Shop draws rockhounds, artisan
Sun City — For area rockhounds, the lapidary shop at the Sun City Civic Association offers a place to turn ordinary rocks into jewelry.
The shop features 10 diamond grinders, three trim saws, three big slab saws, six sanders, a silver polisher, a flat lapper and more.
“This is the most elaborate lapidary shop I’ve seen anywhere, and I’ve seen a lot of them over the years,” said Bert Zwonechek, a former ceramics teacher and Nevada rock and gift shop owner who was in the studio on a recent morning making a bolo tie.
He used stones such as the swirling-blue denim lapis from Africa, the purple lepidolite from Pala and a green stone he said was a type of banded jasper.
Zwonechek, 75, said he has taken to using polymer clays as settings for his stones, because silver has become so expensive. He’s also into suiseki, which he describes as “a pretty esoteric Oriental thing,” which consists of finding and displaying odd-shaped rocks that resemble miniature figures, often shapes from nature. The objects are often displayed along with bonsai plants.
He and some other club members display their wares in cases in the studio. Zwonechek’s display features several bolo ties of varying colors and styles as well as two blue ribbons from the county fair.
