The Rockshop at Harties

Today I’m in Ketang, China , visiting my friend Yulon at his home. His house is humble, and I feel honoured that he invited me inside. When we arrive, he shows me his name painted on the wall — written by himself with a large calligraphy brush. He even painted the names on his neighbours’ houses. His brush skills are incredible. This is what real rural China looks like. Inside his home, he serves me traditional tea with parched rice and peanuts . A simple but beautiful gesture of hospitality. His wife shows me how she strings beads to earn extra money. Beads are placed on two rolling bars, and she slides a needle through them. The beads almost “jump” onto the string. She earns only 10–15 USD per day (about R250 ) and receives just 0.20 RMB per string. For higher-quality beads she earns 0.50 RMB per bracelet, but selecting the best stones takes much longer. Then we visit the local gem mall , where I buy some inexpensive jewellery and get a real feel for the markets in rural Chi...

Ever wondered how they drill holes in irregular gemstone beads? This video shows the entire process. We visit a gemstone factory hidden in a residential area. There are hundreds of small gemstone workshops like this. This factory makes beads and drills holes in quartz crystals and irregular stones. We travel there on Yulon’s 20-year-old bike. Up one flight of stairs we enter a world of noise and activity. The factory is buzzing with workers. Two beads are drilled at the same time. A vibrating shaft with metal rods creates friction. A mix of abrasive powder and water cuts straight through the stone. The hole is drilled from one side and finished on the other. It is surprisingly fast. But the work is repetitive and exhausting. We walk to the next floor, but it is not operating today. This is real gemstone manufacturing in China. Raw. Loud. Authentic. Watch how beads are drilled from start to finish. If you enjoy behind-the-scenes gemstone videos, subscribe today. Don’t...

Today we take you inside a world few people ever get to see—the heart of a small bead-making workshop in Ketang, China. I ride through the busy streets with Yulon, who worked at this factory just a week ago. His motorbike is more than 20 years old, and let me tell you… riding through Ketang traffic on that thing is a CRAZY experience all on its own! Our first stop was a factory that turned out to be closed, but we didn’t give up. We set off again and eventually arrived at a small working bead shop—when I say “factory,” it’s really just two hard-working men shaping gemstones by hand. They were cutting Brazilian quartz crystals into perfect little cubes using a thin 1 mm diamond saw. Each crystal is inspected, chosen for its clear areas, and sliced down by hand. Some cubes come out large, others small, depending on the stone. From there, the beads normally go into the next stage where they are rounded—but that machine wasn’t running today. After rounding, the beads are polished until ...