Canadian Rockhound: Faceters Complete Project

– This article was originally published in the August 1968 issue (Vol. 12, No. 4) of the Canadian Rockhound. It was part of a series of articles that described a complete faceting project for the construction of the Pacific National Exhibition "Centennial Tiara". The Tiara commemorates Canada's centennial in 1967.

Canadian Rockhound, August 1968
Cover of the August 1968 issue of the Canadian Rockhound showing the completed Centennial Tiara.

Miss PNE
Miss P.N.E., 1968, wearing the Centennial Tiara.

The British Columbia Faceter's Guild comprises a group of hobbyists who are interested in the art of faceting gemstones.

Early in 1967, suggestions were put forth by guild members for a worthy Centennial Project. A Centennial Tiara was the most favored proposal, and after preliminary discussions with "The Miss P.N.E." [Pacific National Exhibition] Committee, it was voted to undertake to construct a tiara of silver and gold to be set with gems faceted by guild members for presentation to the Committee.

The Faceter's Guild appointed Mr. B. "Hardy" Kuna, chairman of the Centennial Project and members were invited to submit designs and ideas for the tiara. British Columbia's official floral emblem, the Dogwood blossom, was chosen to be the main motif, and guild member, Miss Jacque Valentine, incorporating ideas of others with her own, submitted a tiara design which was accepted unanimously.

Once the design had been approved, the next step was to find suitable stones to compliment the artist's conception and specifications. Those chosen were peridot, garnets, along with pearls. All stones used [were] genuine gems, carefully selected for color and quality before being faceted by guild members.

Sketch
Artist's sketch. Cuttings
Cutting the silver leaves.

Tools
Hammer and files with silver leaves taking shape. Design on silver
Design pasted on silver, and the shaped petals.

The central portion of the design features a stylized Dogwood bud with a triangular faceted citrine seed at the base and above this, an oval faceted citrine representing the Dogwood bud. On either side of this are two Dogwood blossoms in full bloom. The bracts of frosted silver with gold veins surround faceted peridot blossoms. These are flanked with polished silver leaves and faceted garnets representing Dogwood berries. Pearls were included to represent purity, as well as adding lustre and beauty.

Silversmithing the tiara posed a problem for a time, but this was most ably resolved by Mr. Harold Sutton of Pitt Meadows, B.C., who undertook the task of hand-crafting the head piece. Working from the original design, Mr. Sutton modified this by redesigning the tiara to fit around the head, instead of around the face. Another modification was to construct the tiara in such a way that it could be taken apart to facilitate cleaning and polishing.

Machine
Faceter at the machine. Tiara
The Tiara taking shape.

In all, a total of 400 work hours were required to complete the project:

Artist design - 40 hours
Modification and transfer of design - 75 hours
Silversmithing - 175 hours
Faceting stones - 110 hours

Both citrine and peridot stones were faceted from original "cuts" by guild members. Oval brilliant cut was used for all garnets. For details of the three original cuts, see:

The Centennial Cut, by the late Bill Moldowin, Canadian Rockhound, February 1967, p.5. (used for large oval citrine)
A Dogwood Bud Faceting Style, by Marion Wood, Canadian Rockhound, February 1968, p.16. (used for triangular shaped citrine)
Centennial Expo Cut, by Dick Berrington, Canadian Rockhound, August 1968, p.125. (used for peridot blossoms)

Tiara Update

Two years ago the tiara was turned over to the care of the Creative Jewellers Guild of B.C. in return for repairing damage that had occured over the years. In 1999 it was borrowed back for a special historical display organized by the P.N.E. in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Both Bill Moldowin and Dick Berrington who created two of the faceting designs recently passed away, as has Harold Sutton who did the construction of the tiara.

This article may not be copied, distributed or reprinted in any form without the author's permission. To contact the author, please use the e-mail address provided. If you are unable to contact the author, please contact the Canadian Rockhound. Authorized reprints must acknowledge the author, original source and the Canadian Rockhound, and include the website URL address of the Canadian Rockhound.

The preceding article was originally published in the August 1968 issue (Vol. 12, No. 4) of the Canadian Rockhound, the official publication of the Lapidary Rock & Mineral Society of B.C., 1960-1980.