Growing up loving beautiful gems
- Mark’s father was a sapphire miner
- His style of jewellery is unique and colourful
- He is both a gem cutter and a goldsmith
Mark Nuell is jewellery maker and gem cutter and his passion for precious stones began when he was eight years old. At this time, his family emigrated from England to Australia, where his father became a sapphire miner at the Gemfields in Queensland for 25 years. This sparked Mark’s love for beautiful gems while living in the Australian bush. At the age of 15 he had the opportunity to train as a gem cutter. After learning this craft, attracted by the bright city lights, Mark moved to Sydney to study jewellery design. He then moved to London and quickly became established as a jewellery maker, where he now combines his gem cutting skills with his goldsmithing craft. He returns to the mines in the outback every year to source unique precious stones for his creations.
INTERVIEW
It is rare for a goldsmith to have the gem cutting skills I have. So I feel very lucky that I was able to learn this at a very young age. I moved away from traditional gem cutting to develop my own unique style, using the lapidary machine to sculpt the gems, which then inspire my jewellery designs.
I have a precision tool that can cut hard gems. It is a machine with a diamond plated wheel that spins and grinds the stone. You have to go through three or four finer and finer wheels until you finally coat it with fine diamonds and polish the facets.
Stones are also beautiful in their uncut state, but I think cutting a stone really brings out its internal beauty. It is a treasure from the Earth, and I am turning it into something even more dazzling. I love the reflection when the gem moves in the light and having lots of facets multiplies that effect.
The stones that I buy from the mines, you cannot buy in London. I think I definitely have pretty unique access to miners I grew up with. I like to work with sapphire because it is what I know best, but I also work with other gemstone like tourmaline, aquamarine or garnet.
