An artisan cuts a stone with a wet saw in the workshop

Specimen Design

First the stone. Then the decision.

How we decide what to show in a piece, and what to leave as it is.

The approach: six decisions

Read

What are we looking at? Color, crystal, architecture, associations, integrity. Before working on a piece, you have to understand it.

Preserve

What should we leave untouched? Some formations would lose what makes them exceptional if they were worked. The first decision may be not to intervene.

Orient

From what position is the piece best understood? A piece changes completely with its position. We look for the orientation that best reveals its structure.

Reveal

Is there something worth uncovering? In certain pieces, a precise cut can reveal an architecture, an agate or a formation that had remained hidden.

Polish

Which surface should be finished and which should stay natural? We polish where the work helps to understand and present the piece.

Present

How should it be oriented and presented? Proportion, orientation and base are part of the final presentation.

Carlos Sanchis leads Specimen Design at Le Stage Minerals together with his team. Each piece determines which specialists and artisans take part in the process.

The process

This is what the work looks like at Le Stage, stage by stage.

Stage 1 · Rough

Stones just in from the quarry, as they come out of the rock.

Rough amethyst geodes and blocks of rock on wooden pallets, just as they arrive from the quarry

Stage 2 · Awaiting the decision

Before going further, we decide what to preserve and what to reveal.

Three open amethyst geodes with violet crystals and a white rim, on a pallet
A group of amethyst geodes and blocks on pallets, some with chalk marks
Large amethyst geode with calcite and turquoise edges, surrounded by other stones on pallets
Five open amethyst geodes on a pallet, with a calcite crystal at the center of the largest

Stage 3 · The decision

Carlos Sanchis and his team, in front of the stone.

Stage 4 · Free form

Finished in free form.

Amethyst finished in free form: an elongated cavity covered in violet crystals with a polished rim
Amethyst finished in free form, with a wavy outline and covered in violet crystals, on a white table

Specimen Design with the collector

For selected pieces acquired in their natural state, the collector can take part in Specimen Design with Le Stage Minerals.

ROUGH PIECE → PROPOSALS → LSM RECOMMENDATION → COLLECTOR'S INPUT → DECISION → EXECUTION → FINAL PRESENTATION → DOCUMENTATION

You take part in the decisions; we provide the mineralogical and design judgment.

Ask about a piece →