Dear gemstone lovers,
I have some high-class holidays behind me, in the truest sense of the word. Having said that, I’m not referring to my own holiday – though that too was very nice. No, I’m talking about the vacation of two American ladies, Marilyn Pape and Shelley Bennett. The two of them paid me a visit in Idar-Oberstein last month. So how did that come about? Well, Marilyn purchased one of the famous ‘fantasy gifts’ for her daughter Shelley from the luxury department store chain Neiman Marcus: a custom locket, set with sparkling gemstones – and a three-day journey to my place in Idar-Oberstein so that she could select the right stones for herself.

And so the mother-and-daughter team set off for my home town together with the jewellery designer Monica Rich Kosann, who will be making the locket, to create the perfect design. First, however, Marilyn and Shelley were given an introduction to the world of gemstones. On a brief tour of my workshop they learned everything worth knowing about the mining, cutting and polishing of these valuable treasures.

Armed with that knowledge, they then moved on to my gem room. Mother and daughter were flabbergasted when they set eyes on the glittering gems – and they were particularly taken with a hot, shocking pink tourmaline from the Paraiba tourmaline mine in Mozambique, some 15 carats in weight: framed by embellishments in the form of a melée of Sri Lankan spinel in various shades of purple and shocking pink, this stone with its intense radiance will form the heart of the locket. An excellent choice for a jewellery item which is to be handed down from mother to daughter. For the tourmaline is the gemstone of love and friendship, and is said to render them firm and long-lasting.