a little history and gemstones with ngtc

After interesting meetings and tours at the German Gemmological Association, we showed the NGTC (National Gemstone Testing Center, Beijing – China) delegation a historical village. The village “Herrstein” is over 800 years old and features some remains of the regions cutting history. It is part of the cutting history near the river “Nahe”. A history that is ca. 500 years old.

at the atelier

After that, we went to our Atelier close-by. Here Alexander demonstrated how a gemstone acquires his facets. No machine. No automation. This process is done all by hand, feeling, and the sound a gemstone makes when facetting. It is an old technique. One that takes more time, but ultimately leads to better results. Each gemstone is a natural product of nature and thus each gem is also somewhat different. This old technique allows Alexander to treat each gem individually. It is an approach that requires a stunning amount of experience.

Later that day, we were happy to show the NGTC delegation some of the creations of our house. Curious and interesting conversations followed and marked a great ending to a fun-filled day with a lot of laughter.
What a wonderful group of people.