Looking again at the title, it should read: the man who brings life to colored stones.
Mr. Brackna buys mineral rough and with his expertise creates a GEM. He is a cutter and a knowledgeable magician in his trade.

Early, he learned the mechanics and technology of cutting but it took many years of trial and error to develop the creativity of his current ability. Besides being a technical expert he is a true artist. He can interpret and build upon the hidden secrets of a mineral rough.

Mr Brackna is a winner of numerous AGTA Spectrum Awards, and passed around some samples of his finished work to an awed and silent audience. Impressive!

He went on to explain that faceting equals the control of light, color and inclusions. If the choice is good it produces a true gem; if the choice is poor, no matter how expert the cutter or how great the rough, the quality of the resulting gem is undermined.

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Enhancement of the rough mandates another decision; heat, dye, radiation, pressure, etc, how to compensate for their use? The most utilitarian light source for the cutter in which to analyze a stone is produced on a cloudy day with the resulting diffusion of light.

“The stone wants to be what it wants to be.”

A summary of the many steps involved in the production of a gemstone is: learning to comfortably handle the technology of machines and products and to analyze the internal potential of the rough.

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Mr Brackna final statement was:” you don’t make money when you sell a stone, you make money when you buy (the rough)”. This implies the need to learn, evaluate and execute with know-how and precision.

Many thanks Mr. Brackna for a memorable talk.

Summary of meeting provided by Lisa Carp

Pictures by Bobby Mann