Our week of launch events
After months of working on our studio refit, the lights are up and the paint has finally dried, so what better way of showing it off but to host a trio of events.
We were proud to welcome over from Vancouver, AGTA award winning gem cutter Lisa Elser, of Custom Cut Gems, to lead two evenings of roundtable events. We are passionate about responsible sourcing so it was great to hear first hand about her travels to Madagascar, Tanzania and Sri Lanka where she sources her rough material, as well as the vital humanitarian work she does within the local gem producing communities.
AGTA award winning Lisa Elser
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Over the two evenings, guests from both the trade and public were guided through a array of over 150 of Lisa's faceted gems. The parcels containing each stone were passed around the table with great excitement, there were even tears of joy as guests revealed each stone. There were a range of stones from the classic aquamarines, sapphires, peridots and citrines to five types of garnets from the juicy red Rhodolites to the comparatively new citrus green Mali garnets through to the more unusual gems such as ice-white Danburite. Highlights included a whopping 24.91ct Afghani Indicolite and the hypnotising vortex cut found on her 10.10ct Brazilian Amethyst. But what stood out most with each gemstone was the high level of skill involved to bring such life, colour and brilliance to each stone. It is easy to see why Lisa is award winning and why she has the prestigious honour of having one of her gems in the Smithsonian.
Looking at such gorgeous gems is hungry work so guests were treated to delicious food from our neighbours at the E5 Bakehouse.
Lots of Lisa's gems found new home and we are delighted to say that we now have some in our stock too. Including a stunning 6.48ct Heliodor in that same award winning cut. We are in the process of designing a cocktail ring so watch this space!
To round the week off we held a launch party for friends, family, suppliers and folk who've helped us along the way. Thanks to our inspiring friends at Karma Cola and The Duppy Share we were able to serve delicious cocktails with a conscience.
To top it all off amazing canapes were served thanks to the wonderful Allegra McEvedy.
That's the end of our events for this season but if you're interested in coming along to future events don't forget to sign up to our newsletter.