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History1996Partnership formed between John and David Dyer - Precious Gemstones Co. is born.  Trip
to Zambia for emerald and aquamarine
rough amid the backgroundclatter of machine guns. Giving some of the rough gems to a faceter for cutting they were outraged by the price charged and the poor quality of the cutting (indeed, two of the three emeralds that were cut were so badly faceted that after not selling for a number of years they had to be recut) John decided to take matters into his own hands with the purchase of his first Ultra Tec faceting machine. While the struggling new business was getting on its feet John's cutting skills were improving as he pored over gemstone faceting books. His trial and error methods began to pay off as beautiful, sparkling gemstones began to emerge from his cutting wheel. 1998 John and David make the first of many gem buying trips to Brazil. Read more... about sourcing gem rough.  1999 David's skills with machine tools helped him to create Precious Gemstone's first concave-faceting machine.  2002 First of 28 AGTA Cutting Edge Awards for his split-facet super-trillion Pakistani peridot.  Precious Gemstones Co. publishes its first gemstone catalog.  2003 John begins experimenting with a combination of carving and flat faceting.  2004 "Earthly Perfection", an article about John's cutting is published in Professional Jeweler. "John Dyer has achieved the highest pinnacles of success in gem cutting despite – or perhaps because of – his modest nature. Free of the bounds of arrogance and self-importance, he pursues beauty for beauty’s sake. Along the way, he’s won multiple American Gem Trade Association Cutting Edge Awards." Read more... 2005 John is the first person to ever sweep an entire category in the AGTA Cutting Edge Awards.  2006 John wins four more AGTA awards including his first award in the carving category   John has GIA test a new kind of red garnet. GIA's verdict of pyrope-almandine-grossular differentiated the gem from Rose Malaya. John dubs the new gem "Gypsy Rose". Read all about it in Modern Jeweler's Gypsy Rose Garnet article! 2007 John sweeps the Faceting Category again, wins a total of seven AGTA awards including his first awards in the Combination Category (1st and 3rd place) AND wins his first Gemmy Award! A total of 8 awards!  John's award-winning ZigZag™cut Afghan green tourmaline is featured in Colored Stone. 
"John Dyer of Precious Gemstones Co., Eau Claire, Wisconsin, has a reputation as a wunderkind. Almost 28, he has already won 17 AGTA Cutting Edge awards — and is the only gem cutter to sweep the Faceting category in two separate years. His winning ZigZag™ Cut, a green Afghan tourmaline, is his first-ever Gemmy entry. It combines flat faceting and his trademarked Z groove." Read more... New online gemstone catalog is created.
2008 The AGTA cutting competition presents John with 5 more cutting awards.  2009 John wins another 2 AGTA cutting edge awards.  2010 John pictured with his sister, Lydia, and another 5 AGTA cutting edge awards.  2011 AGTA "Innovative Faceting" cutting edge award.  2012 John and Lydia create the first of their video tutorials on gemstones. |
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