“In the old days,” said Emory,
“everyone came to town with
their handmade goods. There
wasn’t any buying online.”
“is accessible and open for mineral collecting by colleges,
universities, and gem and mineral societies. Groups as
small as two INDIVIDUAL mineral collectors can now
reserve the mountain!” And during April and October,
“The caretaker in charge of Graves Mountain, Clarence
Norman Jr., has announced plans to hold a three day
dig and rock swap.…” In a 2012 article for the Atlanta
Journal Constitution entitled “Graves Mountain: A
Rockhound’s Mecca,” writer Charles Seabrook described
the mountain as “an international hot spot for collecting
a variety of prized rocks and minerals.”
Another great gem mine that is also open to the
public and known for its native rubies and sapphires is
Mason’s Mine in Franklin, North Carolina. The pink or
red mineral rhodolite can also be found there, according
to Emory. “If they find a pocket of rhodolite, it takes a
front-end loader to bring it out. You can shovel out of the
pile that’s brought up for so much a day. You’re not going
to find a lot there, but when you do, it’s something no one
has ever touched before. That’s the thrill of the hunt.”
“The world descends on Franklin, North Carolina,
for gems. There are mines all over the place up there,
although you can’t get into most of them. When I go, I’m
looking for native stuff, not tourist stuff.” Now, most of
Emory’s finds are at gem shows and the antique shops
he frequents in North Georgia and North Carolina.
“Sometimes you get lucky with a $20 or $30 bucket
loaded with pretty stones in a tourist shop, although
you can’t depend on a shopkeeper’s description.” Often,
people bring their finds or purchases from the mountains
home for Emory to examine in hopes they have stumbled
upon that one “lucky find.”
Through the years, while Marge became more
involved with grandchildren and other interests, Emory
continued to hone his skills becoming an accomplished
lapidarist, which is simply “an artist or artisan who forms
stone, minerals, or gemstones into decorative items such
as cabochons, engraved gems (including cameos), and
faceted designs.” And as his expertise developed, his
equipment and supplies also grew. When his equipment
took over a third room in his house, Emory perceptively
decided it was time for a “workshop/man cave.” With the
saws, drills, faceting and cabbing machines, kiln, cutting
and polishing laps, rock tumblers, and all the materials
and supplies that go with them, an old pole barn out back
went through a transformation.
“In 1998, Arlene Powell, the owner of Arlene’s
Jewelry, said to me, ‘We need an onion to represent the
town.’ I was about to go to my second
silversmithing class, so while everyone
else was making butterflies and cats and
dogs out of silver, I was making onions.”
By the end of the week, Emory had
created four prototypes of onions. He
put the pendants in Arlene’s store, and
they were all bought within a couple of
days’ time.
“For the first couple of years,
I was just making things for Arlene’s
store and personal items for people,”
said Emory. But in 2001, he was asked
to set up a booth at the Vidalia Onion
Festival. “He capitalized the first two
letters of the word memory to represent
the first letters of his and his wife’s
names and officially gave his jewelrymaking
business a name: “MEmory’s.”
118 Toombs County Magazine