Biography

Mark left private industry in 1986 to work on a National Science Foundation project that connected several supercomputers and University computer networks together in the education and research community.  For the next fourteen years, he continued providing research, engineering and operations expertise in the development of what we now call the Internet.  He retired from the technical community in 2000 and spent the next decade raising his triplet daughters with his wife Heidi on their 64 acre working farm in the Finger Lakes region of New York.

Mark started his lapidary journey by sharing his interest in gemstones with his daughters when they purchased a rock tumbler.  This lead to the purchase of other lapidary tools and eventually a full lapidary studio that facilitated cabbing, carving, and faceting.  Many, many hours were spent in acquiring knowledge and skill to work the various machinery and create unique gemstones. In 2014, Mark purchased several lapidary rough sellers, including Creative Gem’s natural gemstone business and he launched Hashnu Stones and Gems, which provides lapidary materials to the international market and lapidary services to jewelers, artists and collectors.  He also provides faceting lessons at his studio and with remote video conferencing along with providing a variety of faceting equipment.