Gems of the Hill Country, Lapidaries and Jewelers, is owned by husband and wife team Brad Hodges and B. Diane Eames, and is located in Ingram on Hwy 39, just west of Kerrville. Gems of the Hill Country is on the right, just as you enter the historic Old Ingram Loop, where a quaint collection of artisans' shops and boutiques line the street.

Their shop is full of jewelry set with sparkling gems, most of them the beautiful Mason county topaz. Many of the cut topaz have been engraved with a Texas star, which floats within the center of the gem, the signature work of Gems of the Hill Country.

The crystal-clear, faceted star-cut topaz will simply dazzle you. It absolutely blazes! Two of the most spectacular pieces in the store's collection include a square-cut ring set with a huge 11-carat Texas star topaz, surrounded by 0.58-carat of diamonds and a 22-carat rare blue-hued topaz necklace. Both stones were cut by Diane.

Diane began her career at the Dallas World Trade Center and has worked in the jewelry and gemstone business for 30 years. She is a graduate gemologist of the William Holland School in Georgia. After some years away, Diane returned to the Hill Country and settled in Mason, where she had relatives. While working there, she became aware that gem cutters of the famous stone were becoming fewer as the years went by and she feared that soon there wouldn't be a cutter in the county.

So Diane went to the University of Texas for training, then sought out the best mentors. Famed artist Dalan Hargrave, who lives in the San Antonio area, is one of Diane's mentors. And then she worked and worked, cutting and faceting stones to perfection. "Since I was a graduate gemologist, I was faster at learning, because I already knew what the artists were producing," she said.

According to Diane and Brad, with the exception of Germany, in almost all other countries in the world (other than in the diamond trade), cutting is done by low-paid, per hour workers, who turn out the product as quickly as possible. By one example, they explained that U.S. and German stones are polished using 50-60,000 grit paper whereas by comparison, others around the world use 15,000 grit. "Many gemcutters tend to be hobbyists in this country," Diane said, noting that many of them have the finest, state-of-the-art equipment and training. "American-style cutting is some of the best in the world," Diane noted.

To those of us not familiar, various descriptions used for professionals in the industry may seem the same, but Diane clarified. "A jeweler works with or sells fine jewelry," she said. A gemologist specializes in identifying and appraising gems. "A jeweler who works with metal is a goldsmith and a lapidary is the one who creates the finished stones. Most people don't necessarily have all types of experience." Diane is one of few people, and even fewer (or perhaps, no other) women with training and experience in all phases of the art.

As a graduate gemologist, lapidary, appraiser and jeweler, Diane bridges both sides of the industry and is a speaker for national and state organizations. She will be speaking at the U.S. Faceter's Guild, the premiere faceting organization in the country, at its meeting in Tucson in February. Her topic will encompass teaching gemcutters how to design gems for jewelry.

After a long career in real estate appraisal, Brad left his business in San Antonio to join Diane in Mason. They married and on Christmas Eve 2007, opened Gems of the Hill Country on the square in Mason. He learned the art of goldsmithing and has been honing his skills ever since. "I go from raw metal and stones to finished stones," he said, noting that although he has begun faceting stones, he feels it takes years to continue the learning process. Brad still holds his appraisal license and in addition to his shop artistry, he also manages the store's website and facebook page and the photography for its extensive advertising.

In 2011, Southern Living magazine listed the Top Ten Things to Do in the Texas Hill Country and #6 was Dig for Topaz. The magazine noted Diane and Brad and Gems of the Hill Country as the primary source for the gems and jewelry set with the famous stone.

In January 2014 they moved the store to its current location in Ingram after exploring other areas in the Hill Country. "Ingram is quieter, there is an artist's colony here and there was no full-service jeweler in the west Kerr county area," Diane said. In addition to their extensive selection of jewelry, they also provide all types of jewelry services.

Regionally themed jewelry bear unusual colored stones and gems from around the U.S. "We have tourmaline from California, sapphire from Montana, peridot from Arizona, Herkimer diamonds from Herkimer county, New York and feldspar from Alpine," Diane said. "We're always trading. And any other manufacturers represented and products in the shop are all American made."

