a f f i l i a t e p r o f i l e c huc k s toddard : s toddard ap p ra i sa l s m e m b e r
my needs.This led to teaching other individuals—including children on the weekends—the art of cabochon cutting, and the fashioning of colored stones. Geodes were fun, because you never know what was inside. Surplus materials were then sold to hobbyists, small craft shops, and vendors at local gem and mineral shows. Although cutting cabochons can be a challenge, especially Opal and stones of differing hardness, faceting was the next logical step.After purchasing a Graves Faceting Machine from Harold Graves, even more chal-
lenges arose—each with its own gratification. Now with stones just waiting to be seen, the quest of making jewelry began. Creating molds, waxes, casting, forming, cleaning, polishing, assem- bling, sizing, setting, and so on inspired the idea of opening a storefront.
That is when the lights went off. Do I really know what I am doing?
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At that point, I decided to go back to school and began my quest through the Gemological Institute of America (GIA).
Below: Chuck Stoddard, 2015 JIBNA Training Program.
huck Stoddard moves with a quiet confidence through an AGTA GemFair ™ . Stoddard is
known by most exhibitors as an exceptional individual with a vast knowledge of gems and jewelry. Please tell us about Chuck Stoddard, where you grew up, and your family today. I grew up inWest Palm Beach, Florida, and never left—other than for vacations and military stints. I have a wife, Judie, of 59 years and three daughters. The oldest, Julie, is a GG at Provident Jewelers; the mid- dle, Karen, is an Occupational Therapist for theVA; and the youngest, Stephanie, is a Navy veteran working as aVeterinary Technician. Tell us the story of your involve- ment in the trade and how you got your start in the industry. Starting as a hobbyist with the Palm Beach Gem and Mineral Society, I learned to cut cabo- chons. However, cutting mate- rials were not readily available at the time. So I obtained a slab saw, and began purchasing ma- terials from around the world. Every evening, my garage became a workplace for slab- bing materials (Agates from the Southwest and Mexico,Aven- turine from South America,Ti- ger Eye from Africa, Opal from Australia, etc.) just to satisfy
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