At Mainely Gems, our intention is to provide you with the services you need to create beautiful gemstones from your own treasured pieces or from a piece that we have available for you.  We can take what may seem like a unattractive rock and fashion it into a piece of jewelry that will be worn for generations to come.  From a faceted gemstone, cabochon, polished specimen or even a sharks or bears tooth, we can help you find the right medium to showcase it.  We hope you will look at Our Services to see what we can do for you and visit Our Store to see what products we have available today.

Who we are:

Hi, we are Guy and Kim Pilla, owners of Mainely Gems. After retiring from a twenty-one year public service career with the U.S. Coast Guard, we relocated to the town of Fryeburg, Maine.  Fryeburg happens to be right in the middle of the mineral rich granite pegmatite belt of Western Oxford County.  These coarse-grained concentrations are home to some world famous finds of gem minerals; Tourmaline, Amethyst, and Beryl Crystals to name a few.  We discovered our passion for prospecting, gemology, and lapidary skills (gem cutting) from locally renowned Goldsmith and Lapidarist, Robert Prouty (owner of Northeast Gems). We mine and collect gem materials and specimens from localities all over New England.

At Mainely Gems, we facet and cab all the standard types of materials including the quartz varieties, garnets, tourmalines, topaz, beryls, feldspars, and most minerals between six and eight on the Moh’s hardness scale and some of the less common ones, like Benitoite, Celestite and Titanite (Sphene).  We use a Jarvi Facetron Faceting Machine for faceting and a Diamond Pacific Genie for fashioning cabochons. Additionally, a 16" Hillquist rock saw is available for slabbing larger material.  The accuracy of these machines allows us to produce high quality gemstones and cabochons.

Our goal is to provide you with the highest quality in customer service and finished products at reasonable prices.  In the end, we will have created a piece of art that you will treasure for many years to come.  We hope you enjoy your visit.

Of Note:

Recent professional accomplishments include completing the Gemological Institute of America’s (GIA) Accredited Jewelry Professional (AJP) certification and membership into the United States Faceters Guild, the Bridgton Art Guild and the United Maine Craftsmen. Guy and Kim attended the William Holland School of Lapidary Arts, completing Opal Cutting and Wire II.

             2008 Show List

             November 8 & 9 - 27th Annual Augusta Arts & Crafts Show, Augusta Civic Center, Augusta, Maine

             November 15 & 16 - Arts and Crafts Show, USM, Gorham, Maine

             November 15-School Around Us Winter Craft Fair, Kennebunk, Maine ( waitlisted)

             December 6 - Christmas Prelude Craft Fair, Kennebunkport, Maine

             December 7- Class of 2009 Prelude Holiday Craft Fair, Kennebunkport, Maine

                                                 December 6 & 7- 31st Annual Holiday Arts & Crafts Show, USM, Portland, Maine (waitlisted)