Artist - John Clyde

John’s journey to faceting began in his youth. While on the job sheering sheep up in Queensland, John used to pick up rough gems that he would find out on location. John always said to himself “I’m gonna get into this (gem cutting) when the kids are off my hands”.

In 1990, John decided to take a formal Technical course in Lapidary and Gemmology offered in Canberra and taught by Arthur Main. When telling his story, John has a little chuckle that he was absolutely “green as grass”, and how new and different the whole experience was for him. The formal course offered at the time covered gemmology, cabochoning, doublets, triplets, and faceting.

Around the time his studies began, John joined the ACT Lapidary & Mineral Club Inc. The Lapidary and Mineral Club amalgamated with the Canberra Gem Society Inc. in 2000 to become the Canberra Lapidary Club of which he is still a member today. At the Canberra Lapidary Club, John also was an instuctor of faceting. He estimates that he taught around 60 people to facet over the years.

It took John 6 years of gem cutting before he decided to put his work forward for competitions. He started at the local Canberra show, doing very well and often placing 1st. After a number of years competing at that level, John decided to stretch his skills a bit further. A chance meeting of a couple from Albury introduced him to the Victorian Facetor’s Group. John competed through the VFG for 6 years and achieved one 1st place novice, one 1st place intermediate and was the champion facetor of the VFG for 4 years running. Quite impressive achievements!

Competition faceting is notoriously time consuming, especially at high level. Of late, John has decided to step back from most competitions aside from the upcoming Gemboree 2023 and dedicate more time to home, travelling around Australia and cutting what material/designs take his fancy. John speaks fondly of mentors he’s had during his faceting journey with special mention to Ralph Weston, and Lyndsey Drabs.