Media

Two Interviews with Monty Lewis.

Jewelry In Fashion Trends, Issue no.2., 2006., p.20. Cover Story. What is Lewisonite? A gem of a Jewel Story. Interview with Monty Lewis.

Jewelry In Fashion Trends, Issue no.2., 2006., p.22. Viking Amber. Interview with Monty Lewis.

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Lewisonite is a newly released gemstone extracted from a mountain in a remote part of Canada, discovered by Canadian Collector and Designer Monty Lewis. It's degree of durability and workability, combined with a unique color range, is already generating interest in the jewelry design marketplace. The stone was formally introduced (by a well-known U.S. gem dealer), Stephen Mauldin Stone Co., at the Tuscon Gem Show 2006 and the initial samples resulted in many requests for this new and unusual gem.

Asked to describe the phases that will be used to introduce the gem, S. Mauldin said: "We'll have unfinished bead strands to supply the wholesalers and manufactureres, ...and some cut beads for jewelry designers. Later this year, we plan to have several hundred units available direct to the consumer through the QVC shopping channel.

A jewelry designer who recently inspected the new gemstone noted that "Lewisonite is one of those gemstones that stands out alone as a cabochon set in gold and silver, or would work great as an acccent with other rare and unusual gemstone bead pieces." According to Monty Lewis, Lewisonite is not only of interest to the commercial gem market, but has also been carved by Inuit craftsmen from Canada's far north. He expects to see demand for these traditional-style carvings as news of the gemstone spreads.
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See Partial Interview Below.
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Partial Interview with Monty Lewis.

When Monty Lewis is not exploring the caves and crevices of Canada's majestic and remote mountains, he can be found working with amber and producing - with -collaborator Mark Sumner - a line of "Viking Amber" jewelry. Since the market has seen sharp rises in theper-pound price of qulaity Amber over the last two years, these large anchor stones of fine Baltic and Burmese amber favored by Mark and are all the more impressive.
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Partial Interview Continued

Monty enjoys turning unique and unusual pieces of Baltic and Burmese amber into collector pieces. I only use high quality pieces of Amber from well-established sources mined in Russia and Burma. Many of these pieces have been turned into rare and collectable pieces through my partnership with international designer and craftsman Mark Sumner.

When asked to describe the technique that is used for this particular design work, Monty states the following: " We design pieces in wax and then cast replicas in gold and silver. This method of jewelry design was perfected by the vikings through what is called "lost wax casting." The pieces we design are one-of -a-kind-and appeal to those who prefer the unique or unusual. We do mostly custom pieces and often include the client in the design of these special creations.
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