The Story of Green Gem
About Our Company
First and foremost, we view ourselves as a Herkimer Diamond and green fluorite gemstone company, mining natural crystals from our two properties in New York and New Hampshire. We then turn this gem rough into beautiful faceted gemstones that we set in our own sterling silver and gold designs. While we take great pride in our jewelry designs, what really distinguishes our company from virtually any other jeweler is our use of world class gemstones that we mine and facet ourselves from properties that we own. This vertical integration allows us to control the entire process of jewelry creation from the earth to the customer.
We have owned the William Wise Fluorite Mine in Westmoreland, New Hampshire since 1986 and this mine is generally acknowledged to produce the finest green fluorite in the world for color, size and clarity. We then acquired our first Herkimer Diamond mine in Little Falls, New York in 1997. Both mines have produced world class mineral specimens that are on prominent display in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D. C., New York's Natural History Museum and Harvard's Peabody Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A specimen found by partner Bob Borofsky was featured on the cover of the July/August issue of Rocks & Minerals Magazine in 1990 with an accompanying feature article. A specimen from our Herkimer mine was also featured on the cover of the July/August issue of the same magazine in the year 2000. The cover article in that magazine was written by Bob Borofsky. Bob also teaches a geology and mining class at Keene State College (part of the University of New Hampshire system) in the winter and is a recognized expert in the field.
Herkimer Diamonds are by far and away our most popular gemstone. We now own 160 acres of crystal bearing property in Fonda, New York, having sold our property in Little Falls, New York several years ago. We always mine in an ecologically sound manner and both of our United States mines are, of course, conflict free. We have over 20 years of faceting experience, with our own faceted stones on display along with our natural specimens in the museums mentioned earlier. Our faceting expertise allows us to produce only stones of the very finest quality out of the best gem rough available anywhere. As mine owners, we control the source and never sell the gem rough. For all these reasons, we are the best source anywhere for genuine faceted Herkimer Diamonds.
Our company is unique. We actually mine the gemstones ourselves on property that we own, facet them in our shop in New Hampshire, then design and make the gold and silver jewelry that we sell directly to our customers.
About Us
Jennifer Photenas and Bob Borofsky are the two equal partners in our business. We’ve been working together for over ten years, originally selling our gems and jewelry at craft fairs around the country. Jen studied jewelry design at the Danforth Museum School and opened a gallery in Wilmington, Vermont in 2004, selling her gold and silver designs utilizing green fluorite and Herkimer Diamonds from Bob’s mines in New Hampshire and New York. Jen is the creative force behind our company, designing all the beautiful jewelry that we make and sell. She is also responsible for the appearance of our shop, arranging and photographing our jewelry in a manner that is both informative and artistic in its own right. She chooses and arranges the flowers used to enhance our jewelry and then adds all the descriptive information. Jen also fashions most of our gold and silver jewelry, although Bob helps with the finish work and stone setting.
Bob Borofsky studied astrophysics and geology at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH and went on to earn an MBA from Harvard. Bob teaches a geology course at Keene State College and has written articles for industry publications, including Rocks & Minerals Magazine. Bob mines all of our Herkimer Diamond and fluorite gemstones on our own properties in New York and New Hampshire and facets them, as well. He studied stone cutting under the great Art Grant, the premier faceter of fluorite gemstones in the world. Bob’s faceted gemstones have been featured in such prominent magazines as Rock & Gem. With our Etsy shop, Bob coordinates stone sizes and shapes with our jewelry designs and tracks all of our production for both inventory and customer needs. He also helps fashion our gold and silver jewelry when needed, sets most of the gemstones and is responsible for all of our shipping. Both Jen and Bob are continually involved with all customer conversations and interactions.
Dana Chase of Springfield, Vermont has been utilized recently to supplement our growing demand for product. Dana is a master goldsmith and silversmith and has been invaluable in helping us execute our jewelry designs. He also does repairs and ring sizings for us.
