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July 2014
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Welcome to ULTRA TEC's SomeTimes Newsletter!
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Fantasy cut gems by Dalan Hargrave
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We thank you for all your interesting comments, super stones, great gem locations and the feedback on the products we make.
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FACETING CLUB
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In Florida, the SUN CITY LAPIDARY CLUB provides classes in Faceting - as part of their general lapidary program. The faceters shown in the photo are, standing left to right: Ted Boydston the group teacher, Loren Hofer, Aleksandra Zurko (Club President). Sitting left to right: Judy Schmedlen, Kathy Gonella, Cecilia McBride.
The ongoing program has been very successful in terms of providing the knowledge and skills needed for top level faceting. The output of the class ties in with the efforts of related classes in jewelry fashioning - and the smiles testify to the students' "job satisfaction".
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LARGE STONES...
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 In the previous SomeTimes, we talked about the faceting of very large stones. In response to that item, we received an email from Robert Schock, an accomplished jewelry designer - and Ultra Tec faceter - in nearby Dana Point, California.
Robert exhibits each year at the Festival of Lights in Laguna Beach, California, showing his exclusive designs. You might like to check out his website, www.robertschockjewelry.com, where he shows a selection of his beautiful work.
Most jewelry artists do not cut their own stones, but Robert does - integrating the stone's design into the overall design concept - to very good effect. Needless to say, we encourage that approach of integrated design, with either the jewelry designer cutting the stone or working closely with a faceter to carry out the concept.
  
Robert sent us pictures of an amethyst that he cut - it started with rough at 455 ct and finished at 186 ct (1 � "!)
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REMINDER: Franklin Faceters Frolic (FFF7)
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NEWS: Tom Maxwell, director of this year's Franklin Faceters Frolic has announced that this year's "Frolic" will be in association with the United States Faceters Guild and will run for 3 days this year, from July 24th to 26th in Franklin, NC.
There is a full program of interesting instructive lectures-- for more details click here
 
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SPECIAL EVENT AT FFF7 -- FOLLOW THE ZEBRA
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 Lisa Elser has secured permission to show FOLLOW THE ZEBRA at this year's USFG-Franklin Faceters Frolic - FFF7.
Lisa will introduce the film Friday evening July 25 at 5:00. The movie runs about one hour and it will be followed by a short Q&A afterwards
Filmmaker Philippe Brunot leads us to the heart of Tanzania to unveil  the secluded profession of the gem miner. By following of a clan of intrepid explorers, led by renowned gemologist Vincent Pardieu, Philippe Brunot succeeds in traveling to remote mining camps to reveal their precious depths. This film documents the tremendous will of miners who risk their lives uncovering rare gems several hundred meters underground.
A Trailer for the movie can be seen here
Lisa, incidentally, will be a vendor at the Frolic, offering top quality GEM ROUGH.
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| INTRODUCING A NEW ULTRA TEC REPRESENTATIVE
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Kate Pleatman of Cincinnati, Ohio
Enthusiastic and devoted to gem cutting - and her Ultra Tec equipment - describes KATE PLEATMAN - near Cincinnati, Ohio.
Kate is a member of the U.S. Faceters Guild where she has accomplished a Pre-Master's rating. She has been cutting gems since 2006, having enjoyed five years in training on Ultra Tec faceting machines with Grand Master Don Dunne. Kate has also studied with the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), becoming a Graduate Gemologist.
Kate brings scientific knowledge and hands-on experience to her faceting expertise. She operates Facets & Frosting - not a physical store location, but rather a private cutting facility and full gem lab that serves clientele from all over the United States. Currently, Kate explains, her only assistant in the gem lab is a temperamental alpha-cat named Sushi, but she has plans to grow.
Kate's website is www.facetsandfrosting.com
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| INTRODUCING A NEW ULTRA TEC REPRESENTATIVE
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Ed Bancroft of Lima, Peru
New Ultra Tec Rep ED BANCROFT and his wife LIBI have taken up residence in Callao, near Lima, Peru. If the name ED BANCROFT sounds familiar, it's because you have probably read about him before - the Bancrofts, his father Peter and Ed, have been prominent in the world of gems for many years. Their activities concentrated in the Southern California gem mining areas, but they also encompassed the entire World (and Peter Bancroft's book, Gem and Crystal Treasures, has become a rare and valuable collectable).
He says he loves his Ultra Tec faceting equipment - and looks forward to "spreading the word" in Peru. Ed has been an Ultra Tec faceter for over 30 years.
The Bancrofts had had a long association with the Geology Department of the University of California in Santa Barbara (UCSB), where Ed donated the Bancroft Mineral Collection.
Here's a link to The Bancroft Mineral Collection website
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| FACETING 1 Training Course
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 Tom Mitchell is an Ultra Tec Rep. in Florida. He teaches faceting to beginners, and wished he had a textbook for it -- and wrote his own! Tom will be using his new book as a training text for his students, both at his local club
in The Villages and for the Southeast Federation of Mineralogical Societies and
for William Holland School of Lapidary Arts.
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The Gemology Project - Faceting Designs
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 | | A Representative design - The Bug Barion Oval by Marco Voltolini |
 | | The Accompanying Online Design |
You need to checkout this website! It is a wonderful resource for you:
http://www.gemologyproject.com/wiki/index.php?title=Faceting_Designs
Produced in conjunction with www.gemologyonline.com There is a wealth of designs available online from leading cutters, including many of those you have seen in the Sometimes Newsletter over the years ...
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Jay Conner
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 Jay Conner, an Ultra Tec amateur faceter from the Sacramento area sent along some photos of his recent excellent work. Jay says "...I sure enjoy my V2, although I wish it were a few decades younger." He has been working on his old V2 - cutting many designs of Arya Akhavan. 
Check out Jay's Facebook page - the several in-process views on are interesting. The photo shows a 20 ct. CZ, "400 Blows" design. |
 Join Our Facebook Community -- Over 3300 'LIKES' & growing everyday!
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ULTRA TEC Faceting has a thriving community on FACEBOOK. Take a look at our page for interesting links and updates. If you are more of a TWITTER'er, we are right there too ( #@ultratec_facet ) ...
We welcome all our ULTRA TEC cousins as FANS -- your, pictures, videos, expereinces, comments and suggestions are always welcome! Don't Forget to Click on the LIKE button to be added to the community.
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Once again, thank you as always for your interest in ULTRA TEC and our products. We'll be in touch again soon with the next Sometimes Bulletin.
The Ultra Tec Team
Contact Information
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tel: +1 714 542 0608
fax: +1 714 542 0627
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