I have been an amateur geologist since college and have been fascinated by rocks and crystals all my life. Since retiring from a career in fire safety, I have pursued these interests vigorously and over the past several years I have acquired a modest collection of gem rough. I had a few of these pieces faceted by someone else, which turned out to be exorbitantly expensive. So I took up faceting at William Holland with Bill Compliment (Faceting 1) and David Corn (Faceting 2). I purchased my first faceting machine, an Ultra Tec V2 Digital, in 2009 after completing Faceting 1 and upgraded it to the V5 Digital in 2012, and I have never stopped or slowed down with my faceting interests. I am currently the President of the Tomoka Faceters Guild in Central Florida, and Vice President of the United States Faceters Guild. I also teach basic geology, gem and mineral identification and faceting at The Villages Gem and Mineral Society in The Villages, Florida. My wife and I have a jewelry business and I have been evaluating, cutting and setting stones for customers since early 2010. I love taking a rock and turning it into a thing of beauty, a treasure.

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Faceting I - Tom Mitchell In this class you will learn the art of meet point gem faceting. No math skills are required. All of the math has been done for you. If you read, follow directions and perhaps have a little patience you cut your own bling. You will learn how to examine a stone to determine if it is facet worthy. You will also learn how to read a faceting diagram and how to apply the instructions on the diagram to the faceting machine, then how to cut and polish the facets and much more. This requires magnification in the form of an Optivisor or other magnification device. Your first stone should be better cut than those in most commercial jewelry stores. The lab fee includes my book: Faceting 1, Learn the Fine Art of Gem Faceting, It’s Easy!, plus several easy cutting designs, the first stone you cut, a Spectra Ultralap for polishing and much more. Lab Fee: $50.00 Estimated Materials Cost: $0+ Prerequisites: None View Class Schedule Now!

Faceting II - Tom Mitchell To feel comfortable in this class you have taken Faceting I or you should have cut approximately 10 or more stones. This class is intended to help you hone your faceting skills. You can learn how to size or learn more about Gem Cad and Gem Ray, which are faceting design programs. What you learn depends on your individual needs. The lab fee includes my book: Faceting 1, Learn the Fine Art of Gem Faceting, It’s Easy, a Lightning Lap Ce-Ox polishing lap, your first stone, medium difficulty faceting diagrams, and much more. Some of these diagrams require start cutting. Therefore, you may also want to bring your laptop with Gem Cad installed on it. Lab Fee: $75.00 Estimated Materials Cost: $0+ Prerequisites: Faceting I or comparable View Class Schedule Now!

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