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HOW IT BEGAN

Spencer Lapidary is Indiana's largest full-service rock shop.  Natural stones are cut, ground and polished into beautiful works of art, including room decor, book ends, wind chimes, gem stones, spheres and one-of-a-kind jewelry.

It all began in 1960 while Glen Spencer (founder) was visiting family in Oregon.  Eldest brother Orville was a "Rock Hound" who introduced Glen to the world of rocks.  Glen, fascinated by nature's creations, began rock hunting.   Obsidian, jaspers, agates and petrified wood became favorite stones to collect while rock hunting.

Glen having been self-taught, began participating in local rock clubs, rock and gem shows and took classes at Purdue University in mineral identification.

In time, Glen purchased lapidary equipment as he expanded his knowledge of the lapidary arts and his hobby eventually became a new small business.

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"SPHERES BY SPENCER"™

In 1984, having seen beautiful spheres cut from the stones Glen loved, he used his electrical and mechanical knowledge to build sphere machines.  It took 1.5 years to perfect both the machines and methods for cutting and polishing precision ground spheres from many types of stones.

The precision, within .001 of an inch that Glen achieved in sphere making soon began to draw international recognition.  Within several years, Glen cut the world's largest citrine sphere from a single crystal.   The International community proclaimed him a "Master Sphere Cutter".

In 1988, Glen closed his electrical business in Lafayette, Indiana and opened Spencer Lapidary in Elwood, Indiana.

Glen has taught many people lapidary arts.  He has appeared on television numerous times with Dick Wolfsie, Ray Rice and on "Across Indiana".  He was also featured in several international lapidary trade magazines for his outstanding accomplishments.

After 17 years at Spencer Lapidary, Glen retired in September 2005.  Glen still resides in Elwood where he grows over 60 varieties of Iris flowers.

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NEW OWNERS - BRIGHT FUTURE

In July 2005, long time friends and customers of Glen, Tina & Mark Bennett, purchased Spencer Lapidary to continue and improve Glen's achievements.  Tina & Mark bring new and diverse skills and knowledge to Spencer Lapidary, including Silversmithing.

In January 2007, Mark took an early retirement to run Spencer Lapidary full-time.  We continue to offer the highest quality work that gave Spencer Lapidary it's worldwide reputation.  We are pleased that Spencer Lapidary is still family owned and operated at the same location in Elwood.

In addition to our shop's normal merchandise, we now offer such items as stained glass artwork, fused glass suncatchers, unique handmade silver and beaded jewelry, dichroic glass pendants and earrings and provide jewelry repair services.