History of a Gemstone

History of a rock crystal gemstone:
In my collection of gemstones (which is very meagre) I have a very special gemstone which I found and cut myself ages ago, and I still have with me to admire and to bring back old memories.

I have this gemstone before me now as I write this story on my computer. At the time I was a school boy in Wellington, New Zealand. In the summer holidays ca 1951, I went with a school mate to the West Coast of the South Island to prospect for gold. .I had made a wooden sluice box which was rather cumbersome to take with us on the inter-island ferry and by bus down to Hokitika. However, in the hinterland, prospect for gold we did. We found an old working at a remanent sluicing claim which we cleaned up and recovered about 30 grams of gold grains, plus a few interesting mineral specimens.

I recovered a water-worn crystal of quartz having a frosted surface. I thought nothing of it at the time, but it became part of my collection of minerals which moved with me around the world. It went with me to the USA and then to Australia and then to New Zealand again in 1970. At this time I was still faceting gemstones as a hobby and was looking for something to work on. And so I attacked this long forgotten specimen of rock crystal which turned out to be flawless. I invented a special step-cut round brilliant having about 92 facets and it ended up being a gemstone of 18.6 mm diameter and weight 23.45 carats., as shown in the photo. I am proud of the result. It is a gemstone of some character. It looks like a white topaz.

Cheers, Allano