But Gems of the Hill Country specializes in Texas topaz jewelry. Their signature pieces are engraved with the Texas star, which seems to float inside the dazzlingly radiant gem. "We use American-style cutting," Diane said, "following very precise angles, meaning we get as much as the gem will give us in brilliance."

Brad further explained that faceting stones is an exact mathematical science, showing a printed diagram of a cut gem, with a multitude of facets, each made to minute specifications. It's amazing that so many cuts can be made on a tiny piece of raw material, resulting in a light-catching, sparkling stone ready for mounting into a coveted piece of jewelry.

Gems of the Hill Country has an extensive inventory of Mason county topaz jewelry in the shop. In addition, Diane and Brad take jobs on commission, and provide custom-design work. One of Brad's upcoming projects will be crafting a bezel for a large round Texas star topaz, which he will set in the center of a wide, intricately engraved silver cuff bracelet. It will be a stunning one-of-a-kind piece of art.

A unique and outstanding necklace crafted by Diane and Brad combines two signature pieces, the historic "Holland Spur" and the Texas star cut Mason topaz, into one outstanding jewelry piece. Holland's Jewelry of San Angelo was founded in 1918. In 1936, owner Chase Holland, Sr. designed the miniature spur tie clasp. It became an exclusive design much coveted, first by West Texans, then around the State and nation. Fashioned as a man's tie clip or ladies' earrings, the Holland Spur was instantly recognizable. It was presented to and worn by presidents and celebrities. The timeless design lives on today as the goldsmiths at Holland's Jewelry still craft the spur, which is authentically detailed, right down to its tiny spinning rowel. The exquisitely beautiful Holland Spur necklace, crafted by Brad with a large round Texas Star Topaz cut by Diane, is sold exclusively at Gems of the Hill Country. There is no finer example of Texas tradition and excellence than the Holland Spur/Texas Star Topaz necklace.

There have been many custom pieces designed and made by Diane and Brad. And they also custom-cut stones for use by other jewelers, such as the topaz for a wedding ring for a Canadian client. "Diane cut the gem for his Texas bride," Brad said. "The man used gold from a New Foundland coin, then a goldsmith put them all together," making the perfect union for a Texas and Canadian couple.

Diane's own wedding ring is a fantastically brilliant 6-carat star cut topaz, set in gold. Brad found the raw stone himself in Mason county. "It was a perfect crystal," he said. "And it was just lying on top of the ground." He found it at the base of a v-shaped piece of granite. To the untrained eye, the crystal form of rough topaz looks like a piece of cut glass. Brad joked that people used to leave the crystals in buckets behind the Mason store - and most of the "crystal topaz" were only cut glass, not the real thing. When river-tumbled, the rough stone is opaque white.

Raw Texas topaz is known as "Desert Ice" because of its resemblance to frozen water - and the arid location where it's found: only in Mason county. Although Brad and Diane have found topaz themselves, they buy the raw material from others who hunt for the stones.

The 1960s-70s was an era of fashionable topaz-hunting, an extremely popular and well-known pastime for rockhounds and general enthusiasts. "Ironically, these stones, collected over 40 years ago are now re-surfacing as owners face health and other issues, causing them to liquidate assets," Diane said.

Because of health-care costs and the system, Brad and Diane know personally of people who have been able to receive medical procedures, including life-saving cardiac surgery, by selling a stash of raw topaz they'd found years ago. After authenticating that the stones are true Texas topaz, Brad and Diane are pleased to be able to provide funds to those whose stories have touched their hearts. "We can give back," she said.

So although they are daily in the midst of fine jewels, gold and silver, Brad and Diane have discovered treasure of another sort. Through their business, they are truly able to help others.

How to get there: Kerrville is located on IH-10, approximately 65 miles west of San Antonio. From the east, take the Kerrville exit, follow the signs to Hwy 39 to Ingram. In Ingram, veer left at the stoplight onto Old Ingram Loop. Gems of the Hill Country is on the right, at 200 Hwy 39, directly behind Moore's Lumber. From IH-10 west, take the Ingram exit to Old Ingram Loop.

To contact them: P O Box 33, Ingram, TX 78025. Phone 830-367-3368. Email Diane: [email protected] or Brad: [email protected]. See their website: www.texas-topaz.com or follow them on Facebook.