22 | JUNE 8 • 2023 

OUR COMMUNITY

L

ots of jewelers cut 
and polish stones and 
set them into rings, 
pendants and earrings. But 
few dig the stones out of the 
earth themselves.
Nick Liebowitz travels 
to Nevada every year to 
find gemstones in a mine 
controlled by a friend. 
His friend owns a “stake” 
— the state of Nevada owns 
the land — that allows him 
to excavate, and Liebowitz 
usually spends a day or two 
with him once or twice a 
year searching for stones.
The men use a backhoe 
to scrape off the dry top 
layer of earth. They move 
large rocks aside with pry 
bars and crow bars. Then 
they start looking for “pay 
dirt,” moister soil that 
indicates the likely presence 
of minerals. They explore 
the pay dirt with chopsticks 
and screwdrivers, digging 
out nuggets that range from 
a half-inch to several inches 
in diameter. 
Liebowitz finds mostly 
amethyst, quartz and smoky 
quartz and, occasionally, 
citrine. He’s heard there is 
“gold in them thar hills,” but 
he’s never found any.
Back home in Farmington 
Hills, Liebowitz cuts and 
polishes the gems and 
usually etches a design on 

the back, which appears 
three-dimensional from the 
front because of the stone’s 
faceting.
Liebowitz, 35, started out 
on a more conventional 
path. A graduate of North 
Farmington High School, he 
enrolled in the College for 
Creative Studies in fine arts 
and graphic design. After 
one year, he transferred 
to Wayne State University, 
where he studied business 
for a few semesters before 
deciding that “school wasn’t 
really for me.”
He made his way to 
California and worked for a 
friend who had a company, 
Third Eye Pinecones, and 
who made jewelry out of 
cross-sections of pinecones. 
That was Liebowitz’s intro 
to the world of jewelry and 
gemstones. He started going 
to shows and learning more 
about precious and semi-
precious stones and about 
jewelry-making. 
Then another friend took 
him to the mine in a place 
called Hallelujah Junction 
in western Nevada, about 
an hour west of Reno on the 
California border. 
Liebowitz says he has to 
dig for only a few hours to 
collect a boxful of stones, 
enough to keep him busy 
for many months. 

Farmington Hills man mines for gems.

Rocks
From
toJewels

BARBARA LEWIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Nick Liebowitz cuts 
gems.

Nick’s latest haul of 
gems

