From ancient Greek and Roman cameo carving to Beyoncé’s Papillon ring, gemstones and jewelry have been used to convey a variety of messages over millennia. These pieces, which provide a window into the values of a people, would not have been possible without lapidaries’ craftsmanship. Human fascination with precious stones dates back thousands of years before the common era and endures today. A number of academic works analyze the use of precious stones and their attributed mystical qualities as are recorded in medieval texts and imagery. Fewer works focus on the different ways these precious stones were morphed into their recognizably human-altered shapes (e.g. Buettner, 2022). During a 2-week study abroad trip to London, England in January 2025, I studied examples of well-known gems and jewelry, didactic text instructions, and archived pictorial representations recording the basis of gem cutting practice. This research was conducted through consulting printed and archival material at the British Library, Wellcome Collection, London School of Economics, and British Museum. Additionally, by visiting museum artifacts on display at the British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, Natural History Museum, and Ashmolean Museum. Considered together, the images and descriptions of lapidary machines from the mid sixteenth century to eighty years ago tell of devices utilizing all the same basic methods. Foot pedals, hand cranks, and eventually electronic motors power essentially the same spinning disc machine. Displays at the Victoria and Albert Museum and Ashmolean Museum showed increasingly complex gemstone designs which were achieved by advancing technology through the centuries. By studying the history of technological advancements in a particular trade, we can see how one machine has changed over time by incorporating inventions born of technological breakthroughs. While the foundations of this ancient craft remained relatively consistent over hundreds of years, the impact of major industrial revolutions is evident in the evolution of gem cutting apparatuses.

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