Richard Orbach

DOCUMENTARIAN

“How Can I Catalog Your Unique Craft?”

Part process geek and in-house historian/archivist, I’ve documented the transformation of many of the great gems of our time at the same wheels that cut the 62.02 Rockefeller Sapphire and the 15.97 Caplan Ruby. When I first began documenting the cutting of extraordinary gems in the workshop of Reginald C. Miller Lapidaries - arguably, the trades’ pre-eminent cutter of important colored gemstones - I needed to find a solution to workshop videography as the cutters and polishers needed their full concentration in the small space in which a roving videographer or tripod mount cameras could not be deployed. Clearly, no one wants to “bump” the cutter working on a 2 million dollar emerald! My solution? Around each cutting wheel, polishing stations and mount table, I fabricated shock absorbing gooseneck adjustable camera mounts to hold the lens’ of 1080HD camera’s that were housed on each workbench and remote controlled by the cutters themselves when the gem would pass a specified milestone. Going behind the scenes allowed me to focus on the lapidary artists, their art and ultimately the result of their transformative handwork in order to provide the context of a gemstones emergence from the mysterious source of earthly creation to the creative hands of the lapidary.

How can I assist you in featuring your unique craft? How would illuminating your traditions impact your clientele? What distinction in your product, service or process is one you want to pass on to the next generation or to new owners? Are their certain products whose fabrication should be preserved and serve as a value added product feature?