About Gary  

    Gary's rockhounding nature kicked in at the age of four when his parents took the family camping in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Here on the beaches of the Keewenaw Peninsula he found his first agates, jaspers, and other fascinating pebbles. On the massive rock piles left behind after 75 years of hard rock mining, he found minerals like native copper. All year he saved up his allowance to add to his growing rock and mineral collection, paying frequent visits to the mom and pop rock shops dotting Michigan. By the time Gary was 8, his parents had realized his rock hounding was no passing fancy. They bought him an 18 inch diamond saw and cabochon making equipment.  Learning the art of lapidary from an old-timer in his mid-Michigan Rock Hound Club, he began making pendants and rings from his stones and selling them to friends and family.     
    After high school, Gary attended the University of Michigan for 2 years, where he met his wife Kathryn, then left school to pursue his love of lapidary full-time. He bought a van and took off for Florida where outdoor art fairs were plentiful.  Kathryn joined him after finishing her degree. She made silver and gold jewelry incorporating his stones, and soon they were exhibiting at dozens of art shows a year.  In 1998, after nearly 30 years of art fairs, Gary took an opportunity to share a small booth with another stone cutter and exhibit as a lapidarist at the Gem and Jewelry Exchange show in Tucson.  Kathy stayed home in Florida with their daughters, Lauren and Jesse.  Now, Kathy is fully immersed in the Wilson Lapidary business, and the two have relocated to Tucson, AZ. 
    Gary's cabochons and focal point beads are cut from materials ranging from the classic- picture jaspers, agates and drusy- to unusual fossils, to the unexpected- antique glass, old Coke bottles, "Fordite", and vintage billiard balls.  His cabs, carvings, and beads are all hand-cut and hand-finished to the highest specifications with superior polishes.  As a result of his long affiliation with artists and metalsmiths, Gary's goal is to maximize the potential of the materials and to create shapes that are pleasing to the eye and that demand creative use by the artist.  Any visitor to one of Gary's booths will see that he enjoys hunting for, cutting, and polishing the fine materials he's collected for the past 45 years.

    Kathryn is Gary's wonderful wife of 35 years.  You may have seen her at shows tirelessly writing up detailed descriptions of stones.  Kathryn started making jewelry for Gary's stones while they were still in college, which led to a long career in metalsmithing.  As Gary's stone business grew, Kathryn became more involved in the business, and I think we can safely say that Gary could not have done it without her!  From setting up show displays to managing all of the business finances, Kathryn makes it happen. 

About Lauren


    Lauren is Gary's older daughter.  She lives in San Francisco and is handling online sales.

About Jesse

    Jesse is Gary's younger daughter.  She lives in Traverse City, where Gary and Kathy spend part of the year.  Jesse and her fiance work the trade shows, and she also handles special customer mail orders.