The Daily Jewel - Gordon Aatlo, A Design Legend

Modern Classics for the 21st Century
Explore The World of An Award Winning Jewelry Designer

"Gordon Aatlo is not just a designer.

He is an artist of the unique, a true renaissance man 

whose pieces are brilliantly structured."

- The International Jewelry Quorum  (June 2007)

At Gordon Aatlo Designs, whether your style is modern, classic, traditional or you seek an antique design, there is no design or request we cannot achieve. We extend our expertise and advice and deliver personalized service and attention to each of our clients.

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Dom Pedro Aquamarine Unveiled at Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History!

Photo Credit: Jim DiLoreto

Pictured Left to Right: Donor Jeff Bland, Curator Jeffrey Post, Sant Director Kirk Johnson,and Donor Jane M. Mitchell unveil the Dom Pedro Aquamarine. The largest cut-gem aquamarine in the world, the Dom Pedro is now on display in our Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals.


The story of this amazing Aquamarine Crystal is one of wonder and adventure that is straight from an Indiana Jones  adventure!
In the November 1995 issue of Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist magazine, Si and Ann Frazier recounted the escapades of a record-breaking beryl crystal in "Rough Trip to Brazil: Intrigue and adventure surround the mission to spirit a giant beryl crystal out of Brazil."

From the LJJA article:

Besides having immense size, the lovely natural blue beryl was transparent and exhibited beautifully formed crystal faces, making it an exceptionally fine piece," the Fraziers share. "As luck would have it, the garimperos (the local term for these itinerant miners) dropped the specimen, and it broke into three pieces." Even then, the largest of those three pieces was still a record-breaking two feet tall and nearly 60 pounds.

In the Fraziers' exciting insiders tale, you'll learn why that unfortunate drop turned out to be rather fortunate after all, thanks to some unique gemological properties of beryl crystals, as well as the rest of the soon-to-be Dom Pedro aquamarine crystal's secretive escape from behind a bed in Brazil with renegade gem dealers Axel and Chico.

But that's just half the story...

The Fraziers continue the crystal's tale in "Fit for An Emporer," through its carver's months of "step-by-step thinking and not sleeping" to the sculpture's unveiling at the gem show in Basel as a 10,395-carat (about five pounds), nearly 14-inch-tall beauty. The Dom Pedro holds the record as the world's largest cut and polished gem aquamarine, the Fraziers share, after meeting the gem carver, seeing the sculpture themselves, and proclaiming it "beautifully gemmy . . . transparent . . . [and] clean except for one area of natural tubes near the top, as a mineral collector would orient it."

But not Bernd Munsteiner, the Dom Pedro carver and arguably the world's most famous gem artist, who chose "to orient the crystal upside down," putting its included tubes at the bottom of the sculpture, "where they lead the eye into the carving" and "add light, brightness, and movement." Munsteiner believes that "another crystal as suitable for sculpture as the Dam Pedro rough has never been available at any time, anywhere in the world."

Click through the links above for the whole story...and thank you to LJJA for digging up the archives for this great adventure!

The Robert Bentley Company

http://robertbentleygemstones.com

At the Tucson Gem Show each year when the AGTA Show opens my first stop – ALWAYS...The Robert Bentley Company Booth. He has all the cut stones and druzys that other booths have BUT his are in innovative stones and great, bold shapes!

But I think what I look for from this company is “new trends”, especially in beads. Two years ago Bentley introduced some of the most fabulous rough finished Aquamarine – last year the trend was picked up by other “gem bead” companies. Unfortunately they aren’t done in the same way, with the same attention to detail and don’t make the statement that the Bentley beads do!

This is Robert Bentley...

The Man

Robert Bentley began his love affair with gemstones while accompanying his grandfather to rock hound meetings in the 1950’s. He graduated from Pratt Institute in 1972 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting. While he continued to paint and sculpt (he still does today), his fascination with gemstones took precedence and The Robert Bentley Company showroom was opened in New York City in 1994.

Within the environment of The Robert Bentley Company’s extensive inventory of the best quality, best cut colored stones available today, Robert functions as a collaborator, instigator, and cohort within the jeweler’s design process, integrating his extensive knowledge and experience in gemology with an artist’s sensibility.

The Company

For nearly twenty years, The Robert Bentley Company has been working with an international community of talented stone cutters to provide the fine art jeweler with better, gem-quality colored stones. The extensive inventory spans a broad spectrum, from fine facets and uniquely crafted cabochons to natural crystal structures, distinctive crystal surface pieces, fine beads, druseys, and an array of phenomenal inclusions. The Robert Bentley Company is a member of the American Gem Trade Association.


Plate Cut Beads
From the more formal shaped plate cut (above) beads to the frenzy of the thinner plates.

Hammered Beads
Huge gemmy chunks of gemstone with a rough hammered finish – yet still clear, clean and polished!

Faceted Beads
These are some of the most dynamic beads – big beads with large free-form facets that, when used in a necklace would send light to the face.

Tubes
These – especially in Tourmaline and Aquamarine – are my favorites. They look like raw tourmaline and aquamarine crystals that are shaped, faceted (in long facets following the tube shape) and polished. They also offer this shape with hexagonal facets.

Lenses
Crystal clear round lentil shaped beads of some of the gemmiest (is that a word?) material. This is the grade of gem that usually gets sent to the faceters for use in indiviual cut stones.

RARE – this isn't just rare stones, but rare stones cut in beads! ...strands of watermelon tourmaline...



mixed beryl, lapis (polished and hammered)... apatite...

...and hammered Chalcopyrite!

Some Things To Keep In Mind While Viewing Website Photos...from Robert Bentley:

These images do not reflect our entire inventory. Aside from the selection of strands pictured we also carry various cabochons and faceted single stones, surface pieces and many other rarities.Our inventory is constantly changing. While we will add new and exciting stones as we receive them, it is always possible that we have stock which is not represented on-line. These images are intended as a guide, not a complete catalogue. If you are looking for something in particular please

e-mail or call us and we will be happy to assist you.While the images are kept as true to the original as possible, it is almost impossible to create perfect representations of these stones. Please keep in mind when viewing the images that most colors are less pronounced on-line then they are in person.

Contact Info:

Robert Bentley Company - Unusual Stones
E-mail info@robertbentleygemstones.com