fromher Diengott purchasesworldwide, ir e tie oaqieitrsigruh cut Gemstrives toDikra acquire interesting rough, io cializ d r at o r k e m wd,a ela ubro manufacturers. as anumberwell as of nwide, e r ts andmat t sasldfloigaogteglsih,and is asolidfollowing among the goldsmiths, oug bit.About adozenschools areserviced bbyists. the o nce, so that the yield can be determined con- canbe sothattheyield nce, at c ol es incu ume b h o wners. tt mp sicesnl ifcl oaqie After difficulttoincreasingly is acquire. ers, and seeks unusual andseeks American, ers, uhrRbr .Lui odtro Ornament. Liu isCoeditor of Author RobertK. e e usiness. tt t r it n o tes including designers ing for others, ials. i epie.It to marketswholesale ve prices. htgah:Rbr .Liu/Ornament. K. Photographs: Robert S inc D ikra Gem is recognized Gemis ikra for e cuts cannot be copyright- cuts cannotbe DROP, CONE AND BULLET- SHAPED STONES, from left clockwise: frosted hematite perforated drop of 8/7mm, hematite bullet of 21/8mm, black onyx ice cream cone of 22/8mm, black onyx knife-edge drop of 31/7mm and frosted black onyx almond drop of 18/15mm.

TONGUE, RECTANGLE AND OVAL SBBT AND CABOCHONS, clockwise from lower center: Dalmatian stone tongue cabochon of 35/22mm, Chinese writing stone antique rectangle of 37/14mm, leisegang jasper tongue cabochon of 33/20mm, orbicular poppy jasper oval cab of 44/25mm and Brazilian agate antique rectangle of 47/18mm. Dimensions are in millimeters, with height followed by width, some- times by depth.

Wholesale To The Trade

VARIOUS FLAT, PLATE-SHAPED STONES, from left to right: striped onyx envelope flap shape of 22/17mm, malachite arch SBBT (single bevel buff tops) of 33/12mm, Chinese turquoise keystone SBBT of 27/24mm and Chinese turquoise antique rectangle of 28/15mm. Both turquoise are grade A and the other stones are STONE BEADS, from left to available as matched pairs. Some flats are backed with black right: slightly flattened Royal glass for strength. savannah jasper barrel bead of 29/21/13mm, thulite bead of similar form, 28/18/9mm, cylindrical and barrel beads of Royal savannah jasper, TONGUE AND BULLET SHAPED STONES, from left to right: rhyolite respectively 21/13mm and or Rainforest jasper tongue of 34/17/5mm, dendritic agate 50/13/10mm. Last bead is tongue of 26/13/5mm, malachite tongue of 15/10/5mm, ruby with zoisite, 40/17/10mm. turquoise tongue of 15/15/5mm, llanite opal bullet of 6/11mm and carnelian bullet of 6/7mm. Many shapes are available as matched pairs. Dikra’s wholesale prices range from $0.10 for a

cabochon to $45,000 for a gemstone. 9 9 9 1 ) 3 ( 2 2 T N E M A N R O 1 8