Artist - Siegfried Gunder Meissner

Gunder is a man of many talents. As you’ll see amongst all of the artists here at TGG, he is drawn to the creative process, in whatever life space he happened to find himself in at the time.

Gunder is German and spent the majority of his working life travelling the world as a chef. He worked in high end hotels across Europe, US, Canada, and worked his way around South America for many years before eventually settling in Australia. Gunder has always been interested in rocks more broadly, but it was during his voyages in South America that he admired the beautiful variety of cut stones from across the continent. As life happens to us all, the interest was filed away for later “when I have time”.

Gunder found himself in Canberra, Australia in the late 90’s, using his home as a base for more cheffing adventures along the east coast. He joined the Canberra Lapidary Club in 2010 after attending a gem show and seeing some demonstrations of how gemstones are cut. The “time” to pursue that long ago interest had come. Gunder loved cutting stones. He cut cabochons for 3 years before deciding to learn to facet; discovering that faceting suited his interests more than cabbing. Gunder has since devoted his time to creating his beautiful gems, with a special love and appreciation for the quartz mineral family.

Gunder finds the entire process of creating a gem facinating – from going through the crystals, comparing the crystals to the designs, and trying to get the best gem you can out of it. His devotion to the art and capturing beauty is clear for all to see.