So this week hasn’t been a particularly productive one and to be honest, I feel quite down as I am writing this.
Why am I feeling down? There has been quite a lot of negative energy this week and I will talk about some of the things that happened a little bit more below, but life in general isn’t great for people at the moment as we don’t really know where we stand going from one week to the next.
But, there has been some good stuff happen this week, so lets carry on with the post..
New Big Gemstone!
As a gemmologist, it is unsurprising that I have a love of gemstones and my three main passions are:
- High end, fine quality stones
- Stones that display optical effects (colour change, bi-colour, play of colour etc)
- Large faceted gemstones (20ct +)
And this week, I added to my large gemstones collection with a 134 carat Smokey Quartz. This was definitely an impulse purchase but the deal was very, very good and it seemed rude not to buy it!
But what else is in the collection?
- 31ct Oval Cut Citrine
- 45ct Bi-colour Quartz (Amethyst to Rock Crystal)
- 192ct Cubic Zirconia
I am sure that I will add to this collection in the future but they are never stones that I actively look for, they have all come to me by chance, either as part of gem collections that I have bought or I happen to see a listing and the price is right.
Changing Course
If you have read any of my previous Bench Blog posts, you will know that I am currently working on an Introduction to Diamonds Online Course and it was going so well up until this week.
This is because I ran into a bit of a roadblock and don’t have and cannot get the images that are required for the last two videos that I had planned, so the course is currently cut down from 6 videos to 4, until I can either get the stones or pictures that I need.
Bit of a downer but the course is now pretty much ready to go and all I need to do is film my conclusion video and it will be ready to go live. Hopefully, the course will sell enough to fund the purchase of the equipment and stones that are needed, so that I can do the final two videos.
Some CAD Work…. Eventually!
So, I have been saying for the last three weeks that I was going to spend some time working on CAD and I actually did it this week, granted only a small amount of time but was still something none the less!
I also shook things up this week and spent some time playing around in Rhino and to be honest and I prefer using Rhino to Matrix or Matrixgold. I definitely want to have a go with the new Panther 3D in the future as it looks like a very interesting option for the Rhino platform.
Guest Post
In last weeks post, I talked about a potential guest post that I was working on for one of the UK’s largest suppliers to the jewellery trade and they were happy with my submission and it looks like the post will be going live at some point in the near future.
As promised, as and when it does go live, I will post a link to it!
Upsetting People Online – Unintentionally!
So, I seem to have upset a few people online this week, so much so, that I have been called disrespectful, a liar and been blocked by someone on Facebook but what has got to me, was the situations around these events:
- Disrespectful – This was in response to a question that I asked on a jewellers Facebook group. The question arose as I saw a post on Instagram about a tool for stone setting, I had asked the person about the tool on Instagram but got no response after 24+ hours. So I asked in a Facebook group, if anyone could answer my question and got called disrespectful for doing so.
- A Liar – this was a comment responding to something I said in a YouTube video (not jewellery related), in which I was called a liar only for the person to later on in their comment confirm that what I had said was indeed correct. There were some other, not particularly pleasant words in the comment only for the person to say at the end, that they didn’t want to disrespect me?
- Blocked on Facebook – this is the one that really confused me! I responded to a question in a jewellers Facebook group to give an alternative option to a tool they were looking for, which was very well received by others in the group. Only for the poster to put a rude reply, turn off commenting and then proceed to block me. A bit of a dramatic response for just trying to help someone.
I have also had people completely ignore my responses to their questions and it really did make me think, should I continue to try and help people?
Now, I have had some people who have been very appreciative of the responses and help I have offered this week but it really did make me question whether I should invest my time to help others.
Conclusion
As you can see, no actual bench work done this week and I am not sure if this due to a lack of time or no real impetus to do anything but I will aim to do something this week.
Looking back, there has been quite a few positives this week and it hasn’t been completely wasted. I have brushed off the negative incidents this week and turned it into a bit of a joke by saying, how many people can I upset today?
I think I will take the weekend, to refresh my spirit and renew my determination to come back and have a more productive week next week!
I'm Paul Haywood FGA DGA, a fully qualified Gemmologist and Diamond Grader from the Gemmological Association of Great Britain and a lover of all things jewellery.