All of us, yes, everyone of us, is constantly searching for something. Luckily today, my search for exercise brought me to this beautiful, breathtaking vista high above the city of Tucson, Arizona.
Ural Mountains of Russia
When we are in search of the best Demantoid material, we head to the Ural Mountains, some kilometers outside of the gem-rich area surrounding Ekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk) in Russia.
found at Poldnewaja near Syssersk, in the Government of Orenburg.
the immense Lapidary Works establishment at Ekaterinburg, in the Urals,
The lapidary work of the Ural materials is all executed either at the Imperial Lapidary Works, at Ekaterinburg, or in the vicinity by the lapidary-masters, as they are termed, who employ the workmen or apprentices, each having his own peculiar style. The product of these latter is sold to the dealers at Ekaterinburg, who visit the Nijni Novgorod, Moscow and Ekaterinburg fairs.
The lapidary works at Ekaterinburg, founded in 1765, and at Kolivan, in the heart of Siberia, in 1787, are so situated that they have command of an immense water-power by which they are run.
The Ekaterinburg Lapidary Works at present employ seventy-five men, receiving 25 roubles per month each ($12.50), and ten boys at from 2 to 10 roubles each per month ($1 to $5). Forty thousand roubles are annually expended here.In 1830 there were 150 men employed. All the designs for these works are made at Peterhoff. A wax model, the exact size of the object, is made by expert modellers and then handed to the lapidaries to copy. The original designs are returned to St. Petersburg, to remain secret in the cabinet of the Czar.
This data excerpt from: Kunz, George F
A Trip To Russia and the Ural Mountains
Journal of the Franklin Institute
Volume 146, Number 873 July-December 1898
